After landing back at Narita airport I caught the Narita Express (NEX) to the Shinegwa Station, which was where the Tokyo Marriott was located. It is about a 15 min walk to the hotel from the station. The train ride itself was lovely. Nice, clean trains and they are easy to navigate and understand. I had a reserved ticket from the JR pass that I purchased so no need to exchange money as it was included in the 7 day ticket. (This JR pass is going to be really well worth it, I think)
Made it to the hotel and I wasn't sure that they room would be ready, but I was prepared to drop off my bags and head out into the city if not. When I got to the hotel, they ushered me into a separate executive room for actual checkin. The lady at the desk had me sit down and they were all prepared for me, and my room was ready. It was a bit surreal and at am not sure if they treated me so well because I am a platinum member, an American tourist or both. Either way, I'm good with this. I got some coupons for the included breakfast as well as a free drink with dinner. I felt quite special!
Went up to the room (on the 23rd floor with a great corner room with a view) and did a regroup. Dropped off the bags, got situated, and then headed out back to the station. I knew that I wanted to start out at the Tokyo Station and I needed to get there from the Shinegwa Station. Let's chat about the train station situation. Now, I am used to trains. I take trains all the time and have used public transportation all over the world. I feel pretty confident that I can mange. These trains are super overwhelming. Not the trains themselves but the train stations. Damn, they are like little cities and crazy, crazy busy. There are information booths and most of those folks speak English but still. I wouldn't try to navigate this place on the first day if I had kids. That would be a nightmare!
The Tokyo Station is modeled after the Centraal Station in Amsterdam. It appeased to be having some renovations but I still was able to take a few pictures of the outside of it. It's massive.
I also wanted to check out the Tokyo Station Gallery, which is a museum inside the station itself. I found it fine, but apparently one needs to have reservations to get in. Huh? I have never heard of that. The nice young man at the entrance explained how I could go online and get tickets but honestly it sounded like it was a bit more trouble than I wanted to spend on it. I wasn't even sure what the actual exhibits were. So chalk that up as a no.
No worries, on to other things. The next item on my list was the Kite Museum. I tried to find things that were based near each other to make the most efficient use of my time. Let me tell you, I found out really quickly that although I consider myself a pretty savvy traveler, things are going to be different here. It is difficult. Like Moscow difficult (remember that Carrie?). And it's not just the food thing that is difficult (which is problematic), it is also just finding things and figuring out the trains. It's just difficult. Or maybe I was tired (I was) and my knee hurt (it does). Time will tell.
Now to the Kite Museum. The guidebook said it was a small museum. Understatement of the year. I walked around for about. 45 minutes trying to find the museum. I was on the right street but couldn't locate it. Then I saw it. It was a tiny, tiny sign that was on the front of a larger building. There was a queue starting that I thought was for the museum but turned out to be for the diner type place on the first floor. The Kite Museum is on the 5th floor, you need to take the elevator. There was a tiny, tiny Japanese woman taking the admission fee (200 yen) and then you walk through. The entire museum is approximately the size of my master bedroom in my apartment, maybe both the bedroom and the closet. There were some cool kites and but not sure it was worth 45 minutes of looking for it. At least it was only 200 yes (about $2 USD).
After the Kite Museum I headed back to one of the buildings that I stumbled on while I was searching for said museum. There was a bunch of restaurants on the lower level and there was a coffee shop I discovered. Note...if you are looking for something to eat, watch out for a large office type building. I have found in every one that I have been in that there are normally restaurants on the lower level.
After a coffee and some type of pastry, I headed back out again. I was getting tired and my knee was killing me (as was my back) but it was only about 3pm or so. I found my way back to the train stations and took the subway to the Ginza Station. This is an area where there are tons of sopping as well as some large buildings to check out. I found the Sony Building as well as some really high end shops. while I was there, I located (again, with some trouble) a store my guidebook research told me would be great for souvenirs. It was a shop that specialized in chopsticks and accessories. And the lady in the shop spoke good English and she had lived in Cambridge, MA (when I told her I was from the Boston area she go very excited!). She helped my pick out some lovely chopsticks for gifts and for myself. There was something for everyone here with the prices going up to "as much as you want to spend".
It was getting later and since my back and knee were both throbbing I thought I would go back to the hotel and have an early dinner and relax. I knew that tomorrow was going to be a fully day starting with a temple and I had been up since 2:30 am. It was time.
Found the right train and made my way back to the Marriott where I had dinner in the restaurant at the hotel. The little man who waited on me was very concerned about the shrimp /shellfish allergy. I ordered chicken and potatoes but he had me fill out something for the morning breakfast buffett as there is apparently shellfish on it. He wants me to order off the ala carte menu and I think from what I can tell he is going to be around isn't he morning to help me. He was adorable but a little too attentive. I coudln't manage to relax and eat- I know he meant well but I at that point had been up forever and I was done being social.
Tomorrow is going to be a busy day so early night tonight!
No comments:
Post a Comment