The first day I dragged my dad and Dick around Kamakura. It is a beautiful traditional city about an hour away by train. It is one of my favorite places in this area, and we had a great time. We went to the Tsurugaoka Hachiman Shrine first. It is a Buddhist temple... completely beautiful.
Second, we went to the Daibutsu Buddah. It was originally an indoor temple, but in the 1500s (not 1960 like I tried to tell my dad) a tsunami destroyed the building. The Buddha remained in tact, and it is my favorite place in Kamakura.
After that we headed home about 3:30. We though we were getting ahead of rush hour, but unfortunately, we hit the train station the same time school was getting out. Dad got totally surrounded by giggling school girls and he was a sight to see. He was about a full head taller than all of them, so he was also easy to spot. I wish I had a picture!
The next day, we headed into Tokyo. We visited a popular shopping destination and bought lots of goodies. We were also able to see the craziest intersection I have ever seen. Four streets meet in front of the busiest train station in Tokyo, and there are mobs of people who cross in all directions at one time. CRAZINESS!!! After that, we headed to Tokyo Tower to get a good view of the city. We got there right as the sun was going down, so it was incredible to see the city lights come on as it got dark. It was also really interesting for Dick. He was in New York last week, and went to the top of Rockefeller Center. He though New York was an ongoing sprawl until he saw the view of Tokyo.
Like the day before, we hit heavy train traffic coming home. It was at the point where the train monitors with white gloves were pushing people into the train. Not something I want to do every day, but it was all part of the Tokyo experience...
