Tenno ji Temple, Nezu Shrine, Hie and Innrie Shrine

The last day in Tokyo concluded with a visit to various temple complexes.

A brief update on the ship, soooooo I slept pretty well ;-).

Well then, since the ship was supposed to depart in the evening, the sightseeing tour needed to be well planned. We couldn't miss the freighter.

So we started our tour at the Tenno ji Temple. When we entered the temple complex, we were immediately in front of a large Buddha statue. Wow, and since there wasn't another soul around, we could visit the area in peace. There was a very calm atmosphere. Next to the temple complex was a cemetery. The graves looked very spectacular.

After that, we visited the Nezu Shrine. When we arrived there, it was already packed. What a line of people; I've never seen anything like it even in Phantasialand. Well, we stood in line, and in slow motion, we moved step by step towards the entrance of the azalea park. This is the main attraction of the Nezu Shrine in spring. The azaleas were in magnificent bloom. A true sea of flowers in various colors and shapes was present. Just like in the Hama-Riky Park in Tokyo, we had no idea where to go or look first. The flower colors and shapes were so beautiful :-). However, we cut our tour of the azalea park in half and went straight to the shrine, as there was also a line forming there.

We walked through the red gates and had to be careful not to bump our heads. The red gates with the azalea blooms in the background looked somehow magical. Along the way, there were smaller temples that also looked very impressive. Despite the many people, there was once again a very pleasant mood here.

In the end, we took the metro towards Hie and Innrie Shrine. They are right next to each other. What was cool was that on the way there, we passed by the Prime Minister's residence. The buildings looked super modern and were, of course, guarded by some policemen.

When we arrived at the Hie Shrine, we had to climb up countless steps. Phew, it was quite warm; well, no sweat, no gain. Once at the top, we performed a ritual at a small water basin. The cool water on our hands felt refreshing ;-). A look to the sky didn’t promise anything good. Wow, it got dark. We quickened our visit and then headed straight to the ship.

It was 'almost' a precision landing; about 100 meters from the ship, it started to rain.

At 7:00 PM, it was time to cast off, and we stood on the deck, wanting to wave goodbye to Tokyo. I only said, 'Help, what is this, it's freezing cold here now.' In no time, I stormed into the cabin and put on all my warm clothes plus a hat. Then it was back to the 14th deck, and really after a short time, I felt like my eyes were freezing. Was it COLD! Below in a shop, the seller said to me, 'Hey, looking at you, I immediately think of a winter vacation in Ischgl.' I just said, 'Yeah, that's how I feel too.'

With that, greetings from Ischgl ;-) Good night.