Odawara Castle

The purpose of our trip to Odawara was to see the ancient castle. 

The castle has actually been built and rebuilt many times over. Warring shoguns, American bombings in WW2, earthquakes, and tsunamis have all destroyed the site. 

One striking realization was that we were looking at things from many, many centuries ago. 

Swimming in the Pacific

Today was the first day I saw the Pacific Ocean, other than on the flight here. 

The view from Odawara Castle. 

On our way to the beach. 

A highway runs beside the beach. One walks under it to access the beach. 

Beach history. 

Here comes the sign about not climbing on the sand dunes and not disturbing the piping plovers nest locations. 

Wait. We aren't in Maine. 

I'm pretty sure this means "Run like hell". 

The coed showers are on the left. This picture was taken because of the chains attaching the highway to the pylons. I wonder what they could possibly be worried about?  ;)

Ready to swim in the Pacific!  On the Asian side!

In we went!

Keagan loved it! 

Japanese kids build volcanoes instead of sand castles. 

Where our rocks tend to be sedimentary and metamorphic, these rocks were sedimentary and igneous. Aren't they cool!

And as a result the sand is blackish. 

There were no shells or seaweed on the beach. The water had a bit of plant matter. The sand was rather coarse. 

And the view. 

Mt. Fuji is there. In the clouds. 

It's too overcast and humid to see it. I guess it's rare for it to be visible in the summer. 

Swimming in the Pacific

Today was the first day I saw the Pacific Ocean, other than on the flight here. 

The view from Odawara Castle. 

On our way to the beach. 

A highway runs beside the beach. One walks under it to access the beach. 

Beach history. 

Here comes the sign about not climbing on the sand dunes and not disturbing the piping plovers nest locations. 

Wait. We aren't in Maine. 

I'm pretty sure this means "Run like hell". 

The coed showers are on the left. This picture was taken because of the chains attaching the highway to the pylons. I wonder what they could possibly be worried about?  ;)

Ready to swim in the Pacific!  On the Asian side!

In we went!

Keagan loved it! 

Japanese kids build volcanoes instead of sand castles. 

Where our rocks tend to be sedimentary and metamorphic, these rocks were sedimentary and igneous. Aren't they cool!

And as a result the sand is blackish. 

There were no shells or seaweed on the beach. The water had a bit of plant matter. The sand was rather coarse. 

And the view. 

Mt. Fuji is there. In the clouds. 

It's too overcast and humid to see it. I guess it's rare for it to be visible in the summer. 

Onsen

Onsen are hot spring baths. They are very popular among the Japanese. It is believed that they have healing powers. 

I really wanted to visit one in Hakone where macaques, aka snow monkeys come to drink. But that's a winter thing, so a no go. 

The thing that keeps some American tourists out of enjoying the onsen is that they are for bathing. So the only suit you wear is your birthday suit. 

So, in the name of collecting life experiences, I bravely ventured in. 

The rules. 

They aren't coed. If they were I'd have been even less enthusiastic. 

The "lockers". 

In the first room you use the hot spring water to wash. 

I didn't take pictures of that because, you know. You sit on this little molded plastic stool. The hot spring water comes out at about 16 different spigot stations. There were only two other women when I went. Both seemed to be mid-60s or older. 

There were bowls you could use to help in washing. 

In this same room there were these stone  chair like things. The water rinses over your shoulders and the rest of your body. 

This water is HOT by the way. There is no way to adjust the temperature. 

There were three different baths. Two inside...

And one outside. 

In I went 

The water made my hair surprisingly silly. 

As I said the water was very hot, but had no chlorine smell so I didn't feel sick like I usually do in hot tubs. 

The water also seemed to make me unusually buoyant. 

So I pushed up into a simple L-sit. 

That was easy

So I pushed up again into a V hold. This is when you hold yourself up with your legs in front of your face while holding yourself up on your hands. 

That was mighty easy. 

What the heck. 

I went into what's called a Manna position. I've never been able to hold it in dry land.  That's when you hold yourself on your hands, legs straight in front of your face, and your back parallel to the floor. 

Yep, I went arse over teakettle. 

Only I could get injured in an onsen. 

If you ever have an opportunity, I highly recommend going to an onsen. 

A trip on the subway

Have you heard about the people pushers they have in Tokyo?  The ones that push people on so they fit enough to close the doors?

We didn't see them. 

We left from here after visiting the Ueno Zoo. 

We hopped on the first train and were thrilled with our luck. We were all able to sit!  At 5:30 pm on a Wednesday afternoon!  

Usually seats are scarce for anyone.  Amy taught us to stand away from the doors in the middle of the aisle. That way you have the best chance of getting a seat when someone gets up. 

However, it gets so crowded that they actually have special cars for women so they can be pressed against other women rather than someone with different anatomy. 

But we had plenty of room. 

As an aside, the Japanese, though incredibly polite and well mannered are more immersed in their phones than most American teenagers. Seriously. I've been run into by texters a few times. 

Olaf pointed out that the Yamanote, Ikebukaro, and Shinjuko were three of the top five busiest train stations in the world. 

Interesting. 

So I took a couple of pictures of the sea of humanity I witnessed. You know, fascinating tourist stuff. 

People in the doorway of a train we wouldn't take. 

This leg of our route, though I couldn't back up enough to photograph the whole pole. 

Here we are, lined up to get on. 

I took this picture by holding my hand up and snapping. You can see the pole in the background. 

The train was a bit late.

Not when I took the picture though. 

It finally came and we got on. People pressed in. People were getting very familiar. I had Seamus at my side, perpendicular. Bryn was in front of me. Keagan had been in front of my but got pinched off in the press 

We couldn't stop giggling and cracking whispered jokes. Bryn and I never knew each other so well. 

I knew I needed a picture so I reached into my hip pocket. 

Seamus urgently whispered, "Do you have to get something out of your pockets NOW?"   

Amy was shushing us because the train was silent. 15 people per square inch and it sounded like Mass after Communion. 

But I snapped some pictures. 

Here's Keagan, so close, but trapped behind a pinstripe suit.  That's Seamus' purple Kotzschmar t-shirt you see. 

Bryn and I know an opportunity for selfies when we see it. 

At one stop a woman fell off when she stepped off. Poor thing had the humanity press tension released like a rock from a slingshot. 

We stepped off to let more people out and then squished back in. It was roomy in comparison. 

Here's Kai

I'm sorry for the blurring. But we were squished.  

And Keagan had a bit more room. 

Anyway, that was a once in a lifetime experience. That's what this trip is all about. Once in a lifetime experiences. 

But I think once in a lifetime on a Tokyo sardine subway is enough.