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But first, our bullet train experience. As in – when the fast turns out slow. Turns out it doesn’t feel like a speeding bullet on the inside, especially when our particular train stopped at every stop between Tokyo and Kyoto. Add to that an additional delay of some sort, and the ride was about 3 hours longer than originally anticipated. But it was kind of fun, we had loads of snacks and some drinks, and even caught some views of the infamous Mt. Fuji along the way.

Our airbnb Japanese house was only a 15 minute walk from the station, so – armed with Google Maps – we set out to find our home away from home for the next 5 nights. It is so cute!

We ladies headed to the nearest supermarket to pick up some fixings for dinner and beverages, and Ayami made us a delicious Japanese curry dish and fresh salad for dinner. This traditional home has Netflix and YouTube, so we had a great time watching more of the local sumo festival and also some dog agility trials. At some point we all crashed and were having the most wonderful slumber until construction started on the outside wall of our bedroom the next morning.

A quick look outside showed that the metal siding was being removed and I guess replaced. Ayami spoke to the worker and he said that he probably wouldn’t be working on it tomorrow (Saturday). So we emailed the management company, but didn’t hear back until the afternoon. Turns out the work can wait until after we are gone.

That’s the master bedroom wall right there.

So soldiering on with the banging and the clanging, Cam and Jenn made us breakfast and then we headed out to see some sights. First were a bunch of temples and gardens.

While full bloom sakura is still a week or two away, every so often there is a tree in full bloom – the flowers are so delicate and beautiful.

After the Imperial Palace we took a bus to the Higashiyama area (with a bunch more temples and shrines to see), and as we were walking, Ayami spotted a geisha on the other side of the street. I hoofed it towards her to get my shot, not knowing if I would be able to catch up to her, when she stopped at a cross walk and it looked like she would be headed right towards me! My lucky day , that’s for sure. I couldn’t believe my luck, as they are not a common sight, even in this area (though Ayami saw a couple of them in the 7-11 later in the day!)

This capture really made my day. Here are some of the other sights from that area:

Had to get a Starbucks sakura cup latte . . .

Ayami thinks this woman was a bride because this is a wedding kimono, and different from the ones we have seen other women walking around in. She did have a couple of photographers, but I didn’t see a wedding general, so I’m not totally sure.

So that’s it for the last two days – you’re all caught up. At the moment we are settling in for the night and listening to the rain fall outside. We will see what tomorrow brings weather wise – but a little downtime would not go amiss at this point in our adventure of a lifetime, at least for these two old timers!

Who knew that the humble toilet could could be so vastly improved upon. Starting with the warm seat – omg. Though Don has opined that if he had to choose between the heated seat and a heated floor, he would rather his feet felt that most pleasing sensation. I’ll take both if offered, thank you very much. (No photo here, for obvious reasons.)

Then there are the cleansing options: spray with adjustable strength and position, front and back options, deodorizer (haven’t tried that one), and even music to block out any offensive sounds you might be making! And I’m sure I have missed a few options. Your choice: all or none. Oh and full or half flush – that is pretty much the only one western toilets have embraced so far.

You will see from this photo that I took at the zoo yesterday, even the public Totos have some great options. A little seat to put your baby in while you use the can, and a toddler seat. Just out of the photo is a sanitizing liquid that you can use to clean everything first if you want. The public ones have a manual flush, but still the same cleansing options.

There is even a squatty potty option for people who don’t want to sit on the seat, complete with instructional diagram. Though it doesn’t appear that there are cleansing options for this one.

The one in our hotel room doesn’t have music, but check out the options:

One final note of caution – don’t press any of the buttons if you are not sitting on the Toto – water geyser is not an intended outcome.

And now that I have gotten that out of my system, I would like to share the view from my office. From this height, the city creates a landscape of shapes and colours as far as the eye can see. Mt Fuji is there too, and we have been able to glimpse it twice during our stay once during the day and once at sunset.

And the night time view of the Skytree Tower from the other side of the hotel is magnificent too:

Yesterday Don and I went back to the park he and David had found the day before. It is called Ueno Park and includes a zoo. Now, I am not a fan of old fashioned zoos but the call of the giant panda bear mother and cubs (cubs being as big a her now) was strong. Now that we are seniors, we get half priced tickets – only $3 each to enter! And we only had to wait about 25 minutes to see the smiling panda cub enjoying his nap.

It was a timed exhibit though, and it wasn’t long before I felt a gentle tap tap on my butt. Which I ignored as long as possible while trying to get into the best position for the above shot, but the tiny lady was persistent and when I turned towards her, I saw that she was really only trying to nudge me forward (with a ball on the end of a long pole) a few inches, so that she could close the gate behind me to distinguish the next group. All of whom were giggling at this point.

We also saw the Sumatran tigers (they are huge!) and a polar bear who was seemingly playing a game of chicken with a bunch of tiny toddlers.

Ueno is also a beautiful park

One of the unexpected benefits of travelling in a country where sitting in the sun is discouraged, is that there is plenty of available seating in what we would consider to be the prime spots. Lunch was – in Japanese – potatoes fry, Frankfurt, and beeru!

Everyone was doing their own thing during the day and also for dinner, so we braved going to a tiny neighbourhood pizza place that is off off the beaten track. We had noticed it on the way to the park via the back streets and even though there were obviously no English menus, there were helpful photos. And it’s wood fired pizza!

What should we order?

I texted David to ask how to say “red wine” and his reply was “redo wuine”. So I tried that and the kind waiter asked “red wine?”. Yes!! Thank you!!

Best pizza this side of Italy, topped off with a crème brûlée that was to die for.

Today we are packing up and heading to Kyoto, where we will all be staying in a traditional Japanese house, complete with kitchen. But first – the bullet train!!! Stay tuned, this is going to be fun . . .

After all the excitement of preparing for and enjoying the wedding we were all understandably exhausted! The following day was just for wandering, napping, and shopping. All easily done in and around our hotel in the Asakusa district.

We found the little coffee shop that makes these amazing latte art pieces on your coffee. Unfortunately we couldn’t get in and the wait was prohibitive, so I’m just going to post these adorable photos of what might have been.

Later in the day the kids joined us in our room before dinner. Ayami’s niece came along to see her second favourite Canadian – Santa Claus – and enjoyed sitting on the bed watching the first day of the sumo festival.

I think Don has a new fan

Yesterday we had reservations for an experience at TeamLab Planets. The experience has nothing to do with any planets that we could tell, but it was amazing and fresh and we all enjoyed all of the art installations and experiences. In the soft black hole room, the floor and walls were of some kind of memory foam. Think ball room idea for adults, with no balls. I managed to flop into the welcoming softness and then couldn’t seem to move in a forward motion. We haven’t laughed that hard for a long time. I think the kids took a movie of me trying to swim in the memory foam. We need a giant beanbag of that stuff out on the deck to lounge in.

Here are some of the other rooms.

After that, we headed to a restaurant Ayami wanted us to try – specializing n Hawaiian hamburgers!! The view was great – one of the Statue of Liberty replicas in front of the Rainbow Bridge.

From there we walked to see the Imperial Castle. On the only day of the week it is closed up tight. Oops.

Shopping Day!! Believe it or not, I didn’t buy anything, but I had a wonderful time poking around the shops.

Many of the Japanese ladies (and probably some foreigners) are wearing kimonos – beautiful kimonos are everywhere!

Not to mention shoes and hair things,

I couldn’t resist a Panda Parfait in a kitty cup

I am literally in a photographer’s heaven. Then I get a text from David, which is spending the morning with Don while I go shopping. “Where are you? Do you want to meet up for lunch?” Shopping time is over – the guys have found me.

We walk around a bit to find the perfect place for lunch and settle on a little place with outside seating. The three kimonoed girls at the next table went into hysterics over Don’s mask. It’s a bit hit here in Japan, especially when he pulls it down and shows that it is actually his face on it.

Then Don showed off his impressive chopstick stills with the French fries.

David ordered something he was sure we would like. . .

But someone was not a fan (me neither).

But overall, it was a great day and we all had fun doing things we enjoyed. I have a blister under one of my toes and Don’s knee hurts, but we are having a wonderful time. Tomorrow is our last day in Tokyo and then we are off to discover all that Kyoto has to offer.

The sights of Tokyo have been amazing – everywhere you look there are beautiful things and unusual signs. Have I mentioned the Groin Groin Cafe?

And I will leave you with this little guy – this is Tokyo in a nutshell:

As many of you know, this day has been over three years in the making. Having decided to get married in November of 2019, the original plan was for a civil ceremony in our living room before Ayami went home for Christmas, and then a big ceremony in Tokyo in April of 2020. Plans were made, civil ceremony was celebrated, and Ayami left the day after that on a plane out of YVR. Little did we know that they could not be together again for almost eleven months and we would not see her again for almost two years! The men determined that the big ceremony would probably never happen due to all the uncertainty of Covid, but I was on team Ayami – someday it was going to happen. (And not for nothing, I was right.). And the even better news is that after three and a half years married, they still want to get married to each other again.

The happy couple arrived at the hotel by rickshaw. Three of us missed it as we were racing to get shoes on and down the elevator, but there is a four foot tall wedding general orchestrating this wedding who waits for no parent.

Next, we formed a procession to the ceremony, led by the most amazing and ancient musicians, then the bride and groom, followed by the fathers, the mothers, and the rest of the families. I will try to upload my little stolen video, but not sure if that will work. You might have to use your imagination. It was amazing.

We were led to the front of the temple and even had rituals to perform as the parents and family of the groom. Mostly, we watched the Hasegawas and took their cues on when to clap, bow, and drink our little sip of ceremonial sake. Don and Mr. Hasegawa went up to the alter and did some ritual turning of a branch and offering it up to the gods. No one slapped his hands, so I think Don did a great job of it.

Now happily married, with yet another set of borrowed rings, the first being my parents’ at the civil ceremony and the second being Ayami’s Mom’s and Don’s (mine having been deemed “too fancy”), it was time for the reception.

And Oh the Food!!

There were 3 minute speeches and slide shows that Ayami had prepared, as well as a surprise video that Ayami had planned for David, with messages from friends and family who couldn’t be here in person. They were even close captioned in Japanese so everyone could understand the sentiments – it was definitely a highlight with backgrounds from San Diego, to Campbell River, to Nelson, to Cochrane and even one from Fort McMurray. There was snow, there were climbing walls and there was even a shooey which drew gasps (you might have to look that one up) – it was amazing.

Ayami made a beautiful speech that had us all crying. David had always said he couldn’t speak at the wedding, but was going to surprise us by saying something. Unfortunately, he got cut due to time constraints by the wedding general. Lastly, it was time for the big finish – wedding speech by the Groom’s parents. Don read most of it, then I read a bit in English before switching to the Japanese portion I had prepared with the help of a friend of a friend in Vancouver, Yasuyo, who kindly translated my speech and even sent me a voice recording to use as a reference. I took a big breath, said “here goes . . .” And spoke the longest two sentences ever written. All of which was received with great delight and long applause. Ayami said I did good – whew!!

So all went amazingly and it was time to go. At this point in the wedding – the end – everyone needs a wedding general. She scooted everyone towards the receiving line and out the door in record time.

Now that we are “metro pros”, we headed out to find the famous Marche aux Puces (Flea Market). There are two flea markets – the first one is rows of soccer jerseys and cheap crap – very disappointing. But I remember seeing advice to hurry through the first bit, so we did that and found the real one. Full of amazing antiques (and not so antiques) of every sort and description. We didn’t buy anything, but one of us had a wonderful couple of hours browsing.

Afterwards, we returned to our little covered mall and had the most fabulous quiche for lunch. We are a little bit obsessed with our little mall – you feel like you are outside on the sidewalk, when you are actually inside. Of course, there are plenty of outside seating areas in Paris – virtually every restaurant has one teaming with morning coffee drinkers and late afternoon happy hour drinkers – but they are still the “smoking section”. There are still a lot of smokers/vapers in Paris. And in Italy, they are still using their phones while driving. These observations remind us that we really have come quite a way in these areas. Nothing like walking through a poof of “gitane” smoke to remind you that it’s nice not to smell smoke pretty much anywhere in Vancouver these days.

Since we were fasting today (!), we decided to have the most decadent desserts we have ever had.

After the required nap (for obvious reasons), we headed to the Trocadero side of the Eiffel Tower. Partly to get a new perspective an partly to see the lights come on at 8:00. Here are the different views of this impressive structure:

Like a Lay’s potato chip – I can’t pick just one.

We also saw four more brides today (and have I mentioned that throughout our trip we have seen a lot of covid babies? We are also here during Fashion Week apparently, as there have been lineups to two events at the venue in our little mall. Not to mention that apparently tonight is Nuit Blanche – with events, exhibitions and concerts happening all over the city between 8pm and 2 am. Which would probably explain the heavy police presence we have seen everywhere today.

But have no fear dear readers . . . we are safe and snug in our little bordello room at the hotel Chopin. We’re getting to old for all this excitement. Tomorrow is the last day of our trip and other than me getting an hour or so alone to shop, we have nothing that we have to do. Which suits us both just fine.

Bonne nuit tout le monde . . .

This one starts with a bathroom story.

And the breaking of cardinal rule number one, to carry at least a one euro coin with me at all times. So that was bad. Anyway, glad to see a public washroom, I headed in – blissfully ignorant of my lack of coinage. I join the line to put money in the one and only machine, which is actually at the outside door of the building where the washroom is housed, and start fishing in my change purse for a coin. Uh oh. I do have coins, but they are not the 50 cent coins – only 2 euros ones for the 50 cent fee. So we‘re not off to a good start here.

The three Italian ladies behind me are also rooting around in their purses for coins and I think they are also looking for one for me, when I notice that the machine also has a “tap” function – yay for progress! So I pull out my credit card – problem solved – and attempt to tap, rub, press and wave my useless card. The ladies are still conferring. So I say – I’ll just give the machine my 2 euro coin – that’s okay. But – alas and alack – it spits it out. One of the three ladies has found a 50 cent coin finally and tries it in the slot. That gets spit out too.

So from behind me and the three ladies, another Italian woman pushes me out of the way and tries her coin – magic – the turnstile allows her through to pee.

Then – from out of no where a foreign woman (saying something in some language I couldn’t place), showed us all how to squeeze around the turnstile for free! She was pretty skinny, but yes, there was just enough room to maneuver around and over the outside edge. Chalk another one up for the sisterhood.

On my way out, the one lady whose coin worked to come in, couldn’t figure out how to make the turnstile go the other way to get out and was still standing there. I showed her the green button she had to push and she gave me a grateful smile and a “Grazie” and all was well with the world. Fortunately, Don didn’t have to go.

The Italians have been having trouble with our names ending in “n” I think, but today we found out that Don’s Italian name is heretofore: Donato. And mine (given to me in Positano about 8 years ago) is Gianna.

So where are we now you might ask. We left our place in Locorotondo and headed south in the heel of the boot to the town of Otranto, on the Adriatic Sea. Again, we are staying out of the town in a Masseria, or farm stay. Unfortunately, the internet here is spotty (aka terrible) and so I am behind in my blogging.

After checking in at Masseria Panareo, we got back in the car and drove the 8 km back to the port town of Otranto.

Otranto is another maze of windy lanes and little shops, we don’t know where we’re going, but it is a beautiful journey.

And we passed by another wedding party waiting for the bride and groom to emerge, but I didn’t make Don wait around – the last one took awhile. We rounded the corner of the church and saw the waiting getaway car though.

Then Don said the magic words, “Pizza and French fries”!

Later on in the day the guy at reception suggested a place to swim in the ocean that was nearby, so we headed there in the late afternoon. The water here is warmer in the ocean than in the pools!

The following day (since I am several days behind), we headed for the Grotte Della Poesia. I had seen photos of this geological phenomenon during my research of the area, including photos of people swimming in the pool that is formed by the rock and fed by the sea. Unfortunately, you can no longer swim in there, and we can see why. Especially on a windy day like today, it would be treacherous and even letting stupid tourists near the upper edge is not a good idea (as we saw one young woman stumble backwards while striking a pose for the perfect instagram photo). But the coastline here is beautiful and this spot in particular is amazing.

These two were fishing with long poles, long lines and a little bait. No reel (and no catch yet as far as we could see).

Since we couldn’t swim in the hole in the rock, we decided to head back to the beach at Otranto, which was actually sandy (unusual for this area). Since we were going to have a bite to eat first, Don didn’t want to lug our swimming stuff along (I had my gear on under my clothes). So Don ended up not going in, but I did and it was glorious.

Today, the forecast is for lots of rain, thunder and lightning. So far we have seen the wind,and the rain. Apparently this is wreaking havoc with the internet (but I have a suspicion that it is a chronic state at this place), so I am going to sign off again for now. Tomorrow we head to Polignano al Mare, just south of Bari (“Bah-ree to those in the know). See you then.

Our farm stay is about 8 km out of the tiny hilltop town of Locorotondo. Armed with directions to the free parking, we have headed up there for a part of every day. There really is nothing like wandering, “lost” in the tiny car-free (except for the occasional local tiny car) lanes and thinking about people having wandered these same lanes for centuries.

Some lead to dead ends and stairways to homes and others lead you around in circles until you end up where you started out. It is so charming and reminds us a lot of our stay in Seville, Spain. Except there aren’t armies of joints of smoked Jamon hanging from every ceiling. Here is a good shot of Locorotondo that I got (according to Don, by putting him in a life-threatening situation with the car) from the road:

Martina Franca was our destination the following day and the highlight of our day was actually lunch. The hilltop town is very cute, don’t get me wrong, but our conversation with the Italian mother and daughter at the next table really made our day. But first – here’s the church:

We got chatting because Don and I thought it was hilarious that there were faux fur throws on all the chairs already! It was hot! So I made Don pose for this pic to show you:

The ladies were laughing along with us, but then the Mama indicated her scarf/shawl and said in Italian, “it’s always cold in Martina Franca”, which her daughter translated for us. I wanted to say in Italian that it was hot, but I always get “caldo” and “fredo” mixed up, so it takes to long to think it through to actually say it. So the daughter translated for me that for us, it seemed very warm.

Of course the wanted to know where we were from – “ahhhh . . . Canada”. Canadians are quite popular here, I think. So our waitress came by at the same time and told them I understood some Italian (maybe because I knew the difference between “lasagna classics o lasagna vegeteriana”, so I recited my few Italian words: perfavore (please), Grazie (thank you), prego (you’re welcome), mi dispiace (sorry!) and dove il bagno (where is the bathroom?). To which they all clapped and said that was everything I needed to know.

Here is a photo from the cover of the menu – I couldn’t resist . . .but now that I look at it a little closer, I am thinking it might be questionable – probably a reference to some movie but . . . that’s the papa, right?

I had the orecchiette – a local pasta that looks like little ears

And while we were sitting having our lovely lunch and a bottle of wine, this tour passed in front of us. Many longing glances were sent our way (mostly by the men). What a wonderful reaffirmation of travelling on our own . . . for as long as we can.

But there is a reason everyone is here – even in this shoulder season – and that is because these hill top towns are just so gorgeous.

Don had seen a little winery/picnic thing that he wanted to check out in Locorotondo, so later on in the afternoon we headed there. The wine was the first bottle we have tasted that was not good, but the experience was pretty sweet.

I remember hearing that Ostuni was a popular town to visit in the area (maybe from Rick Steves), so we headed there today. It’s bigger and more popular and Don almost killed us by going the wrong way down a one way lane, so it’s not really one of my favourites. But here are a few pics:

We have one more full day here until we move to the coastal town of Otranto, and we have booked a hands-on (hopefully) tour of a local fresh mozzarella making dairy farm. This should be one for the books, so stay tuned for tomorrow’s blog – it should be interesting!

A long time ago (Shannon – when was your trip?) a friend posted a photo of herself and her husband in front of a trullo house in a region of Italy that I had never heard of, called Puglia. Ever since then, I have had it in my mind that Don and I had to visit that area . . . Some day. Well, that day has finally come.

Here we are in trulli country. And it is magical. As we drove from Matera (which once was a part of Puglia, but now is in Basilicata), we started to see these amazing little conical structures in the fields – once used by shepherds, or for storage or animals or even as living quarters. Here is the first one we saw, right in the middle of a field:

From then on, they were dotted all along our route to our next home away from home:

Needless to say, the place is amazing. Masseria Serralta is located just a few kilometres away from the hilltop town of Locorotondo – just far enough to feel like you are in the countryside. Although our landlady here could take a few pages out of Lorenza’s book (she actually chastised us for taking a couple of plates, cutlery and a small bowl out of her kitchen when our information book specifically said “if you use the kitchen, make sure you clean up after yourselves”). Turns out that our information book was actually supposed to be in the room with a kitchenette and she meant to remind people to clean their own dishes, but we didn’t know that. She made a huge and uncomfortable point that the things in the kitchen were “her stuff” and she didn’t want people touching “her stuff”. Later she realized that we had the wrong information book in our room, but there was no apology. Anyway – Don has forgiven her. I think she must be on the spectrum. If she is, I forgive her too. If she isn’t . . . I haven’t quite.

We had heard that Alberobello – a village of trulli houses – was very popular and that we should go early in the day to avoid total chaos on the tiny streets. We didn’t get there super early, but early enough to easily find parking, so that made Don happy. The symbols on the roofs are either religious, zodiac or luck – take your pick.

Octopus burger anyone?

On the other (obviously less visited) side of the main street from the trulli there are churches and regular shops – I wanted a photo of these amazing tomatoes, but three girls were in my way and Don was still walking, so I took it anyway.

After a swim, a snack and a nap back in our little trullo, we headed up to our hilltop town of Locorotondo. The old town is very picturesque, with a maze of narrow, winding lanes through whitewashed buildings.

The churches here dress their statues in magnificent robes and clothes:

It looks like I have used up my allotted blog space for today – stay tuned for more Locorotondo tomorrow as well as a good look at Martina Franca.