After such a full day on Saturday, we had a leisurely start to the day. I didn't sleep particularly well, despite having my blow-up air bed with me (thank goodness I brought it on the trip -- the bed is on the hard side!). The real problem was that one side of me froze -- the side where there wasn't enough quilt to cover me, as Michael had gone to sleep on top of the quilt, making it impossible to pull across my body any further (he later climbed under it, but I didn't realise this!). We have discovered that the settings on the air conditioner are provided to make you think you have some control over the air temperature in the room, whereas you actually have none! 

Breakfast in the dining area downstairs was interesting -- I tried the selection of Japanese accompaniments to the scrambled eggs, but preferred the fresh fruit and yoghurt with a drizzle of honey . A bite of Michael's croissant confirmed that my choice the next day would be more conservative. (I can appreciate Mum's delight when she saw Cornflakes on the menu when she visited Japan with Dad in 1980 - it just doesn't seem right to have dinner for breakfast! ;-) 

Back in our room, I plotted out the itinerary for the day, marking the places on our map. We took my iPad with us (in Michael's back pack -- this is a relevant bit of information!), and then set off at about 11:20am (taking our time is part of being on holidays!). Our first stop was the East Gardens of the Imperial Palace, the site of a 17th century palace that was burned down only 19 years after it was built. The remnants of the huge walls that protected it have been restored, along with a few of the guards' houses. Massive stone walls fortify the banks of the island, the west side of which contains the present Imperial Palace. The wide moat would certainly have provided protection for the royal family and its subjects .

We then wandered into some nearby gardens, stopping for a brief rest to check the map, and then proceeding on past a huge indoor sports stadium around which were milling groups of children in uniforms with protective breast plates that led us to guess that they had been involved in some sort of fighting comptetion. Having descended down a few flights of stairs into the nearby subway station, Michael went to put the map in to his back pack, only to discover that he'd left the back pack back in the park where we had rested for a few minutes (about 10 minutes walk back)! He handed me the map and his camera and set off at speed back to the park. As I followed behind, I thought about what was inside the pack -- my sunscreen -- it wouldn't be the end of the world if that were gone...but, oh no! My precious iPad!!! I had even had a moment of uncertainty when I had put it in Michael's back pack, but had reassured myself that it would be OK! As I hurried back in the direction of the park, I tried to remain optimistic, having been told that the Japanese are very honest people and that you could leave things in the street and they wouldn't touch them . And so I hoped that if someone had, s/he would take it to the Gardens' office. There hadn't been many people in the park, and so...perhaps it would still be there...but if it weren't? Well it had about 6 hours' worth of power left and so we'd be able to track its location.... All of these thoughts going on in my mind as I hurried back past the sports arena, around the kiosk and back to the park entrance -- and then Michael appeared, smiling with relief, with the back pack safely back on his back! The pack is black and dark green, and he'd apparently tucked it under the bench where we had been sitting, and so it was not very obvious. He couldn't even see it until he was back close to the seat. 

So with my iPad safe and sound (phew!), we continued on our way, taking the subway to Asakusa (NOT Akasaka this time!), the historic district of Tokyo. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asakusa
The area was packed with tourists! We made our way through the grand entrance gate and shuffled along between the two rows of stalls that lead up to the impressive Buddhist temple . Some plastic soft-serve ice creams on display enticed us in to the shop -- some of the flavours were a little questionable, and so we settled for a safe flavour - blueberry yoghurt. We were instructed to eat the ice cream in the shop -- and then I remembered our exchange students informing us that in Japan it is rude to eat whilst walking! 

Closer to the temple, some people were trying to inhale the smoke coming off a structure that looked like a covered BBQ, whilst others were scooping water out of a well and pouring it on to their hands or feet. Many stalls close to the temple were providing various religious items for sale, as well as selling fortune-telling services (my guess) - people were shaking a container, and so I presume that a number would be revealed that would match up with a particular prediction for a fortunate life (or otherwise). We climbed the steps, past those who were queued to be blessed as they entered, and viewed the inside of the temple (photographs were not permitted) . 

Right next to the temple is the Asakusa Shrine -- https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asakusa_Shrine

We wandered through the narrow streets of shops, many of which were covered by large roofs, winding our way down to the river where we sat and rested for a while. By this point in time, I was feeling my age -- my legs and feet were aching and tired. I then dragged myself up so that we could catch another subway (it took a while to find the line we wanted - sometimes, the entrances are 200-300 metres down the road from entrances to other lines), and head towards the Metropolitan Government Office buildings where I'd read that there was a free observatory deck in the north tower that was open until late. It was about 5pm when we arrived, and fortunately we only had to wait about 10 minutes before riding the lift to the 45th floor. The day had gone from overcast to quite sunny, and so the views were great, although we couldn't see Mt Fuji. 

A few subway train rides, and we were back in the Akasaka area (the location of our hotel). Michael was keen to go and freshen up before dinner, but it was already close to 7pm and I just wanted to eat and then collapse in our room -- which is what we did. We looked at a lot of plastic food displays (which is how some restaurants entice you inside -- although some of their dishes were actually off-putting!), but in the end decided to dine in a small diner that displayed its dishes with photographs. The young woman working there had to show us how to order our meals via the machine at the front door, even putting your money into the machine to pay. The bells and whistles made it sound as if you'd hit the jackpot when your change was delivered! The meal was tasty and filling, and topped off with ice creams that we bought at a 7/11 store a little further down the street. 

After catching up with my blog for the previous day, we turned out the lights and fell asleep in no time!