The Japan Saga: The Beginning
So, I looked around for an easy place to provide a good recap of my trip to Japan and this is it. I'm going to write up multiple recaps (likely one per day) on LiveJournal and make them public posts...and I'm going to direct everyone who asks about the trip to read the online overview here. :)
I'll put them all behind cut tags and promise not to be offended if you don't care. :)
Before I start, though, here's some background.
I went to Japan with EF, which provides educational tours for high school and college students. My friend, Shawn (howlets_wing for those in LJ land)
is a high school teacher and has taken EF trips with his coworker Vicky for the past 12 years. He always invites adults and I made it on to the guest list for this year's trip. :) There were about 25 people who went on the trip, and the adults outnumbered the students (though not by much).
The basic itinerary of the trip:
Day 1 (May 26): Travel - lots of it. I don't plan on recapping the 15 hours of plane travel.
Day 2 (May 27): Arrival in Tokyo
Day 3 (May 28): Tokyo, including a visit to the Meiji Shrine, Asakusa and Yodobashi-Akiba
Day 4 (May 29): Tokyo, including a trip to Tsukiji Fish Market, and Nikko, including a trip to Lake Chuzenji and Toshogu Shrine
Day 5 (May 30): Kamakura, including a trip to the Big Buddha, Odawara, including a trip to Odawara Castle, and Atami
Day 6 (May 31): Atami, Hakone, including a trip to Lake Hakone, Odawara and Kyoto
Day 7 (June 1): Kyoto, including a trip to the Golden Pavilion and Nijo Castle, and Nara, including a trip to the Giant Buddha
Day 8 (June 2): Kyoto, including a visit to Shinkyogoku, and Osaka, including a visit to Osaka Castle
Day 9 (June 3): Osaka and the trip home
Also, for those of you interested in the photos but not the overview, you can find all of them here. Not all of them are good but they are all there *G*
I'll put them all behind cut tags and promise not to be offended if you don't care. :)
Before I start, though, here's some background.
I went to Japan with EF, which provides educational tours for high school and college students. My friend, Shawn (howlets_wing for those in LJ land)
is a high school teacher and has taken EF trips with his coworker Vicky for the past 12 years. He always invites adults and I made it on to the guest list for this year's trip. :) There were about 25 people who went on the trip, and the adults outnumbered the students (though not by much).
The basic itinerary of the trip:
Day 1 (May 26): Travel - lots of it. I don't plan on recapping the 15 hours of plane travel.
Day 2 (May 27): Arrival in Tokyo
Day 3 (May 28): Tokyo, including a visit to the Meiji Shrine, Asakusa and Yodobashi-Akiba
Day 4 (May 29): Tokyo, including a trip to Tsukiji Fish Market, and Nikko, including a trip to Lake Chuzenji and Toshogu Shrine
Day 5 (May 30): Kamakura, including a trip to the Big Buddha, Odawara, including a trip to Odawara Castle, and Atami
Day 6 (May 31): Atami, Hakone, including a trip to Lake Hakone, Odawara and Kyoto
Day 7 (June 1): Kyoto, including a trip to the Golden Pavilion and Nijo Castle, and Nara, including a trip to the Giant Buddha
Day 8 (June 2): Kyoto, including a visit to Shinkyogoku, and Osaka, including a visit to Osaka Castle
Day 9 (June 3): Osaka and the trip home
Also, for those of you interested in the photos but not the overview, you can find all of them here. Not all of them are good but they are all there *G*