We decided to take it easy today. So we headed over to Kamakura, where we sat on Yuigahama beach for a while and watched the windsurfers. We enjoyed some matcha ice cream from Kamakura Cha-Cha, this time at the maximum matcha level (“for connoisseurs”).
Afterwards, we made a quick detour to Yokohama, but unfortunately picked a bad time. A music festival was going on at the Red Brick Warehouses. It was pretty packed and noisy as a result.
This year the flight was a lot longer than usual, as the route took us around Russia and Ukraine, over Poland, the Black Sea and northern China. But whatever, we’re finally here now! 🙂
Our first stop is Yokohama. Here we first sorted out the Railpass for the train journeys and got our internet access set up.
We also reserved our seats for the train routes where we’ll have our luggage with us. That turned out to be not so easy, because – and the working part of our readers has to be brave now – the upcoming public holiday ( Culture Day ) falls on a Sunday this year, and in these cases everyone in Japan gets the following Monday off. So there’s a long weekend ahead, and many trains were fully booked as a result. Luckily, thanks to the help of a very helpful Japan Rail (JR) staff member, we found workable solutions, even if we have to improvise on a part of the route now.
But yo, we’ve got this! 😆 Our chores for today are done… and so are we! We’re going to sleep off our jet lag now.
Tōkyō’s old landmark, the Tōkyō Tower, is modelled on the Eiffel Tower in Paris. We went up to the lower observation deck at a height of 150 metres and enjoyed the view over Tōkyō and the neighbouring city of Yokohama.
And that’s where we headed afterwards. The Christmas market at the Yokohama Red Brick Warehouses is the biggest we’ve seen in Japan so far. There are loads of food stalls there with mulled wine and bratwurst, but also more unusual dishes like potato soup or Hoppelpoppel, plus stalls selling gifts.
The Christmas market at the Roppongi Hill Mori Tower in Tōkyō is a bit more traditional. It is quite small, but it’s Tōkyō’s oldest and mostly offers typical German gifts.
We finished off the evening with the illumination at the Caretta Shiodome. It claims to be the best in Tōkyō. It’s a light spectacle set to the music from the Disney animation “Frozen”. We liked the Starlight Garden better, though.
The Shinkansen bullet train took us to Kakegawa, where we visited the Kakegawa Kachō-en bird park. In several aviaries here, exotic birds let visitors feed them. Even if that isn’t exactly typically Japanese, it was good fun.
Also, the castle and its accompanying palace in Kakegawa are well worth a visit.
Back in Yokohama, we went for an evening stroll through the colourfully lit, loud and deliciously smelling Chinatown.
And with that, the first stage comes to an end. Tomorrow we are moving on to Kyoto.
After a long flight, we’ve finally arrived. First thing we did was grab the Rail Pass for our train journeys and the SIM card for mobile internet. We’re good to go!
Our first stop and base for the next two day trips is Yokohama. The hotel has a fantastic view of the bay. Festively lit streets and massive Christmas trees in the hotel lobbies are already getting us in the Christmas spirit. A boat dock blasting Christmas music across the bay does the rest. 🎄
But right now, early in the evening, the jet lag is hitting us hard. We can barely keep our eyes open. Tomorrow we’re off to Kamakura.
