Experience Addict: Tokyo, Japan (Ueno District)

The best way to get around Tokyo is the amazingly large and supremely punctual metro. I love taking metros as a way to explore a city. This one had me pretty intimidated at first. Luckily, when South Korea/Japan hosted the World Cup in 2002, the metro was updated and made more traveler friendly. They have the districts and stops labeled and spelled phonetically along with a number and color coded system. It's still massive, but it would have felt impossible without those updates. And, apparently Drew is a savant when it comes to tackling Asian metro systems, so we ended up going all over Tokyo. We didn't even get lost!
The Tokyo Metro costs anywhere from 160-280 Yen, roughly $1.75-$3.00 and you can go everywhere. We took advantage everyday.

On our first full day, we went to Ueno, a district near Asakusa. Ueno is a great example of how a place can feel old, peaceful and spiritual, despite the fact that it is surrounded by huge skyscrapers, millions of people, markets, arcades, etc. The peaceful park area of Ueno is a great place for a stroll. It is one of the most popular places for cherry blossom viewing.

This is in the Ueno Park area:

After you make your wish, you can ring the bell so that it will be heard.

And, you can write your wish on these wooden plaques.

I believe these papers are for wishes as well:

I could see why this would be a popular place for cherry blossom viewing. We were just a little too early. We can only imagine how amazing this would look in full bloom.

Incense at the entrance to a temple:

Inside the temple. It's good to sit and quiet the soul.

Just a peaceful scene at the park. There were some cute, fuzzy ducks swimming around. A beautiful day.

A little old with a little new:

Everybody enjoys the blossoming trees.

There were temples all over the place. On all sides!

We got to the end of our beautiful walk in the park and came upon the Tokyo National Museum. They have some wonderful Buddhist art.

Feeling a bit tired from all the walking? How about a warm can of coffee from a vending machine? Oh, yes, thank you.

After exiting the park area, we wondered around the busy shopping area. It is such a fun experience to walk around areas like this: the lights, people and sounds, the busyness, the many things that confuse us...