Giorgio Armani, Brunello Cucinelli, Gucci, Chanel, Ferragamo, Prada, Valentino, Cartier, Lou’s Vuitton, Jimmy Choo, Dior are all within two blocks on my accommodation. Yet walk 50 feet between two blind alleys and with luck find my humble digs in a hidden square. This is truly Venice.
Though Venice is only 2 and 1/2 square miles, it’s a spider web of canals making walking on land a challenge. Water taxis are the best way to go. I sat in the immediate front of the Vaporetto taxi with a grin on my face riding to my accommodation. I’m here.
36 hours later and it’s still April 23th. Dear friends from Charlottesville now living in NYC met me in Jamaica Heights for a Napoli dinner. Dinner with chopsticks! They shared their memories from visiting Tokyo and Kyoto during last year’s Tokyo Marathon. They fed the Nara dear too!
The “pièce de résistance” was seeing Mt. Fuji from my plane window. How can you top the national symbol of Japan as my departing image?
While at Disneyland I realized my favorite red and blue Siamese scarf was missing. With optimism I filed a report with the Disney’s Lost and Found Department. Two days later I’m packed to leave for my flight in six hours and receive a Disney email. My scarf had been found! I grabbed my belongs and headed to Disneyland. Joyfully I claimed my scarf and with persistence and with no reservations got a seat on the limousine bus from Disneyland to Haneda Airport.
Rambling through Tokyo’s Asakusa district, I found a Japanese restaurant catering to locals. It’s a two person operation. “Mother” cooks and “daughter” serves. For my first visit, I had Tuna Sashimi ($8). On my return visit, I had Japanese brandy ($6), edamame ($3), grilled Mackerel ($5), and grilled squid ($6). Chatting with dinners added to the experience.
Conductors use an “iPad” type devise measuring time down to a fraction of a second enabling trains to leave the station at the exact time. Public transportation is on time. If you board a train 2 minutes early, it’s the wrong train.
Tokyo from a large or small perspective is breathtaking. Beyond the visual are kind people, a rich culture, and a sense of spirituality.
The East Gardens of the Imperial Palace are open to the public. It reminds me of the green oasis NYC’s Central Park creates. My favorite views are the people who are pausing. The simple pleasure of sitting in a park. Here I find a last double cherry blossoms of the season as if it knows I leave Japan tomorrow.
The Imperial Palace Gardens’ landscape plan is nature’s various shades of green. Flowers are not dominant. Pine trees are much admired for their artificial pruned limbs and for the void between limbs.
Linda Scandore 