From Mt Fuji we proceeded to Hakone an area with hot springs since this is an active volcanic area.  At at Hakone the water is boiling and the Japanese boil white eggs in the sulfuric water.  When the eggs are done the shells are black. We purchased some eggs because if you eat one you will live seven years longer.  There is a pic of Marsha taking a pic of her egg.  By the way when we got the eggs they were too hot to hold for long without burning our hands. This was all great fun.  We left this area by the “ropeway” which is a suspended gondola.

Then we boarded the bus to go to the Shinkansen bullet train.   We got to the train station and got our tickets.  The train ride was great, but waiting on the platform for the train was the most fun.  Several bullet trains sped through this station and it was better than drag racing.  There are so many pics I’ll have to continue on part 3.

it is 5am on day 3 when I am writing this.  We had an extremely busy day yesterday starting again with another huge buffet breakfast.   The flower arrangement was in the lobby of the hotel and made with real flowers.   We then boarded the bus to go towards Mt Fuji.  It was a long ride with a stop at a rest stop.  Then on to the Peace Park.  This place is beautiful with a great view of Mt Fuji.  The Peace Park has many temples and the grounds are just beautiful.  The Japanese are wonderful gardeners.  This short blurb does not due justice of the Peace Park.  We then continued on to Mt Fuji.  There was a lot of snow on the ground as we made our way up the mountain.  Of course it was very cold.   We stopped at a designated area to take pics from the mountain.

Of course on the way we had to stop for lunch.   I’ll send this portion and continue in part 2.

We spent the night at the hotel at the Narita Airport.  We had a huge breakfast buffet again.  All kinds of Japanese vegetables, egg drop soup, udon noodles, bacon, eggs and more.  All great food. Met our tour guide at 8am and boarded the bus for the day’s adventure. First stop was the Imperial Palace.  We stopped for photos and then back on the bus and on to the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation. Great museum even though everything was in Japanese.   The toilets at the museum have a button for music and it plays the sound of a toilet flushing.  These toilets are all high tech and all different that is why I  am taking so many pictures of them.

Next was lunch – sukiyaki-  there are pics and it was wonderful.  The restaurant was in a mall so of course there was some shopping involved.  Then back on the bus to the UenoPark to see cherry blossoms.  The trees are budding, but not yet blooming and it is very chilly.  We are hopeful they will bloom in a few days.  While in the park we were invited to attend something by women wearing kimonos.   See pic. We think it was for the Musem of Western Art.  The women invited us to sit and gave us a little cake.  See pic of half eaten cakes. Marsha went to take pics and the woman came and handed me a bowl of kelp tea.  I took a sip and it was awful and disgusting.  However to be polite I drank all of the tea(yuk).  The little cake was good and we discovered it was filled with red bean paste.  It was nice to see a group of ordinary women in their kimonos.  

We then went to the Asakusa Sensoji Temple to see the largest paper lantern.  We said a prayer in the Buddhist Temple and walked through a street mall to the largest paper lantern. We saw rickshaws by the temple and people were riding in them. It was windy and cold but on we went to Tokyo Tower.  It is similar to the Eiffel Tower in looks.  We went to the observation deck for picks.  Marsha and I took a selfie because we took a selfie on the Eiffel Tower.  Then back on the bus to check into our hotel for the night.  Once we settled in our room we went out looking for food.  We had a nice meal and by this time-10pm- we were tired.  We returned to our room for a goodnights sleep since we are going to Mt Fuji tomorrow.  I am writing this in the bus since I was too tired last night.

  More pics 

After finally getting some sleep we foraged in the hotel for breakfast.  They had a breakfast buffet and we decided to eat there.  The buffet was huge with an assortment of very different foods.  We feasted on all kinds of vegetables and salads.   They also had curry, tofu, fruit, eggs and sausage.  I took pics, but you really have to see it to appreciate the variety of food,

We checked out and headed for the subway to head into a downtown region of Tokyo  We then went looking for lockers to stow our luggage. We tried several locations but all the lockers were taken.  We continued on and finally checked out bags for the day.  On we went to sightsee.   We started toward the Skytree Tower.   It is the  tower behind me in the pic.

We got to the tower and it was ridiculously crowded.  The wait time to go up was 2 to 3 hours.  We didn’t wait and since the tower is attached to a mall  we went to see the stores.   We found a department store that had a huge food section.  Of course we had to investigate plus they were giving away samples.   I took a pic of the beer section.

It was approx 4pm so we went to retrieve our bags and head for Narita Airpot and the hotel where we will meet the tour.  We rode the subway for an hour to the airport then took the shuttle to our hotel.  We were really tired. We ate in the hotel and fell asleep early.  It is now 3am and we are wide awake.

I forgot – the green stuff on the blender is a drink made with spinach, apples and honey.  It’s really good.

I also decided to take a pic of the 2nd toilet even though it is not as spiffy as the first.  Marsha and I thought we could name this the Japan Toilet Tour.

It is now 1am Tokyo time Sunday morning.  It is noon Saturday in Brooksville.  If you are confused so are we after two long plane rides.  We were fed a ton of food on the flight from LA and I got to watch three movies.  We are very over tired but excited.  We cleared customs with no problems.  We were fingerprinted as we cleared customs. We are staying at the airport hotel since we arrived so late.  We checked in and went to explore the airport which is great.  We went to an ATM and got some yen and walked all over the terminal   I am sending pics from the observation deck  and as usual Marsha  I had to toast our new adventure.  We are collapsing in bed because there is more to do tomorrow before we meet up with our tour.  I almost forgot about the bathroom.  The toilet seat is heated and I took a pic of the instructions for the toilet.  It does everything but dishes and may do them, but we have not figured that out.  Sayonara for now – we are exhausted.