Is it mean to go to Disney Sea without your kids?
I kind of felt guilty the whole day about it, but it was kind of awesome too.
Mark and I took a 3 day 'Extended Date Trip' to Tokyo last month, and after having so much fun, I'm committing to making that happen for us at least once a year.
I'm not sure what happened to most of our downtown pictures.... maybe I only think I took some....not sure.
We spent the first day kicking around Shibya and Shinjuku. This is the famous Shibya Crossing 'as seen in almost any movie taking place in Tokyo'.
This area is known as one of the fashion centers of Japan, particularly for young people, and as a major nightlife area.
One of the most well-known stories concerning Shibuya is the story of Hachikō, a dog who waited on his late master at Shibuya Station every day from 1923 to 1935, eventually becoming a national celebrity for his loyalty.
A statue of Hachikō was built adjacent to the station, and the surrounding Hachikō Square is now the most popular meeting point in the area.
We have always steered clear of Shinjuku station when we have the kids in tow.
You can see why. This station is the busiest train station in the world. I think something like a million people transfer through everyday.
It's a pretty amazing how efficient these systems are. When we first arrived, I was a little intimidated.....but we found it to be super simple.
The second day we explored the Tokyo Imperial Palace. This is the main residence of the Emperor of Japan. It is a large park-like area located in the Chiyoda area of Tokyo close to Tokyo Station and contains several buildings including the main palace. You can't actually go near the palace..... this is about as close as you can get.
At first I was super disappointed. We crossed the street and decided to explore the shopping at the Marunouchi Building.
It was amazing and in general most definitely out of our price range. Lunch at the Pasta House was amazing.
After lunch we walked toward the Tokyo Museum of Modern art. On our way we found the entrance to the Imperial Palace East Gardens. (This is the area open to the public.)
If you packed a picnic lunch, you could spend the whole day here. It's enormous, and like Central Park in NY, a beautiful oasis in the middle of a hustling city. We walked throughout for an hour....but my feet were about finished for the day. As it started to get dark...I still pushed ahead for the museum.... only to discover it was closed for that week, while it underwent an exhibit change. Time to jump into a cab! We hadn't taken a taxi in Tokyo yet, and I figured our hotel wasn't that far...how much could it be..? We'll it was a little further than I thought...and it ended up costing close to $50.00, but I don't regret it. We drove through parts of Tokyo I had never seen (we're always traveling underground in the subways)....and it was a great driving tour. Tokyo is a pretty impressive city!
On day three, Mark was ready for his day! We decided to check out The Disney Sea Resort.
(The Tower of Terror)
I had heard this park was more for older kids...and in general I would agree. Max doesn't like roller coasters, and Lillian and Tobias would have only been able to ride a handful of things. It was so much fun though, I still felt guilty. We'll have to take them to Tokyo Disneyland for sure.
Mark had a blast.... it was so cute to see the smile on his face all day! We'll have to do roller coasters more often ;0)
I kind of felt guilty the whole day about it, but it was kind of awesome too.
Mark and I took a 3 day 'Extended Date Trip' to Tokyo last month, and after having so much fun, I'm committing to making that happen for us at least once a year.
I'm not sure what happened to most of our downtown pictures.... maybe I only think I took some....not sure.
We spent the first day kicking around Shibya and Shinjuku. This is the famous Shibya Crossing 'as seen in almost any movie taking place in Tokyo'.
This area is known as one of the fashion centers of Japan, particularly for young people, and as a major nightlife area.
One of the most well-known stories concerning Shibuya is the story of Hachikō, a dog who waited on his late master at Shibuya Station every day from 1923 to 1935, eventually becoming a national celebrity for his loyalty.
A statue of Hachikō was built adjacent to the station, and the surrounding Hachikō Square is now the most popular meeting point in the area.
We have always steered clear of Shinjuku station when we have the kids in tow.
You can see why. This station is the busiest train station in the world. I think something like a million people transfer through everyday.
It's a pretty amazing how efficient these systems are. When we first arrived, I was a little intimidated.....but we found it to be super simple.
The second day we explored the Tokyo Imperial Palace. This is the main residence of the Emperor of Japan. It is a large park-like area located in the Chiyoda area of Tokyo close to Tokyo Station and contains several buildings including the main palace. You can't actually go near the palace..... this is about as close as you can get.
At first I was super disappointed. We crossed the street and decided to explore the shopping at the Marunouchi Building.
It was amazing and in general most definitely out of our price range. Lunch at the Pasta House was amazing.
After lunch we walked toward the Tokyo Museum of Modern art. On our way we found the entrance to the Imperial Palace East Gardens. (This is the area open to the public.)
If you packed a picnic lunch, you could spend the whole day here. It's enormous, and like Central Park in NY, a beautiful oasis in the middle of a hustling city. We walked throughout for an hour....but my feet were about finished for the day. As it started to get dark...I still pushed ahead for the museum.... only to discover it was closed for that week, while it underwent an exhibit change. Time to jump into a cab! We hadn't taken a taxi in Tokyo yet, and I figured our hotel wasn't that far...how much could it be..? We'll it was a little further than I thought...and it ended up costing close to $50.00, but I don't regret it. We drove through parts of Tokyo I had never seen (we're always traveling underground in the subways)....and it was a great driving tour. Tokyo is a pretty impressive city!
On day three, Mark was ready for his day! We decided to check out The Disney Sea Resort.
(The Tower of Terror)I had heard this park was more for older kids...and in general I would agree. Max doesn't like roller coasters, and Lillian and Tobias would have only been able to ride a handful of things. It was so much fun though, I still felt guilty. We'll have to take them to Tokyo Disneyland for sure.
Mark had a blast.... it was so cute to see the smile on his face all day! We'll have to do roller coasters more often ;0)
2 comments:
We love seeing what you guys have been up to! Autumn says to tell Max hi! Hope you have a great holiday season! Miss you
Deer Durben family.
I love your blog.
Best wishes.
Meral
http://www.etsy.com/listing/61007872/hand-knitted-black-beige-shrugwinter
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