Well today was our last full day. Sheila and I ventured out on our own. We had gone to Kamakura a week ago and wanted
to go back again. (Hence we didn't really take pictures again). We told Steve and Lydia that we thought we could navigate
the trains on our own. It's takes 1-1/2 hours to get there by train. We actually took 3 different trains and
managed to get there without errors. So
we were pretty proud of ourselves. The
weather has been really nice for most of the days, but today it was cold and
rainy. Really, really rainy.
When we arrived we went down the row of shops and the one
store we came to go back to was part of a block that was closed off by the fire
department. We never figured out if
there was a fire or if they were handling a flooding issue. They had a bunch of hoses going through
manhole covers. Anyway, after about 2-3
hours they finally got done and we were able to go to this one store.
All the shops are pretty tiny and open in the front, so
there was little relief from the rain.
The streets had lots of puddles and our feet were soaked and cold. Everyone had an umbrella. So even maneuvering around these narrow
streets filled with those with umbrellas was challenging as well.
We ate at a McDonalds but the hamburgers didn't look or
taste the same. The fries were great
though. As has been the pattern of
service from the people, when we were done and stood to take our trays to the
garbage, a young woman ran up and bowed and took them from us. Of course with a big smile on her face.
We had left at 9:30 in the morning and were back to our
original train station at 3:30. Steve
had driven us to and from the train station and given us a cell phone that they
have for the girls so we could call if we were lost and so he could pick us up
so we didn't have to walk. So that was
great. We only needed the phone to call
when we got back.
Kyle went back to Tokyo for the day. He went to a fish market and ate sushi to his
little heart's content. Lydia went to
school for most of the day to get ready for school to restart on Monday.
Tonight we went out to dinner to a place that gave us a
ton of food, but Sheila and I ordered chicken, so it was good, just way too
much. That was surprising because they
don't typically serve huge meals. Lydia and Kyle got the fish, of course. Then we came home and started packing.
By the end of the trip we actually got pretty good at
using the few words that we learned and bowing. We felt comfortable navigating
the trains even though most people don't speak any English. We also are starting to get used to driving
on the left side of the road. The turns
are still a little confusing but a lot better.
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