Arriving in Tokyo

After the regional train journey, we were taken by surprise by the hot weather in Tokyo. In Hakone, the last few days were a maximum of 16-20 degrees, except for the sunny departure day, and now we are overwhelmed by about 30 degrees.

Fortunately, we maneuvered our suitcases well through the labyrinth of Tokyo subway tunnels and arrived at Akasaka station. After a 10-minute walk and our first impressions of the city, it was quieter than expected, with incredibly few cars in sight.

We quickly settled into our non-capsule hotel room and wandered a bit through the district.

For the next day, we had chosen a quiet little shopping street adorned with cat motifs: Yanaka Ginza. We really liked it. Quiet, small shops, crafts, kimono stores, food.

In a small café, we had a coffee and sandwich before continuing our stroll. At the end of the street, a vacationer approached me: hey I know you. She recognized me from the onsen in Hakone. What a small world. Then we visited a shrine, which, like all others, was a small oasis of tranquility.

In the evening, we enjoyed the river and small park by our hotel and strolled into the night.

The next day, we headed to a Pokémon event, where Martin collected fine badges and we bought a pin at the Pokémon Center.

For this, we also had to walk a lot through the Ginza district, which is a high-end shopping area with many offices. Not really our thing.

Therefore, we wanted to be in nature and decided to go to the Imperial Palace. The fruit garden is freely accessible to visitors, but the line was so long and we, feeling hungry and knowing nothing could compare to Kyoto, decided to move on.

We eventually found an affordable Taiwanese place in a shopping mall and refueled to head toward the Tokyo Tower.

That was definitely worth it. A fantastic view, and when it got dark, you could see how elaborately it was illuminated. On the way back, we had to weave through selfie-takers who all wanted a picture.