Japan 03

March 25

We left the hotel by about 10am and took the Yamanote line from Shinjuku to Ueno. We then walked along Asakusa Dori, admiring the mixture of old and new buildings, junk shops and generally soaking up the atmosphere as we became more accustomed to being in a vast foreign city.
By the time we arrived at Sensoji temple it had started to rain. We admired the repair work being done on the huge lantern in the Kaminarimon (Thunder Gate) and continue along Nakamise dori to the Buddhist temple. We had a brief encounter with several school children who were intent on practicing their English before leaving. At Asakusa station we each purchased a Passmo and hopped on the Ginza line to Akihabara. We have a look up and down Chuo Dori and pause for food at a Yoshinoya and then take some time to explore 7 floors of tech at Yodobashi Camera. Deciding that this had earned us a  reward of cake we ended up in an expensive German Tea Shop.
Leaving 'Akiba', we went South to Tokyo Station and briefly stroll through the skyscrapers of Marunouchi District and in to the International Forum. By now it was getting dark so we quickly went to look at Nihonbashi bridge (Tokyo's zero mile marker) and ducked into Mitsukoshi department store to avoid the worst of the weather. After sampling the delights of the food hall for an hour we made our way back to Shinjuku and found a nice restaurant called Tonkatsu Wako. Finally we arranged seat reservations on the Shinkansen to Odawara tomorrow...

Japan 02

March 24

First off, we exchanged our JR vouchers for JR Passes at Shinjuku station. We then headed out into Shinjuku to look for coffee, which took us a little while. Eventually we found somewhere near the NTT Docomo tower. From there we continued walking until we reached Yoyogi station where we picked up some food and headed on towards the Meiji shrine. It was quite a nice day and there were plenty of couples getting married. We looked around the temple buildings for a while and then moved on to Yoyogi Park to find a bench where we could eat our lunch. Once we'd finished and continued walking along the path we realised where everyone else had been heading - the area under the cherry blossom trees was absolutely covered with hundreds of people having their own picnics! We strolled round the park and then Takeshita Dori before ending up in Shibuya where we stopped for coffee at Starbucks to watch the crowds at the famous crossing. Later, as we went back to the hotel we stopped for a bite at an Izakaya (where Lucy had an exciting moment with her money belt).

Japan 01

March 22

Leaving home before 6am we manage to beat the snow and get airborne to Paris without any problems. The transfer at Charles De Gaulle is straightforward and after a quick coffee we board the Airbus A380 to Narita. The flight is very smooth but I don't manage to get much sleep. Instead I watch Wreck it Ralph, Looper and Argo and we discover that the inflight chat system thinks 'button' in a swear word(?)

March 23

Having arrived in Japan we decide to get the Narita Express straight to Shinjuku and sort out the JR Passes on Sunday. The train takes 90 minutes and gives us our first glimpse of cherry blossom and the sprawling metropolis that is Tokyo. The check-in at the Washington Hotel is from 3pm onwards, so we  grab some lunch from the combini and go to admire the views from the observatory deck (45th floor) of the Metropolitan Governemnt Building. By 4pm we are in our rooms and relaxing. Later we freshen up a bit before finding a restaurant in the hotel that sells noodles and Katsu curry, etc. and eventually to bed.

It's Not Rocket Science ****

Bone Walk

Following the start of Siân's course in Animal Bone Archaeology we went hunting for finds. Our search was ultimately fruitless (except for one large horseshoe) but I'm inclined to think a bracing walk through the Warwickshire countryside followed by a plate of cheesy chips at the Old Lion in Harborough Magna was still a pleasant way to spend Sunday afternoon.

Horologicon ****

Le Chateau

We had a wonderful and relaxing time staying at another Landmark Trust property close to the River Trent, just south of Gainsborough. As usual, we were able to divest ourselves of all the annoying 21st Century distractions like TV, Internet, & Phones and enjoy our immediate surroundings to their fullest.
Gainsborough has a wonderful Mediaeval Hall (but little else to offer), and being in familiar territory allowed us to renew our affinity with big skies and Steep Hill and even afforded us a personal airshow by the Red Arrows.

Wet Weekend Watching Whales

We had a surprise and very welcome visit from Jon and Myles recently. The wet weather on Saturday gave us the ideal excuse to go and visit the Coventry Transport Museum. Unfortunately we arrived just too late to catch the ThrustSSC simulator ride, however the vehicles from the recent Alien film, 'Prometheus' were an added bonus.
Saturday we played games with Simon and ate pizza. (Nothing new there then!)
Sunday was sunny and dry but the recent rain meant that Whale Watching trips at the Red Lion had to be cut short, because no-one could reach the dinghy. Food was good as usual and the close-up magic was a real treat!

Next ***

Alan Davies

Another comedic night out, this time with Alan Davies who gave a brilliant stand up performance. There was no particular theme although he did explain that his tour name came from the lips of a 6 year old child who calmly responded to her mother's chastisement with a sigh, and the first Buddhist truth that "life is pain." Other highlights included the ritual denegration of any latecomers, (particularly those from Nuneaton), and the public 'outing' of his mate Dave via the the medium of Facebook Pokes.

Rhod Gilbert

For his most recent tour Rhod recounts the life-changing effects of having a flaming battenburg tattoo inked onto his shoulder. Topics range from the non-availability of egg & cress sandwiches ('Sorry sir, that one is for display purposes only, so that customers know we sell egg & cress sandwiches') to the futility of anger management diaries ('Given the recent incident that has made you angry; on a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is not at all, how angry are you right now?')
Rhod claims that he is calmer and less angry nowadays yet he still manages to deliver his punchlines with as much scathing wit as ever.

Jack Dee

In an act of pure sponteneity, we decided to see if there were any returned tickets for Jack Dee's Stand-Up performance in Warwick Arts Centre. Surprisingly there were, so we scoffed our supper and headed across town for an evening of mirth. Jack's performance was pretty solid although some of the material felt laboured and lacking creativity. Highlights included his "where's the tent?" story which struck a chord and could easily have drawn parallels with my own tent story had it not recently been rediscovered!

Boston - Day 10

Our last day and we decided to explore those parts of Boston that we'd previously missed. Notably the parks, swan boats and the historic old state house where the Declaration of Independence was first read. Before too long however it was time to start our journey home and we had to leave New England for Old England. We had a fabulous time and may one day finish off the things we ran out of time for!

Boston - Day 9

We could hardly leave New England without exploring a little more of the history that formed a nation. We picked up the trail that led from Boston to Lexington and Concord and visited the towns where the first shots were fired. These initial conflicts led to the siege of Boston and ultimately the withdrawal of Bitish troops and the success of George Washington's Continental Army in 1776.

Boston - Day 8

On Friday we had the morning free to go and visit Salem. The House of Seven Gables is about as close to a National Trust property as you are likely to find in the US. Although it was the basis for Nathaniel Hawthorne's story in 1851 the home was extensively remodelled by Caroline Emmerton in 1908 after she purchased it to prevent its demolition.
We then walked into town and had a sandwich before visiting the Peabody Essex museum which had a special exhibition of work by Ansell Adams. The museum has a nice collection of Eastern art and  much more besides but we had to dash back for the Kidstock! performance in Winchester. The end of week show - Glee club goes to Broadway - gave all the kids equal opportunity to sing and dance and generally impress their parents (or Aunts & Uncles) accordingly.
In the evening we headed out for a meal in North End and took advantage of Restaurant Week; a fixed menu at $33 gave us each 3 courses. For dessert we could not avoid Mike's Pastry and each had a Cannoli which we ate under a full moon in Columbus Park. Perfect!

Boston - Day 7

Although it was a long drive, our GoBoston cards gave us free access to Six Flags New England. Free apart from the car park and cost of lockers and food and drink that is! However, the coasters are suitably impressive; the contrast between Bizarro and American Cyclone being the starkest. Perhaps the greatest use of computers is to design rides that provide fewer bruises than those of years gone by. Oh, and possibly advances in medical science, limitless access to all of human knowledge, etc. etc.
But we soon tired of all the thrills and excitement and returned to Winchester in time to join the 'wall party' with the neighbours who were all extremely friendly and hospitable. A nice ending to a busy day.

Boston - Day 6

The day started off after a bit of a lie-in. We drove back into Boston after a spot of shopping at Target and shoe shopping in Woburn. Once again we found ourselves in the Northend ahead of our scheduled excursion so we had lunch in local restaurant and prepared ourselves for a Segway Adventure! I heartily recommend everyone to try a Segway. They're great fun, very easy to learn and the longer you spend on it the more familiar and enjoyable they become. Our guide, Captain Nemo, gave an informative account of the local sights and ensured the whole tour was a highlight of our week.
Afterwards we took the the T across town for a whistle-stop tour of the Museum of Fine Arts where two remaining Georgia O'Keeffes had been left behind from a tour of Japan. We then raced back to Winchester in order to meet the family at the China Sky restaurant.

Boston - Day 5

On Tuesday, the weather turned wet so we emerged from the T station and huddled under an umbrella whilst getting our bearings on the Harvard campus. After coffee in The Coop bookstore we walked across to the Peabody Museum and Natural History Museum. Both were very 'old school' and would have been ideal venues for another Night at the Museum sequel. The mineral exhibits were very impressive, but I expect it is only possible to look at a finite number of stuffed animals before starting to feel slightly despondent; we probably exceeded that quota. 
Walking back through the campus we saw John Harvard's [statue of three lies]; it's not him, he didn't found the university, and it happened in 1636, not 1638 (and the untold fourth lie is that it's not lucky to touch his foot particularly when you consider what freshmen are made to do when they start college!)
We rode the T back to MIT and met Andrew who gave us a guided tour of his office and recounted several of the MIT Hacks as we walked around their campus. We ended the day with a cruise on the Charles River and then joined up with Andrew again at TD Garden for the train ride home to Winchester. 

Boston - Day 4

We had purchased GoBoston Visitor Cards in advance of our holiday so we kicked of the week with a trip to see some whales in the bay. The Boston Harbor Cruises catamaran takes about 1 hour to reach the feeding area where we were fortunate enough to see a Finnback and several Humpback whales. On the way back we saw The Bounty (a replica tallship built for the 1962 movie) that was leaving Boston to continue its tour along the East Coast. 
After grabbing some lunch from the White Hen Pantry in the Northend, we sat and ate under the trees admiring Paul Revere's statue. Next we visited his restored home and learned of his famous ride to warn the colonists that 'the Regulars are coming!'
Finally we returned to the harbour and New England Aquarium to meet Myrtle the Turtle, get close up with some Jelly Fish and hands on with some Rays. 

Boston - Day 3

On Sunday the weather was perfect for a trip to the seaside; New England style. Rockport is about 40 miles east of Winchester on the peninsula that forms the northern part of the Massachusetts bay. Most of the shops along the front are aimed squarely at tourists like us, but this was not a problem when they are selling whole fresh lobster for only $10! 

After our light lunch I bought a bucket and spade for Iain and we headed back to the local beach to build Crab Castle.