A Turn Up For the Books

I am really struggling to keep the number of photos I am blipping to a minimum, but these are images I want to remember alongside my travel journal... 

I guess I'll start with the main blip... despite the photos being from the evening. We've been using google maps extensively to decide how to navigate Tokyo, and I'd noticed this road on it when we arrived that was red and white striped and labeled "Kagurazaka Street Festival Today", which was odd. Eventually I persuaded Mrs C to go there tonight as it mentioned music and food stalls. So after our late afternoon swim we headed out for it. The street was very busy and closed off as per main blip photo 1 then as we reached the top of a hill there were indeed food stalls all down the street. It was bustling, traders happily shouting out their stall's contents which was varied and most were selling beer. We had seen people with corn of the cob and eventually we reached that, cooked still on the stalk... we had 2 each! Then I got some mushrooms with lemon sauce while Mrs C went to get some beer and when I got back... bad news... she'd been sold whisky and soda, from a barrel! Hmm... she was happy to drink it and Ms H decided she would drink the other!!! She is pictured drinking the whisky eating a corn on the cob in front of a traffic cop - drinking age here is 21! We finished dinner with a lamb chop and some beef/pork and noodles.. and some more beer...

And while we were finishing it all off, a performance started just in front of us outside a shrine, some musicians and a performer with a big happy face, basically telling the story about how he caught a fish. Well you might think.. oh yeah... but it was during this very funny show that we all thought to ourselves, we were glad we came here. It wasn't touristy at all, it was full of local people eating and drinking, children running around and everyone having fun, and it might be the most real part of our holiday! Ah.... well it's on tomorrow again :-)

So back to the plot... we began the day going to Sensō-ji Temple which was built in 645ad. It has one of the highest pagodas in Japan apparently. There was more to see than the one we saw yesterday. Previously I had refrained from photographing the inside of the temples, but this one must be touristico central... everyone was taking photos including the Japanese visitors... so why not. When in Rome... so extra #1 has those photos.

Early afternoon seemed to include some shopping... also scheduled for tomorrow, at anime and manga shops, including Ms H getting a snap with someone or other. This was another part of the city and again the buildings were cladded with advertising. Skipping to after the festival, we took a walk around Shinjuku, again bustling. We saw Godzilla on top of a building and a Robot Restaurant! These photos are in extra #2 along with the Tokyo SkyTree, which we decided not to go up... it's the highest in Japan.

Last full day tomorrow... sigh...