A Change in Plans...allowing Japan to recover.... :-(

Well, the best laid plans.....

As you well know, Japan suffered a devastating series of  disasters.  Although part of my trip could have continued as planned, I decided it best to cancel and hope for a more stable situation sometime before my daughter finished school in May.

Despite huge protests from our daughter that all was normal and safe in the Kansai region, we felt the situation too fluid and the possiblities for increased danger too great.  We informed her (on her 21st birthday no less) that we had purchased a return flight for her within days.  Fortunately, her departure coincided with the beginning of her spring break and we permitted her to return after two weeks home.  She missed one week of school but the teachers were quite accomodating and she suffered no ill effects academically.

I created a new itinerary for a trip beginning at the end of May.  This would allow me to be in the audience for  her completion ceremony and then we would travel together and then depart on the same day from the same location.

Adventuretime did indeed happen after all!  I will share those adventures in upcoming posts!

Welcome!

Hi there...thanks for stopping by.

I have set up this blog to journal my travels.

In less than TWO WEEKS I will travel to Japan!

I am very excited and somewhat nervous to travel to a foreign country I never expected to experience!
This opportunity presented itself when my daughter decided to study for a semester in the Kansai region.
We are going to explore during her spring break-perfect!

I know about three Japanese words:  so I am depending on her increasing talents :) to make this work.

The plan is to leave Cleveland on Wednesday, March 16..connecting in Chicago....to Tokyo and then arriving at the Kansai airport in Osaka on Thursday evening. I built in an extra day to accommodate any travel delays and to give my self 'recovery' time from the long flight.  I am staying at the airport at Hotel Nikko that first evening.  We will meet up on Friday after her last class and I expect to meet her host family at that point.

We are staying at a hotel right by the Shin-Osaka station so early Saturday we can hop on the Shinkansen (bullet train) to Tokyo.  Hope to get a view of Mt Fuji from the train!

Weekend will be spent in Tokyo with only two firm plans.  On Saturday we will be visiting the Ghibli Museum ( http://www.ghibli-museum.jp/en/welcome/ ) and on Sunday we have tickets to Disney's Beauty and the Beast Musical (yes it is in Japanese).
Other than that I hope to check out the Shinjuku area and the Imperial Gardens and various shrines.
If things work out, we would like to meet with her host family from 2007 and perhaps a friend who now lives in Tokyo.

Traveling back to Kyoto on Monday.  Seemed like a good location to call home.  We have rooms for five nights at a hotel and our final night together we are going to experience a ryokan (traditional japanese inn).
Then Sunday we spend together before I make my way back to Hotel Nikko at the Kansai Airport from which I leave early Monday morning.

While we plan to spend the majority of time exploring the nooks and crannies of amazing Kyoto...we will also see Hiroshima/Miyajima, Kobe, Osaka and Nara.  Time permitting we might check out the largest lake in Japan..Lake Biwa, which is only 15 minutes by train from Kyoto.  So much to see and so little time!

A warning to anyone who is planning to visit Himeji Castle ..it is under MAJOR renovation and the entire exterior is under wraps.  Very disappointed to have to scrap this from our plans.  My daughter visited the castle in 2007 and it is so impressive!  Lucky her...unlucky me.

So that is the framework for what I hope will be an amazing adventure!

Crossing my fingers that the Sakura Blossoms are starting to bloom while I am there!