Monday: Ueno

On Monday, Marie and I ventured out into Tokyo without a Japanese guide! Luckily Marie has already learned some Japanese and had a much better subway map and Tokyo guide than I do.

We had decided that we wanted to go to Ueno. (Yet another major subway stop in Tokyo.) There was a lot there we wanted to see. Some good cheap shopping districts (appearently, though we didn't really look/find any) and Ueno Park. Okay, I understand that this sounds like only 2 things. But let me tell you about Ueno Park. First, it is similar to City Park in Denver, in that it is the home of a zoo, a large lake, and two (or three? or four?) museums. Also, there is a concert hall on one end and there is a temple and vestiges of the Japan of the past, a pagoda, shrines, an old bronze, and similar artifacts. The on and off drizzle didn't make us hesitate. That's what rainjackets, hats, and umbrellas are for right?

But, I am getting ahead of myself.

The first thing we did once we arrived successfully in Ueno (on the first try thank you high-tech and English speaking subway line. . . and Marie's brilliant guidance) was look around (and around and around) for somewhere we wanted to eat. Before we found a restaurant we wanted, we found pidgeons! We had each noticed Tokyo's appearent lack, and I even blogged about it. But pidgeons have found their way to Japan after all!

After having no luck at any Japanese places to eat, we found "Becker's: burgers and croissants". We looked back and forth at each other and found ourselves, an American woman and a French woman standing in front of a place selling hamburgers and croissants. We were intrigued and, after looking at the roadside menu, went inside for lunch. Marie got a cheeseburger, but I, refusing to succumb to the burger-tempation quite yet and eager to have more good fish (I am from Denver we don't get it so often) got a tomato and tuna sandwich on flat bread. I hear from Marie that the cheeseburger was good, and she thought it tasted pretty American.

Then, well-fed, we headed back in the direction we thought the park was. On the way, Marie asked a policeman for directions and bought a crepe! She was disappointed. She thought the whipped cream was of a low quality and there was too much of it and the chocolate sauce wasn't very chocolaty. It was Hershey's syrup. I explained that it kind of has a flavor all it's own and is more of a chocolate flavored item than an actual chocolate item. But the bananas were good and the actual crepe was okay. She ate most of it! ;-)

We got to the park and began looking around. We saw more pidgeons and some great fountains. A big bronze statue told us where in the park we were on Marie's map and then we spent a lot of time taking pictures of and around a Buddhist temple.
The Kanei-ji temple is at the top of this hill. The sun was filtering through the clouds and rain giving it the cool misty look.
(Unfortunately, since Monday I have deleted half of my pictures on accident!)

Our ears led us toward some big band/jazz music. I hoped that we managed to catch some kind of Health-Sports Day free concert, but no luck, just free listening drifting over the lake and across the park from the concert hall at one end. We were shocked to realize that 2/3 of the lake was covered in very tall lily-pad type plants! You could scarcely see any water and couldn't see across. It looked more to me like a field in Kansas than a body of water.

We walked around the lake trying to find some part not covered in the plants. They rent small paddle boats and rowboats in the park, so we knew somewhere had to be navigable at the least.

We found a map for the park at one of the entrances. It was in English as well as Japanese and had an interesting translation for "You Are Here".
The Present Position.

In a very roundabout way, this walk lead us around the outside of the zoo (the petting zoo is viewable from the street, by the way) and to the Tokyo National Museum. This museum was a large reason we had wanted to come to Ueno, and a reason we will go back. They exhibit art and artifacts of Japanese and Asian history. Caligraphy, pottery, architecture, textiles, noh and kabuki theatre, weapons and armour, and paintings are all on display.
Guys, I took a picture of a katana just for you. It was amazing. So perfect and deadly looking, with amazing characters on the handle, and back when Eurpeans were using axes and broad swords. (Not that there's anything wrong with that! ;-) )
After the museum closed, we were exhausted. (We only got through one building, but we think we can get back in on our tickets!) So, we headed back towards the train station. On the way the most fantastic sign caught Marie's eye. It was a perfect bookend for a day during which we had befriended a few pidgeons. (Marie, who went to school in Paris, misses her friends the pidgeons.)

The Japan Racing Pidgeon Association!