Last Day In Tokyo, Visiting Skytree

 After the heat of the day before, we weren't in a rush to leave the air-conditioned hotel room.

I was watching a news report about the heat in Tokyo. I had told Hannah that I felt the heat coming from the pavement. On the news report, they had a thermal camera that showed the pavement was 43℃; it wasn't my imagination then!

We thought about going straight to the airport, but our flight wasn't until 4:30 in the afternoon. We checked a few places to visit and decided that the best option was Skytree. It stands 634 meters (2,080 feet) tall. This makes it the tallest tower in Japan and the second-tallest structure in the world after the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.

As it was the last day, we treated ourselves to breakfast at the hotel. 

My breakfast

Hannah's breakfast

I liked that they had salad and miso soup. It was buffet style; I went back for the soup a few times as it was very good. Also, I was craving the salty taste.

After checking out and sending our luggage back by a door-to-door luggage service, we headed off for our last adventure of the trip.

This was the artwork at one of the stations.

All along the wall on the platform were different artworks, but I didn't get a chance to take photos.

This was the first sighting of Skytree.

Just a glimpse as we got out of the station.

There are stores and restaurants at the base of Skytree.

I knew that Skytree was tall, but I never realised how big the base was. I guess it has to be big to support the weight and offer stability to the tower.

We didn't go to the very top, but even at the lower observation deck the views were incredible. Because of the heat, there was a haze over the city, but still a very good view.

During the March 11th, 2011 earthquake, Tokyo was hit badly. I remember one news report showing Skytree, which was still being built at that time. The video showed two cranes on top of Skytree; the report said that the workers in the cranes were probably traumatised for life. Even though it was very high, I felt protected because of the structure; the workers, however, didn't have that protection; it must have been very scary for them.

Hannah said it was like looking at a miniature model.

Selfie, but I look awful, just too hot!

Wind chimes

We got a professional photo. You can buy one copy and download another one.

Nice photo

We went down to the next level where there was a glass floor. Why I thought it would be a good idea to look down through it, I don't know! I have a problem with heights; if I look out, I'm okay, but if I look down, I feel dizzy!

On the glass floor

We took a lot of photos.

I can't remember the order or where we took them, so I'll just put them on here.

An elementary school.

The Skytree character

We spent ages on the observation deck but finally went down to get some lunch. Of course we got lost, but we got a lot of good photos! Sometimes getting lost is good!

Outside event space, there was a beer festival going on.

Looking up at the tower

The event space that we saw from above.

Lunch: sushi bowl that we shared

We had a lovely morning at Skytree, but it was time to head to the airport.

Getting to the airport was another adventure, but I'll have to write about that tomorrow as I have to get ready to go and teach now!

The Edo Tokyo Museum

 To continue the third day in Tokyo.

After wandering around Jinboucho for most of the day, we decided that we needed to be inside for a while.

I was getting very hot and needed to spend time in the air conditioning.

We found the station and the right line to take us to the museum.

The few times I've used the trains or subway near where I live, I've always been impressed by how clean and quiet they are. I thought that Tokyo would be different. It's a massive city with a large population and a lot of tourists, and a lot of people use the train and subway system every day.

The stations and platforms that we used were clean and well kept. Some of the older stations were showing signs of use, but were not dirty or covered in graffiti. A lot of places were having construction done!

Nice, clean platform.

The ride to the museum wasn't very long, just enough time to cool down.

We followed the signs to get to the museum; it was next door to the station, which really helped!

Hannah was starting to look tired!

Even though the building was next to the station, we had to walk around it to get to the entrance.

We arrived at about 3:30, so we only had time to see the special exhibition. If I ever visit Tokyo again, I would like to spend a day at this museum to see the permanent exhibition.

We hadn't eaten since breakfast; neither of us had any appetite. We stopped at the restaurant, but there wasn't much choice. We shared a scone together.

A little snack

The special exhibition was about the development of Western architecture in Meiji Japan (1868 to 1912).

Western architecture was first copied by Japanese builders until an American architect came and started to teach Japanese students about Western architecture.

We were allowed to take photos of some of the pictures, unfortunaltly I don't remember what photos I took. But a lot of the pictures were of proposals for different buildings.

Lovely chandelier.

There was furniture from noble houses. Some very beautiful pieces.

Once we finished there, it was time to head back to the hotel.

On the way back to the station, we found this interesting building that had a sumo ring in it.

The sumo ring

Outside the building with the sumo ring

We decided to get a taxi back to the hotel; it was quicker and cooler than getting the subway.

I saw this car on the way back to the hotel.

Interesting car.

We picked up dinner from the convenience store, then went back to the hotel to recover.

As much as I enjoyed the day, it was very tiring. I think, for me, going to Tokyo would be better in the cooler seasons! The only reason we went at this time was to see the musical!

The last day we spent the morning at Tokyo Skytree, then got the train to the airport.

But that will be tomorrow's post!