17.08.16: Yokohama

Today, a day trip to Yokohama was planned. Wesley and Nico from the hostel accompanied me. Just 30 minutes away from Tokyo by train, Yokohama is the second largest city in Japan. Here, we visited the Sankei-en Gardens after a long bus ride from the main train station. The gardens were created by a wealthy businessman who transported old buildings from all over Japan to this location. Today, they serve as an open-air museum. In addition to the beautiful park, we could admire mansions, tea houses, shrines, and even the oldest pagoda in Japan. We were able to explore an old farmhouse from the inside. A very kind old man even gave us a private tour, even though he could barely speak English. We then tried to guess what he wanted to tell us ;)

After the gardens, we went to the waterfront promenade of Minato Mirai 21. This futuristic district is part of a city development project and offers an impressive view of the sea, as well as an amusement park, several shopping centers, and the Cup Noodle Museum.

Back at the hostel, we took part in the Free Drink Night and got to know many interesting people while drinking sake and plum wine. We also went out to eat together. I was very adventurous (and a bit naughty) and tried whale. The whale sashimi tasted like... fish