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Published: October 20th 2011
Bride
There was a wedding at Meiji Shrine....We took the train to downtown Tokyo this morning, after Matt left for work and Justin for school. We got off in Shinjuku, a whirlwind of people and business, and decided to walk to Yoyogi Park and revisit the Meiji Shrine, where we had gone with my brother and his family in 2002. We only need to ask directions once, and got to the park after a 20 minute walk through a shopping plaza and along busy streets. A strange thing about Tokyo is the mix of highrises, small shops, houses, parks and apartment buildings everywhere in this immense metropolitan area. You are never in a purely residential or purely commercial area.
Entering the park is like walking into the wardrobe on your way to Narnia: you transition from intense cityscape to deep woods, and at first still hear city sounds...those die way until bird sounds are all around you.
After visiting the park and shrine, we took the subway to another area where we hoped to find book stores. Matt had warned us that the subway is less foreigner-friendly than the trains, and at first, with only a Japanese map to refer to for ticket prices, we were ready to
retreat. Then we spotted an English version, found our stop and deciphered the price, went back to ticket machine and were on our way...another subway system added to our list...Rome, Paris, New York, Mexico City, Washington DC, and now Tokyo!
We didn't find the book stores, and decided to head back to Matt's by train.....We did some grocery shopping and were shocked by prices in the local supermarket: a 6 pack of beer was $20!
Tomorrow we drive up to Nagano with a stop in Matsumoto...
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