Hanami

Curti-Roma-Helsinki-Tokyo

As usual, wake-up at a good hour (5:00), we have to get to Fiumicino airport. Tonight at 2:00 there was also the daylight saving time change and so we lost an hour of sleep... I hope to make up for it on the flight. After the last preparations we go downstairs and quickly we're on the highway, luckily today is Sunday and the road is completely clear including the GRA. In no time at all we reach our favorite parking lot (Italia 92) where we shell out 42 euros for 9 days of parking. After the very annoying checks we finally settle into "our" plane (Finnair). The first stopover is Helsinki, where we arrive 3 hours later. Once landed we discover that our flight has been moved by two hours... never mind, we're on vacation after all. Finally we set off again, destination Narita airport in Tokyo where we arrive 9 hours and 50 minutes later.

All in all the flight passes quickly, we manage to sleep so well that we don't even watch a movie... that had never happened before. On the plane they give us the usual form to fill out and hand in at customs, where the line for passport control is very long, it takes us almost 1 hour!!!. After checking the passports they stick the visa in our passport and we move on to the first problem... namely the ATM (we had the one from Banca di Roma) which doesn't work!!!, whereas the post office prepaid cards work, the Amica prepaid card (Capitalia) and obviously the classic credit card (the maximum withdrawal is 38000 yen with the exchange rate 157 yen = 1 euro). Right next to the ATM there's the JR office where you can take the train to Tokyo (Narita is 66 km away).

Given the price, the Narita express (3000 yen) is to be avoided, better the cheaper limited express (1000 yen), which in 1 hour and 20 min takes us to Ueno (the last stop). Leaving the JR station on the left, a few steps and we take the subway (Ginza line, 190 yen) to Shibuya. The ticket is only issued by electronic machines, for the fare you need to look at a board with all the stops and prices (it's also written in English). In 20 min we're at our destination, we head towards the south exit and at the bus station we take the 17 (190 yen) which after two stops takes us to our Ryokan the Fukudaya (10000 yen for the room with bathroom, we booked the ryokan on Once inside, as is customary, we take off our shoes and go up to the room......bed on the tatami and partition walls in mulberry paper....like in cartoons. Obviously we're dead tired and we rest a bit.

We walk towards the station, there are so many people and so many billboards projecting everything from cartoons to videogame ads. We take the yamamote line which takes us in 20 min (190 yen) near the Ginza district. We get off and take a nice stroll through this very luxurious district, every now and then we stop in front of the little restaurants that display faithful plastic reproductions of the dishes served with their prices, very curious. After visiting the ultra-technological Sony building, we take the subway again to Shibuya (190 yen) and stop to eat some very good ramen with meat (1350 yen for two people).

Tokyo

After a good night's sleep that allowed us to recover from the jet lag, we take a nice shower and decide to go have breakfast at the Starbucks downstairs (1140 yen). With the Ginza line we reach Asakusa (230 yen) in about 25 min, a few steps and we arrive at the Senso-Ji temple. The gate has a gigantic paper lantern and behind it there are lots of little shops. In the courtyard we see a huge cauldron from which the smoke of the burned incense comes out that the faithful use by wafting it over their heads. By making an offering of about 100 yen you take from a kind of giant toothpick a little stick with a symbol that has a corresponding drawer. From the drawer you take a sheet (also written in English) where you read that we will have lots of luck, you take the sheet, fold it and tie it on a rack.... peculiar.

Further on there's a fountain with many little cups tied to a stick that the faithful use to draw the water to use in the purification ritual. We take the subway again heading to Ueno (130 yen), the park is full of cherry trees in bloom and underneath there are lots of blue tarps with people busy having a picnic... very peculiar. Our next stop is the national museum (600 yen), we take a quick look at the finds from Southeast Asia and focus on the section dedicated to Japanese art. The samurai swords and armor are beautiful, a must-see!!! the kimonos and Japanese dolls are also peculiar. Returning to the subway station we buy a 130 yen ticket heading to Tokyo central station, obviously the subway comes every 2 minutes and we quickly reach our destination.

When you exit the ticket must be inserted in a special slot and this allows you to get out, or if you've made a mistake, a little gate closes and you have to go to the machines nearby to do the fare adjustment (pay the difference). We head to visit (from outside) the royal palace, in the distance you can see the Tokyo tower with its distinctive red and white color, unfortunately the royal gardens are closed. The weather is gloomy and threatening, so we quickly return to the station to buy the tickets for tomorrow's shinkansen (13720 yen per person), we're heading to Kyoto and departure is at 14:20. We finish our quick tour in the park stalls that sell everything from grilled squid to little cookies shaped like hello kitty and Doraemon. We take the usual subway home and treat ourselves to a nice dinner (2010 yen).

Tokyo-Kyoto

After a nice breakfast, we leave our suitcases at the hotel and head to the Shinjuku district with the usual subway (150 yen). This district is the commercial center, there are lots of skyscrapers, among them all the government one is the most distinctive. Obviously we don't miss a visit to the biggest electronics store in Tokyo if not in Japan, namely yodobashi camera where you find everything at ultra-convenient prices. After picking up our luggage we head to Tokyo station, from here a few steps and we arrive at the Shinkansen station (Tokaido line), it's a real spectacle to see all these "miracles" of human engineering from the 500 series to the 700, namely the fastest train the Nozomi which will take us to Kyoto in just 2h and 20 min (+500 km).

Obviously the train leaves right on time and after a few minutes we can admire the outline of the famous mount Fuji, even though covered by clouds it's a spectacle. We arrive in Kyoto at 16:33, the central station is huge all covered in glass and just outside you can see the anonymous Kyoto tower, a few meters and we head to the bus stop, we have to take the JR3 which will take us to our Ryokan the Yamazaki (8400 yen per room shared bathroom). The bus leaves every 30 min (depending on the time) and takes 30-40 min to reach the destination (250 yen). Even though it's a bit out of the way the ryokan is very nice and close to the main attractions of the city, it also has an excellent restaurant where we decide to have dinner (1920 yen).

Kyoto

After breakfast (880 yen) western style, we head to Kyoto station with the usual bus. When you get on the vehicle you have to take a little ticket with the number and, when you get off, you have to check on the electronic board above the driver the fare to pay (20 yen). At the station we head towards the trains for Nara and buy a ticket for Inari, only only two stops (140 yen). As soon as you leave the station you see a red torii that marks the entrance of the Fushimi-inari Taisha, note the statues depicting the fox scattered throughout the shrine. Going up you reach the beginning of a beautiful path all covered with torii there are thousands of them, the path is 4 km long..... very evocative as you can see from the photos. We take the train again to Kyoto station and take bus no.

12 (city buses have a fixed price 220 yen) which takes us to the Kinkaku-ji temple (400 yen), famous throughout Japan for its beautiful golden pagoda reflected in a beautiful little pond surrounded by an equally beautiful garden. In 15-20 min (on foot) you reach the Ryoan-ji (500 yen), this place too is very famous for its Zen garden. Dry garden, since there are no plants but only stones, in particular you count 15 even though 14 are always visible... they are two incredible places where you breathe a mystical atmosphere.

Kyoto

The 7:15 bus is waiting for us and from Kyoto station we take the Kintetsu line (150 yen) to get off at the first stop and admire the Toji temple, very distinctive with its beautiful five-story pagoda, the tallest in Japan. The next stop is the Nishi-haganji temple... enormous. We leave the temple and take a nice walk along shichijo-dori until we reach the Sanjusangendo temple (600 yen). This beautiful temple has inside a thousand golden statues depicting Buddha, it's worth it. From here a little walk to enter old Kyoto, in the higashiyama district. The first site to see is the Kiyomizudera temple on the list for the new seven wonders of the world that will be chosen in Lisbon next July 7. On the uphill road that leads to the temple we meet two Geishas, their clothes are simply formidable and it's a pleasure to see them walking on the typical little wooden clogs.

The temple is very distinctive, it's built on stilts and from the terrace you can admire the whole city of Kyoto. Also distinctive is a little bridge where the faithful line up to collect the water that gushes from the waterfall above. After the temple we continue our walk through Gion, I must say that this part of Kyoto is really very beautiful with its typical little houses, the gardens, the temples and the ever-present cherry trees. We take the keihan subway to the Marutamachi stop to reach the Heinanjingu temple. The temple has a gigantic torii at the entrance, here everything is a vivid orange, you can admire the beautiful garden (600 yen), very large and very relaxing especially where the wooden bridge is. From here a few meters to the Tazai subway at the Sanjodori stop (250 yen) to get off at the Nijo stop where we can admire the castle of the same name. To return home we take no.

8 (250 yen). For dinner we have a very good tempura (2100 yen) basically a fried fish and vegetables and a portion of sushi (945 yen), good if it weren't for the pestilential wasabi.

Kyoto-Nara-Oji

After a nice hot shower, we take the usual bus that takes us to Kyoto station. Here we take the Kintetsu line (we don't have the JR pass) to Nara (610 yen), we have to change at Takada. We arrive at the Kintetsu station (much closer to the sites than the JR one) after 45 min. We immediately go in search of the lockers to leave our luggage and we find them easily (300 yen, 24 hours). A few steps and we're immediately at Nara park, today is Saturday and there are lots of families with children. The peculiarity of the park is that there are about 1200 deer, considered messengers for the gods. For 150 yen you can buy deer biscuits from the vendors which they go crazy for!!!. Our destination is the Todai-ji (500 yen) this enormous temple houses the largest wooden Buddha in the world, the eye is more than 1 meter!!.

On the side there's a wooden column with a hole where many children pass through in a kind of rite??? cute. On the way back we stop at the various little shops, as well as at a 100 yen shop where everything costs 100 yen (or a little more) and have breakfast in a bakery near the station (840 yen). We pick up our luggage and head to the JR station where we buy a ticket for Oji (290 yen). A few steps and we're at our ryokan the yougendo (7000 yen including breakfast, ttp:// very nice and with two very friendly owners, the house is very nice and welcoming.

Oji-Osaka

We have breakfast in the beautiful hall of the ryokan, there's a magnificent view of the garden, the breakfast is very good, we also have breakfast with two English people who work in Japan. After breakfast we pack our suitcases and head to the nearby station where we take the train that in 20 minutes will take us to Osaka (380 yen) at Tennoji station. From here the subway (280 yen) to our very luxurious hotel the APA villa Hotel, booked via the internet ( at a bargain price (6800 yen, with bathroom in the room). Check in is at 15:00 and so after registering we leave our luggage and head to the very nearby Osaka-jo. This castle is really beautiful and the view of the ancient castle with the skyscrapers behind it is distinctive. The park outside the walls is very nice, today is Sunday and there are many families.

Entry to the castle costs 600 yen and to tell the truth maybe it's better from the outside because the inside has been converted into a seven-story museum and is practically brand new, the terrace and the exhibition of samurai weapons and armor are nice. Again by subway we reach Dra Dra town, a very famous district of Osaka where you find everything but really everything for electronics. Also noteworthy are the buildings dedicated to manga or miniatures... obsessive.

Osaka-Helsinki-Roma-Curti

Wake-up at 6:00, we finish packing our suitcases and take the subway to Namba station (230 yen), we leave the subway station and enter the JR station to take the train direct to Kansai international airport with a change at Tennoji (1030). Since the train is an express we pay the supplement on board (1440 yen) and in 30 min we're at the airport. At 11:00 the plane direct to Helsinki departs and the vacation ends here.