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!