japan- part seven

we did two formal tours on our trip- the first was kamakura, and the second was called "tokyo afternoon".
we started by going to the 40th floor of the world trade center building, to see a big panoramic view of tokyo. we had seen a lot from the tokyo tower, but this time it was fun to have some things pointed out to us from the guide.

then we took a little river cruise, where we both almost fell asleep- we were exhausted! it was a cool looking boat, but we didn't get a great picture of it.

it was very ornate inside, and crowded. we were just people watching, since we didn't have an outside view, and with the rocking of the boat it was almost impossible not to drift off!

there was a big commotion when we got to this building, because the sun was reflecting off the gold windows onto the water, and making the waves look golden. it took us a while to figure out what people were clamoring to see!

the whole trip we were trying to take pictures of trains, bugs, and emergency vehicles for our boys.

it was another holiday, and really crowded! but the japanese are so organized- see how the sidewalks are divided? 

we went to a beautiful temple, but were pretty rushed to meet our tour. we were searching high and low to find mr. o's favorite crackers, but didn't end up finding any fresh ones. we got a snow cone and hurried to catch our bus!

after a little drive through tokyo, we made a quick stop at the imperial palace. for some reason i thought we'd be actually going to (as in, seeing) the palace, but we could only go as far as the outer grounds.
the moat and the guard houses were pretty beautiful, though!

it was fun to learn a little more about japan from our tour guides. we were lucky to have those opportunities as well as being shown around by family.



see more of our trip here: part one, part two, part three, part four, part five, and part six