Czech Republic: Prague & Kolin

The last 2 stops during my week in Europe were a good experience because I am positive I'd never visit them if it weren't for work.  I have truly never thought to myself: I'd like to go to Czech Republic or Poland.  Call me kooky, but they are just not at the top of my vacation list.

Czech was a true quick trip.  We arrived in the morning and flew back out in the evening.   

I know Japan likes to be "green", but the Czech airport was taking things to the max.  The taxis aren't allowed to be turned on unless they have passengers in them to save on air pollution.  So once the taxis get in the queue for passengers, they have to put them in Neutral and get out and push them to the front of the line!  Yeah, seriously, this is what I saw to welcome me to Prague!!  I actually felt really bad for the drivers.  Sometimes that queue line is really long and if they're in the back of the line, they are pushing for a l-o-n-g time!!

Here I am at Transfreight office in Czech, pictured with the local manager Daniel. 

After several hours of meetings and learning about the joint venture plant Toyota-Peugeot-Citroen Automotive, we decided we could probably fit in dinner and a quick look around Prague before our plane.  (Just remember that Mitsui likes to arrive for things at the last minute...)

Here's my dinner in Prague: goulash with potato cakes, bread, and the local brew.  I ordered it basically for the potato cakes, but sadly they were nothing like Izzy's (a yummy Cincinnati restaurant).  Also, that wasn't anything like I was expecting for goulash.  Truth be told... this is the meal when my stomach started causing me problems on this trip!

Oh yeah, while eating I also spilled some gravy on my shirt.  No big deal because I also had a sweater to cover it up with.  But I just pulled that shirt off the laundry line tonight, and I see the stain is still there.  For a girl who has about 10 outfits total, I really am not happy about losing my shirt to this meal!

Now for some sightseeing on the streets of Prague.

Here is Old Town Square.  I am still loving all of the amazing building and distinctive architecture.

Gothic-looking castle

Sometimes the building details are the best, like this balcony.  It's so ornate.

Bridge Tower of the Charles Bridge.

The Clock Tower, where we happened to be at the top of the hour, and a bugler came out to play us a tune!

While weaving through the crowd to get a better look, Nishimura reminded me to "protect" my purse.  Good advice because I take the safeness of Japan for granted these days.  It did make me a little paranoid though, but perhaps with good reason.  Towards the end of the evening, while Nishimura was haggling with the taxi drivers trying to find the best rate to the airport, I saw one driver had a huge knife attached to his car door!  Needless to say, I wasn't getting in that taxi!  The ironic part is that the driver gave us the highest price out of them all.  I have a feeling that knife is used more as a weapon for threatening unsuspecting tourists into paying than to protect himself.

How about a Harry Potter marionette?!  LOL.

So what else is unique about Prague?!  (You know, besides the knives carried by some taxi drivers?)

• 
  
  Dogs were all over the Old Town area with no leashes on, and they were very well-behaved!
• 
  
  Prague has a cable car system that runs through the middle of the street, but people can use those lanes to pass the slow traffic or in general drive recklessly.  I found it amazing that people just "know" when the cable car is coming and get out of the way.  Even with all of the pedestrians wandering around, no one seems to get hurt by the cable car and it just whizzes through town every few minutes.  Granted it doesn't go as fast as a train, but there are no railings or protection gates any where to be found!  All you see is a billion cables overhead and wheel tracks on the road as a warning.
• 
  
  The McDonald's that had drive thru's said "McDrive" on the sign instead!!
• 
  
  Shop owners stand in the narrow doorways of the shops and stare out into streets.  They don't look too friendly, and no one ever smiles (not just the shop owners).  I wonder how they make any sales?  I certainly wasn't going to approach these people and ask them to step aside so I could go into their shop that may or may not have a giant knife next to the register...
• 
  
  They do have cool cars names.  I saw a Citroen "Picasso" and Skoda "Favorit". 

The Czechs are crazy about their beer. 

Kawakami kept telling me that Budweiser was the famous beer from here, but I knew that couldn't be true.  As it turns out, it is true!  They started making beer in the city of Budweis in 1795 with the name Budweiser.  It wasn't until 1907 that a trademark war began with the Budweiser we know, owned by Anheuser-Busch.  The resolution was that both countries can sell their beer with the name "Budweiser" in their home region.  Europe for the Czechs, and North America for Anheuser-Busch.  The Czech version is actually called "Czechvar" when sold in the US, and Anheuser-Busch just calls theirs "Bud" in Europe!

In addition, pilsener beer was also developed in Czech in the 19th century in the city of Plzen (spelled Pilsen in German).

Finally, we make it to the airport.  All of the while, we are worrying we are going to be late because the city of Prague prefers to pick up their trash at 7:20pm on Thursday and block narrow streets.  As it turns out, there is no one at the airport.  Seriously.  No one was in the terminal checking in.  (We already had our tickets anyway.)  No one was in line for security.  No one was in the terminal.  (More people did eventually join us at the gate.)  But it was rather spooky.  I used my few extra minutes to go shopping without the creepy store owners staring at me.  Czech is known for glass, so I bought a glass bowl. 

Kawakami thought I was crazy.  He vividly remembered the laptop incident which occurred just that morning and was sure this thing would never make it back unharmed :)  I proved him wrong!

Belgium: Brussels

We didn't actually have any work to do in Brussels, but that was the closest airport in and out of Onnaing, France.  Brussels is one of the favorite cities of the president of Transfreight Europe, so he suggested we ditch France on our last night in town and go check out Brussels instead :)

The TF Europe President, Nishimura, took really good care of me while I was visiting Europe.  You will notice the pictures get increasingly better the rest of the week because he takes me to all of the hot spots!!  He even gave up a French holiday to travel to Czech and Poland with us.  You can't help but wonder if the president of TF North America would extend the same kind of hospitality for a visitor?

Here's the hotel lobby that Nishimura picked out for us.  It was a beautiful place called the Le Palace Hotel built in 1908.

It's a good thing I love old world charm because this hotel probably would have irritated me otherwise.  It had an extremely narrow tub, as in I couldn't turn around in it without falling over.  It also had a separate room for the toilet. (That's way too Japanese for me on a week where I am supposed to be enjoying life away from Japan!)  And the bed sagged in the middle like it, too, was from 1908, but still I slept fine and I loved the whole experience!

We rushed around Brussels sightseeing before eating dinner.  Thank goodness that Europe has Daylight Saving Time so it stays light past 7:00pm there (unlike Japan!). 

First stop was Grand Palace.  It is the city center of Brussels and known as one of the most beautiful in Europe.  It really was unbelievable.  Pictures will never do it justice.  The Grand Palace is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  Don't know what that is?  Don't feel bad, I didn't either until about 2 weeks ago.  They are crazy for World Heritage Sites in Japan and Europe!

Here is the Town Hall in the city center.  The original was built in 1455.  It's been destroyed and rebuilt several times since then.

These are called Guildhalls, homes built by wealthy merchants back in the day that surrounded the city center.

These wealthy merchants obviously liked their gold...

Kerri touching some statue on the side of a church.  Nishimura has no idea why people touch it, but everyone does.  So he makes it a point to stop by and "pet" the dog whenever he is nearby.  (The dog is hiding behind the woman's leg, just to the right of my hand in this pic.)  Maybe I will have eternal life or beauty or luck now :)

Next stop Manneken Pis (originally from 1619 but stolen several times over the years), which is Dutch for "little man urinating".  This tiny statue is only 24 inches tall, but the most popular in Belgium.  He is often dressed in costumes, which people send to him from all over the world!

I knew he looked familiar... the Huvaere's used to have a replica of him peeing in their swimming pool when I worked for them! I always thought they had a twisted sense of humor, but now I know they were really art lovers :) 

There is also a rather new (1987) "Jeanneke Pis", little girl urinating, statue in Brussels, too.  She's not as popular (no doubt why that is...), and she is behind a total gate.  I tried to take a picture, but it was after dinner, totally dark, through a fence.  No such luck!

Kerri is hungry for a Belgium waffle :)

This is Kawakami's favorite Manneken Pis, filling up the stein of beer!

We went to a special "mussels" restaurant where we only ordered seafood for dinner.  That includes snails (escargot), oysters, shrimp pockets, and each of us got a giant bucket of mussels.  I got mine "au gratin" style, thinking that if they were covered in cheese and butter, I could handle a whole plate of them!!  

Brussels in known for beer, but I couldn't resist trying the raspberry beer.  It's hard to tell in this pic, but that beverage is bright pink :) and fruity like a cocktail.

I also saved room for dessert: a warm Belgium waffle smothered in ice cream, chocolate fudge, and whipped cream.  This dessert made my whole trip worth it!!  The 3 men were making fun of me the whole time because I was eating this thing like it was about to be snatched away from me, but I didn't care... it was so yummy.  I told the guys half-heartedly before I started eating that they could try some, but thank goodness no one actually took me up on my offer!! 

Belgium is also known for their amazing chocolates (Godiva, anyone?), so I love this town just for it's food!!

People were out partying in the streets late because the next day was a holiday in Belgium and France, but we were moving on to Czech, so we had to get back to the hotel for some shut eye.

The airport had the most amazing sign at the entrance to the parking garage that indicated how many parking spots were available on each level.  Then when you got to the level, it told you which rows had spots.  Then when you got to the row, (you guessed it) there was a green light above every open space!!  It was awesome use of technology that I wish Cincinnati would adopt so I don't have to drive around in circles so much!!

Finally, we arrive at the airport, and it's busier than expected because it's a holiday and many people have decided to take a 4-day vacation!  Going through security I was (of course) asked to step aside to be patted down.  But that wasn't the worst of it. 

While my belongings were left unattended on the security belt, someone went by and pushed my laptop off of belt.  Yeah, on to the floor.  Where it promptly snapped into 4 pieces!!  Seriously...  Airport security weren't too reassuring or helpful.  They gave me the email address of their insurance agent in case I had any complaints!  Uh, yeah, like there was a doubt in anyone's mind I was pissed off. 

So my laptop has a cracked cover, is missing a few pieces, and sounds like an Etch-A-Sketch when I pick it up, but I'm still using it right now.  And shocking... I still haven't heard back from the Brussels insurance email people yet and it's been nearly a week!

Because of this little issue at security, the real tragedy is that we nearly missed our flight, so I had no time to go shopping for more waffles and chocolate :(

France: Lille, Onnaing, Petit Foret, & Valenciennes

My time spent in France wasn't so awesome.  Toyota France, like Toyota plants every where, was in the middle of nowhere.  So we spent a lot of time in cars being shuttled from the hotel to work to dinner to the hotel to work again and finally to the airport. 

One thing that did leave an impression on me was the crazy number of roundabouts in the roads.  I'm pretty sure there is some law where you can't make a left turn in France.  Instead you have to drive in a giant circle and then make a right turn.  Here's a sign for an example.  This roundabout has 4 exits or you can go back the way you came from.  Every half a mile we'd encounter these, and I was getting kind of car sick riding in circles all of the time.  I guess being from the U.S. I'd much rather stop the car, waste some fuel while idling, and when traffic clears finally make a left turn.

Another bizarre traffic thing... The lights here turn red/yellow for a few seconds just before turning green.  It's like telling everyone to rev the engine and get ready to race off the stop line!!  Seems kind of insane to me, but perhaps it reduces the number of people who run red lights.  They know they will likely get broadsided!

All of the mini-cars that we rode in (they were really Toyota Yaris's) were Bluetooth-enabled, and people used that feature extensively.  We couldn't drive 2 kilometers without someone making or taking a call!  I thought the car was so loud on the road while driving I could barely hear the person sitting next to me, much less hear some voice on the phone!  In addition, there are social rules in Japan where you are not allowed to talk on your phone in any mode of public transportation, while France not only takes phone calls, but makes you listen to the crackling, distorted voice on the other end!!  Oh yeah, and no one seemed to think the call reception sucked but me.  (I'll have you know that a France guy called me today at the office from his car, and I'm not crazy.  I only caught every fourth word he said.)

Also, I'm not so sure that France doesn't have acid rain!  I found white spots all over my gray pants from rain, and I get caught in the rain all the time in Nagoya without this problem...

Let's move on to the hotel.  Here's one feature that I've seen before in Europe that I totally forgot about... the half-wall of glass for a shower curtain.  Seriously, that's it.  I'm not sure how everyone else manages, but I splash water out all over the place, and it might as well be a pond in my bathroom when I'm done with this thing.  Can skinny people keep the shower spray inside the half-glass wall better than me?!  I'll never know...

Kawakami, my travel buddy, chose this far away hotel because it has internet access.  (The 3 hotels within one hour of Toyota do not have internet.)  As it turns out, the internet all over Europe is so painfully slow you might as well not try to do any work any way.  I didn't really notice because I always choose sleep whenever we were dropped at the hotel, but this one was Kawakami's observation!!

I was so used to being in London and speaking in English for an entire day that I forgot where I was, so when I stepped in the elevator in the morning and said "Good morning" everyone just stared at me.  Seriously stared.  I then I remembered that I don't know any French...

What is cool about France?

• Well, how about everyone had sweet 80's ring tones on their cell phones like "The Bangles" and "Cyndi Lauper"! 
• They also liked to play English-speaking music really loudly in restaurants and lobbies, which I loved!!
• And to those who say the Japanese are the most "fashionable" people in the world, I'd say that French give them a run for their money.  I loved French outfits, too.  Many men would have their shirts unbuttoned halfway down their chests, and the amounts of jewelry was fascinating on both men and women!  I also noticed some weird piercings, too, like the back of the neck.  (That's always where I've wanted to display my latest jewel, too!)
• People were greeting each other with 2 cheek kisses all over the place!!  Even co-workers!!  Maybe I will try that on the LED guys when I return ;)
• I also saw a place selling cars under the name "Land Rover Ass" Dealership!

The people in France had fun trying to teach me new French phrases, and I just don't have the skills for another language.  But I decided I did like saying "c'est la vie", which means "that's life".  It has an easy going spirit, and a sense of acceptance even in hard times. 

Tomorrow you can learn how I had to put my new "c'est la vie" attitude to use while in the Brussels Airport...

United Kingdom: London, Derby, Burnaston, & Birmingham

The first day of my trip was London, and I loved every minute of it!!  London is so charming, exactly what you would picture, and every thing is in English!!

I was so excited to see vending machines full of food... it's the small pleasures in life!!  (Japan only has vending machines for beverages.)

 

Here is our hotel. Seriously, if this is what the hotel looks like imagine all of the other buildings!!  The architecture was so fascinating!

 

The hotel did have it's flaws though. Who bolts the blow dryer to the drawer in the desk?! It was definitely odd...

 

Here's typical London taxi cabs you can find every where.  I kept thinking that Super Nanny was about to jump out! 

The interesting part was that they have no trunk. The seats for passengers are all of the way in the rear, and your luggage rides with you in the vast backseat space. The only problem was whenever our taxi driver sped up, our rolling luggage would come sliding toward us. They also had 2 jumper seats that folded down from the driver partition and faced backward if you needed seating for more than 3 passengers.

Another famous London sight: red double decker buses!

We didn't have any time for sightseeing, but the taxi did drive by Buckingham Palace on the way to the office in the morning!  I will certainly have to come back here on vacation some day to experience all that it has to offer!  London is the largest city in Europe and everyone speaks English, what's not to love?!

We took a train from Heathrow airport to Paddington Station, and look who I met...

Paddington Bear!!

You may recall the children's book A Bear Called Paddington.  I had no idea that there are 12 different Paddington books (he's quite the celebrity), and the orginal one dates all of the way back to 1958!  Needless to say, stuffed Paddington Bears were on sale everywhere, some as costly as $500!

I guess they have to make their money somehow... I also saw that it cost 30 GBP (~$0.44) to use the restroom in the stations.  (Payable only in coins of 10 GBP denomination.)  I made a mental note because I didn't exchange any currency for my one day stopover, and clearly they don't accept American Express!

The trains in UK seems older, louder, dirtier, and shakier than the ones in Japan (but still acceptable).  One thing I was not happy about was that half of the seats in the train car faced backward and the other half faced forward.  In Japan each train seat has a foot pedal that will rotate the seats from one direction to another.  For a girl who gets motion sickness, I'm really not a fan of riding backwards on a train for 90 minutes...

Oh yeah, speaking of train differences... London also does not keep to their train time schedule like Japan does.  We learned this the hard way when trying to get to Derby, and we watched our train pull away from the platform without us on it.  When we turned around, the clock still indicated that we had 30 seconds before departure!!  I could complain about missing my non-refundable train because it left early by a few seconds, or maybe next time we should allow ourselves a few more minutes of buffer!!  I always thought it was nerve-racking how Japanese people like to wait until the very last second for everything, so I'm okay that we finally had to learn our lesson!!

UK also had some silly signs and sayings:

• Bizarre to be called "Love" at the airport.  As in "I'm just going to check your bag, Love".
• "TO LET" was in giant letters all over the places.  I kept thinking I was seeing "TOILET" (now you know what's always on my mind...), but it actually meant "Office Space for Rent".
• "Taxi Set Down" is really the same as "Taxi Drop Off".
• And I'm going to use this as a Transfreight safety message one day: "Coughs and sneezes spread diseases!"

I hear the volcanic ash cloud is looming over UK causing airport delays again this week--London is one city I wouldn't mind being stranded in! 

Next comes France...

Busy Week in Europe

I am now back in Japan trying to recuperate from my whirlwind business trip to Europe last week.  It was truly a week full of planes (8), trains (4), and automobiles (39)!!  I am exhausted because our schedule left little time for sleep, and I am expected to be at work on Monday at 9:15am even though I didn't get back home until after 9pm on Sunday.



The weather was terrible all week. I was told to pack warm, but I looked at weather.com before leaving and was optimistic of their predictions. Most days it was gloomy and rainy and the temperature never went above the 40's. It certainly didn't feel like May. I hear that our originally scheduled week in April (with the volcanic ash cloud) was a beautiful week.

Despite the cool temps, I still noticed that many local people smelled "ripe". And some taxis, hotels, and other establishments had a B.O. scent lingering about. I remember this vividly from my trips to Spain and Italy in the late 1990's. Mental note to myself: Avoid Europe in the summer. I don't want to imagine what happens in hot and/or humid weather.

Speaking of my previous trips to Europe, here are some things I was expecting but didn't get on this trip:

• Towels that were thin and nonabsorbent and are better suited to be a tablecloth, but this time they were fluffy and absorbent and even provided washcloths!
• Crusty rolls for breakfast. I will admit that most days I opted for extra sleep, skipped the hotel breakfast, and ate one of my packed granola bars instead, but the few instances I did have breakfast there was always sliced bread with butter, cereal, and fruit, among other things.

I also forgot that:

• Cobble stone streets seemed charming at first, but by the end of the week I was so over them. They caused me to walk wobbly and made my feet hurt. I will take flat asphalt any day.
• Water is served still or sparkling (no gas or gas), and you always had to purchase an entire bottle at a restaurant, rather than being served tap water.
• Smokers were everywhere!!  Japan doesn't allow smoking on the streets, so I didn't like walking by people who had a lit cigarette and were blowing smoke in my face.  I was even in an elevator that had an ashtray!!
• Hotel rooms are curiously dim.  It seems like every place I went used a 40 watt bulb to illuminate the entire room.

On cool thing is that I ate dinner in 7 different countries in the past 7 days:
Monday ~ United Kingdom
Tuesday ~ France
Wednesday ~ Belgium
Thursday ~ Czech Republic
Friday ~ Poland
Saturday ~ Germany (airport layover)
Sunday ~ Japan

I must confess that all of these different cuisines did not agree with me.  Towards the end of the week, my body went into revolt.  But I continued to eat local foods and local brews since it was expected, and I figured I may never get the chance again.  (Individual food pics to come later this week.) 

I was kind of disappointed that once you get to the mainland of the EU (European Union) there is no border control, so no passport stamps for in and out of each country.   It's like going from Michigan to Ohio.

More details to come later this week once I catch up on my sleep and upload my photos :)

Biz Trip to Europe

This week I am on a business trip to Europe, so you will get a break from the blog.  It will be a whirlwind trip (like always) with 5 countries in 8 days.  That's 8 plane rides and over 32 hours of flight time.  (Normally I'd say "Yay, frequent flyer miles", but these are small obscure airlines.) 

We are visiting TALE (Transfreight Automotive Logistics Europe) to see their 3 current operations and some potential future sites for operations. 

I know there won't be time for sightseeing, but maybe they will at least feed me some tasty European food!

Shopping in Ginza & Asakusa

It's the final day of our Tokyo adventure, and we are ready to find some cool Japanese buys!

Tarynn stops to gaze at the beautiful flowers.

Off to the train station... it felt like we were always buying tickets!

Tarynn with the famous Seiko clock tower in Ginza. 

Somehow we even managed to be there at 12noon to hear it chime :)

Ginza is known for designer labels, but I found some very unique stuff without the designer price tags :)

We were sick of packed trains, so decided to try a boat cruise so we could do more shopping in Asakusa!

Tokyo skyline

Kerri enjoys her viewpoint from the front of the boat!

The breathtaking Chuo-ohashi Bridge

Finally, we arrived in Asakusa and headed for Nakamise Street known for Japanese souvenirs and great deals!

There is always time for snacks.  I am enjoying a "Tornado Potato". 

It looked and tasted like carnival food... I was in heaven!

Ready to get on the bullet train after a long day.  My bags were getting heavy!

Here are a few of my purchases...

Japanese silk robe

and a Hello Kitty welcome banner!

I also got many cool gifts, so rest assured I was not just shopping for myself!

It was a great Golden Week, and I was able to come back to work relaxed and happy.  I'm a true believer in vacations!!

Kamakura & the Great Buddha

Tarynn & Kerri have arrived in the small tourist town of Kamakura about 60 km south of Tokyo.

We were meeting my friend Mika (from CMU) and her friend Saori.  They were our tour guides for the day!

This ginko tree was a "natural treasure" until it was destroyed in a winter storm in March 2010.  They saved part of "Kakuro Incho" so it can remain at the foot of the Hachimangu Shrine were it stood for over 1,000 years.  It's older than the shrine, and legend has it that assassins would hide behind the large trunk and wait for their prey!

The stairs to Hachimangu Shrine.  It was built in 1063 and was another busy mob scene!

Mika and Saori with a bunch of flags in the garden.

Kerri, Mika, & Saori in the shrine garden

There were people every where, especially on Dankazura, the center pedestrian path of Kamakura.

To avoid the crowds, we decided to go for a rickshaw ride!  Mika & Saori are ready to go!

Tarynn & Kerri from behind

So excited for our tour of Kamakura without walking!!

Our special English-speaking guide, Choji, which means "butterfly boy". 

We all had a crush on him!

4 lovely ladies having fun on our rickshaw ride!

This time we even let "butterfly boy" get in the photo.  Some might say he's showing off his best side!!

Butterfly Boy leads us through the streets of town.

One more group shot in front of a shrine (with a forgotten name--perhaps Butterfly Boy was distracting me...)

Tarynn & Kerri pose with our "jinrikisya".

Lunch time!  I had green soba noddles called yomogi men.  They are made with grass and herbs and served with a raw egg, soy sauce, and wasabi for dipping.  The noodles were okay, but I didn't do too much dipping!

Next stop was Daibutsu (a.k.a. Great Buddha at Kotokuin Temple). 

He was constructed in 1252 and is 13.35 meters (over 43 feet) tall and is the 2nd tallest bronze buddha in Japan. 

Great Buddha used to be inside a temple, but multiple temples were destroyed by typhoons and a tidal wave in the 14th & 15th centuries.  Thus, he has been sitting in the open air since 1495.

For 20 yen (~20 cents) we could go inside the hollow buddha!  I'm ready to go down one narrow staircase and up another!

Kerri & Tarynn rub the inside of Daibutsu for good luck!

On to the beach of Fujisawa City!  We decided to ride a vintage half-train/half-streetcar (called Enoden) which has a scenic view of the ocean.  Apparently everyone and the brother (literally!) decided to do the same thing!  Let's just say we couldn't see the ocean because it was an uncomfortable and cramped ride.  The most packed train I've experienced since arriving in Japan.  We thought about taking a pic, but we were smashed in so tightly we couldn't move our arms to reach our camera!

Tarynn was very excited about the ocean since she's from Hawaii, but Mika says the beaches in Japan aren't so nice.  This one was surprisingly trash-filled and muddy rather than sandy.  In addition, they have sand fleas and giant mean hawks (called tombe) that will stop at nothing to get your picnic lunch!  I know seagulls are pests, but last time Mika was here her friend was cut on her cheek by a feather of a hawk who swooped down and stole her sandwich right as she was trying to put it in her mouth!!

The beach looks pretty from a distance, but after hearing Mika's testimonies I think I'll stick to IceBars when I want to cool off!

Final stop is the tiny island of Enoshima.  It is connected to Fujisawa City by one bridge and is 4 km in circumference.  Not surprisingly, this place was also crazy busy, and the walk to the shrine was straight uphill!

View of Fujisawa City from Enoshima Shrine.

This shrine literally makes you jump through a hoop in order to pray!

It's the shrine for wealth, so you toss your yen into a bag of money rather than the usual wooden box!

Here's a another Japanese legend that Mika firmly believes "doesn't work". 

You are supposed to write your name and your lovers name on the pink block.

And then tie it to this tree with 2 stumps to stay in love forever!!

Dinner Time!  We didn't have this, but it looks interesting.

We didn't have this one either...

Here's my real meal: shirasu don. 

It's a bowl of tiny white fish served with seaweed.  I know the picture looks like rice, but I promise you it's about 1,000 boiled fish instead...

We still have one more day in Tokyo to come...