Japan - Tokyo & Nikko

We arrived in Tokyo after an uneventful flight from Honolulu.   Even though the flight was only 8 hours, we lost a whole day because of the time difference.  We didn't have any problems getting through immigration or customs at the airport. The tricky part was figuring out where to go from the airport.  Luckily most of the staff at the airport speak English. Even so, it took us awhile to get on the right train, and buy the right kinds of tickets.

We didn't have too much trouble finding our hotel, which was located in Kinshicho, part of the Sumida ward.   It was a huge relief to get there as we were completely exhausted when we arrived.  We had a great view of Tokyo from our room on the 22nd floor.  The main feature is the under-construction Sky Tree, which will reach 643m when it's done, right now it's around 360m. 

The next day we went to the Edo-Tokyo Museum, which showed the history of the city of Tokyo, previously known as Edo.  We were very lucky to get an English speaking guide who gave us a free tour for 1.5 hours of the whole museum.  It was an amazing museum, full of reconstructions of houses and theatres from Edo times, as well as many incredibly detailed miniature versions of the old city.

The next day we headed out of Tokyo to the Nikko area, famous for its hotsprings.  We picked the area because the train company offers a great deal on rail and bus tickets.  We started by visiting their famous Toshogu shrines.  As well as having the mausoleum of Ieyasu Tokugawa, the founder of the Toshogu Shogunate, it is also famous for its 'see, hear, do no evil monkeys (see picture below).   Unfortunately, the weather was terrible when we there, the weather report described it as freezing rain.  The shrines were beautiful, but none of the signs had English, so we didn't understand a lot of their significance or history.   We decided to come back again the next day, and went to Kinugawa where we staying for the night.

We had booked the Marukyo Ryokan, a Japanese Ryokan, with Japanese style rooms (i.e. tatami rooms that double as your living room and bedroom).  It also has its own onsen, or public bath.  Once you get there, they provide you with robes called Yukata, that you can wear throughout the ryokan (see picture of me wearing my yukata below).  The best things about ryokan's are the onsen, which were wonderful after such a cold afternoon, and the food.  We had ordered both dinner and breakfast.  The dinner was absolutely amazing.  We counted 12 different dishes each including udon, prawn, yuba (thin sheets of tofu, a specialty of the area), beef, sashimi and many veggies prepared different ways.   Unfortunately, we didn't take pictures of dinner, but there are some on their website, if you click on the Marukyo Ryokan link above.  Needless to say it was a feast, and the next morning, we had an equally decadent breakfast.

The next day, we headed out to explore Kinugawa, and did some hikes near a suspension bridge (picture below).  There were some beautiful views of the river, and we decided to take a boat ride on the river, which was fun. 

Then we headed back to the temples and looked around a bit more.  The weather had improved slightly, so it was better.  Then we went to our next hotel, also a Japanese ryokan, but slightly less fancy.  We also had a great dinner, breakfast and soak in the onsen.  The next day we did some more hiking around Nikko, and looked around the town a bit, before we headed back to Tokyo.  Below is a picture of their red Shinkyo bridge.

Maui, Hawaii

The first week of our vacation was spent on the Hawaiian island of Maui.   For our first three nights on Maui, we stayed in a small remote cottage near the town of Haiku.  I wanted something off the beaten path, and this was even more off the beaten path than I had imagined.  To get to it required driving 10 minutes down a windy road filled with potholes.  It was a lovely little place, powered only with solar power, but we were surprised on our first morning to see rain. 

We decided to drive the famous ‘Road to Hana’.  This is one of the most famous drives on Maui because the highway contains over 60 switchbacks, and the road is often too narrow for two cars to pass.  It’s a beautiful drive, and took us close to three hours, because we stopped on the way and did a bit of hiking. 

The view from a lookout on the Hana Highway, looking into the village of Kihei.

During the drive, we were amazed at how quickly the weather changed.  While hiking, it was a bit overcast, but on the way back to the car, it started raining so hard we got soaked.  We were both relieved when we arrived at Hana, and had lunch then spent some time trying to find a hidden ‘Red Sand Beach’.  After getting directions twice, we finally made it, and were excited to finally be close to the ocean after driving near it for so long.   Below is the view of the ocean near Red Sand Beach. 

That night there was a huge rainstorm, and our cute little cottage leaked like a sieve.  After putting bowls out to catch the drips, we headed out to Kihei, the more famous beach area of the island.  The weather was much better but it was extremely windy.  We took a walk by the beach, but it was so blustery, we didn’t stay long.  After lunch, we found another beach, and decided to chill out on the sand.  The beach had a rough surf, and we played around in it for a bit.  After that, we headed out to some lava fields, which are leftover from the last volcanic eruption on the island, near La Perousse Bay.  It was amazing to see dark volcanic rock as far as the eye could see.

The next day, we left the cottage, and headed for Lahaina, where we would be staying for three nights.  Before Lahaina, we decided to drive to Haleakala Park, to see the crater.  It was another long drive with several switchbacks, but the roads were wider than the highway to Hana.  The drive only took about an hour, but it rises rapidly, and the summit is at 10,000 feet.  By the time we made it to the top, we were starting to feel some altitude sickness, but had a great view of the crater. 

Then we drove to Lahaina, where we stayed at the Lahaina Inn.  It was a great old school hotel filled with antiques, we upgraded to an ocean view room, and had a lanai (balcony) with a direct view of the water.  The room was really tiny, but the lanai was fantastic, complete with 2 rocking chairs and a little table, we had our breakfast out there every day.  Lahaina was very touristy, with lots of souvenir shops and overpriced restaurants, but it had a nice boardwalk near the beach.  We spent most of our time in Kapalua, which has some excellent beaches, especially for snorkeling.  Reynald had read an article about how good Maui was for snorkeling, so we bought some snorkeling gear at home before we left.  We had never done much snorkeling, but we’re so glad we tried it, it was absolutely amazing.  It definitely took some practice, but litteraly the first time I put my head underwater I saw some tropical fish.  And  there are hundreds of fish, of all different kinds.  All the fish I had only ever seen in aquariums were swimming around right below the surface of the water. We snorkelled several times over those three days, and each time we saw different kinds of fish.  This was definitely a highlight of our trip, unfortunately, we didn't have a waterproof camera to take pictures.

After three days in Lahaina, we headed to the airport to catch a short flight to Honolulu, where we spent two nights before heading to Tokyo.  Reynald caught a cold on the way, and was very sick, so we didn't see much of Waikiki.  But we did stay in a wonderful hotel, the Hawaii Prince Hotel.  Thanks to Priceline, we were able to get an amazing deal on a room at this 5 star hotel.  It was honestly one of my favourite hotels I've ever stayed at.  

Me enjoying the amazing view of the huge windows of our hotel in Waikiki

New Adventures

Well, it's been a couple of years, but Reynald and I are ready for another big trip.  This time, we're starting in Hawaii, then heading to Japan.  Tonight we're leaving for Maui, where we'll be spending 6 days, then onto Honolulu, where we spend a couple nights before leaving for Tokyo.  It might sound like a strange combination, but Hawaii is probably the perfect way to start getting a taste of Japanese culture.  It has a large number of Japanese immigrants, and is one of the most popular international destinations for Japanese visitors.

We're flying out this afternoon, and will be staying at a little cottage in Haiku, Maui.  Our main goal in Hawaii is to relax and rejuvenate.  It's partly a reward for Reynald for finishing his PhD, and partly a pre-wedding honeymoon, since we may not have much time for one after the wedding in August.  We plan to do a lot of exploring on the island and have left our itinerary pretty open.  We're bringing some snorkeling gear with us, so we'll be spending lots of time in the water, and also hope to do a lot of hiking. 

We're looking forward to seeing where the next few weeks take us.  Feel free to leave comments, we'd love to hear from you. 

Back in France, then back home

Lyon

We landed in Lyon around 9am. We had planned to stay with Reynald's brother and his wife in Grenoble at this point in the trip, but hadn't yet reached them because of lack of email access. We also realized that we didn't have their phone number. After a tense and lengthy stay at the airport, where we paid a ridiculous amount of money to use the internet for 15 minutes to email them, we decided to stay the night in Lyon. The guidebook described Lyon as being the second largest financial district in France, and as being busier in the fall than the summer. So after calling a couple hotels, we considered ourselves lucky to find a room for the night. We jumped on the bus and headed into town.

It turned out that we had picked a wonderful little hotel near the river. The staff were incredibly friendly, and the room had really high ceilings and old wood floors (and it had a full bathroom). We were so exhausted when we arrived that we took a long nap, then went out to explore the area and find internet access. It took a while, but we finally managed to find an internet cafe and were relieved to see an email from Reynald's brother with the address and phone number. We later made contact with them and agreed to meet the next day in Lyon, before going to Grenoble. That night, to celebrate our return to France, we had our most extravagant meal yet. It was an amazing three course meal (with cheese) and was absolutely amazing. We were so stuffed we could barely move when we left.

The next day we met up with Reynald's brother and his wife and walked around Lyon. We went to see one of their famous churches, then walked to the site of some old Roman ruins. The weather was so cold, and windy, and it actually started hailing when we were at the ruins. This prompted the decision to go to Grenoble in the early afternoon. We took the train, which was incredibly busy. Within a couple of hours we were in Grenoble.

Grenoble

We went to Reynald's brother's apartment, which was in an old building, but was quite modern inside. The next day we decided to rent a car and see some of the French countryside. Grenoble, being near the Alps, is surrounded by mountains and is very pretty. We decided to drive up Alpe D'Huez, made famous by the Tour de France. It is a long winding climb with 21 switchbacks. In the winter, it's a ski resort, but it hadn't opened yet for the season. The drive up was very scenic, but there wasn't much to do in the village. We spent the rest of the day driving, and saw some beautiful old roman style bridges, some nearby lakes, and lots of incredible views. On the way back, we stopped in Vizille, and took a quick look at their castle.

The next day we took it easy and spent much of the day playing the board game "Settlers of Catan". That night we went out for a nice fondue dinner in a unique little restaurant called "A Confesse" that had a real confessional at the front door. The next day we went to a huge french grocery store to pick up a few goodies to take home. It was very fun, and we ended up buying too much chocolate, and had to borrow a bag to fit everything.

Then it was time to catch our train back to Paris, where we would catch our flight back home to Vancouver. We stayed in a hotel very near the Notre Dame Cathedral, and had a wonderful view of it from our window. We went out for one last nice dinner.

The next morning, we made our way to the airport to take our flight home. Our flight ended up being painfully long, as we had a stopover in Calgary, and were on the plane for more than 12 hours. Then we had a long wait for our luggage as they had problems opening the cargo doors. It was with very great relief that we finally met up with my mother, who kindly picked us up at the airport. We arrived home around 8pm (around 6am in France), and were greeted by a couple of happy cats.

Madrid, Spain

After a short two nights in Lisbon, we flew to Madrid, Spain. It was considerably colder than Portugal but seemed a huge bustling city compared to Lisbon. I don't speak much Spanish, but Reynald understood a little, so it was slightly easier than Portugal to figure things out. We relied again on the guidebook, and found a couple excellent restaurants. One restaurant we went to twice was run by cooking students and was incredibly reasonably priced. As in Portugal, there was a tendency to eat late and dishes were very meat heavy, with a focus on pork.

We were getting quite tired by the time we reached Madrid and took it a bit easier while we were there. The only major site that we saw was the Prado Museum, which is huge and has a focus on Spanish Art (naturally). One of the things I liked best about this museum is that they sold little guides for one Euro on major artists (quite a deal). We bought a little book on Bosch and on Goya.

We were only in Madrid for two nights (only one full day), so I don't feel like we experienced much of the city. It did feel very cosmopolitan and was full of all kinds of shops and restaurants. We had a very early flight when we left and had to check out of our hotel at 5:30am and walk to the metro, which didn't open until 6am. We managed to get two stops on the metro before the train stopped and everybody had to get off. We weren't sure exactly what the problem was, but it became clear that the train was not going to make it to the airport (it's pretty scary to listen to all the announcements with absolutely no idea of what they are saying). There were many other passengers trying to get to the airport, and once we left the station, there was serious competition for taxis. Reynald was determined though and we managed to walk far enough ahead of everyone else and eventually got one. Which was lucky, because we didn't check in with much time to spare. Our next stop was Lyon, France.

Portugal

We flew from Paris to Porto, Portugal. Several people have asked me why I wanted to go to Portugal, and all I can say, is that I felt drawn there and thought if I didn't go now, I would probably never go. And I can say that it was certainly one of the highlights of the trip.

Porto was warm and sunny and gorgeous. It is very hilly and filled with windy cobblestone streets crowded by old buildings with laundry suspended on the lines above. Despite the feeling of age in the city, they had an extremely modern metro line that ran from the airport right into the city. Reynald had booked a hotel for us, and because Portugal is so much cheaper than France or Britain, we splurged and stayed in a 5 star hotel. The rooms were lovely, but there was quite a bit of construction around, so it was not as tranquil as it might have been. But the breakfast was one of the most beautiful I've ever seen, with fresh fruit, croissants, meats, cheeses, eggs, bacon, yoghurt, and wonderful coffee, tea and juices. It was completely luxurious, especially after staying in hostels where you were lucky to get toast.

We realized quickly that not understanding any Portuguese at all, would be a bit of a problem. Luckily English is relatively common in the tourist areas and we managed to get a good map and some recommendations. I wanted to see the local market, which was full of stalls selling vegetables, flowers and meats. The Portuguese diet is also very meat heavy, but emphasizes fish and seafood far more than France. After that we walked down to the river Douro, which was sunny and beautiful. It was so warm (mid 20's Celcius), that we regretted not bringing more lighter clothes. On the other side of the river were all the Port cellars that we decided to tour in the afternoon.

But before we did that, we decided to have lunch. Eating, when you don't know the language, can be a very daunting task. We finally found a small cafe to have lunch that had English translations on the menu but Reynald decided to be brave and ordered a mysterious daily special that was only listed in Portuguese. We were a bit shocked when it arrived, and turned out to be two whole small fish, deep fried, and presented on a plate. Reynald, ever the brave eater, dove in, and found the fish very tender and tasty (we never did find out what they were), as long as you didn't look them in the eye, or stare at their mouth full of teeth. Alcohol in Portugal is also very inexpensive, and a regional specialty is Vinho Verdes, a light sparkling white wine, which is really refreshing.

After lunch, we crossed the river to go tour some of the Port cellars. There are about a dozen cellars that offer tours that describe the process of making Port, and offer samples at the end. It was getting late in the afternoon, but we managed to buy tickets for one tour that didn't start for 45 minutes, and decided to go to another one while we waited. The first tour we did was of one of the smaller independent cellars. They gave an interesting tour describing how Port was made of grapes specific to the Douro region, and was different than wine because Brandy was added only 3 days after the fermentation process starts, which stops the fermentation and makes it sweeter with a higher alcohol content. After the tour, we were given a generous amount of samples, before we headed off to our next tour. The second tour was of the Sandeman Port Cellars, which is a well known brand and one that is even sold in Canada. Their tour was very polished and even included a short film describing the port making process with some wonderful footage of the Douro region which is famous for its man-made terraces used for growing grapes.

We stayed only two nights in Porto, before taking the train to Lisbon. Again we were impressed with their modern and quick metro system.

Lisbon

There were several times on this trip, when I questioned the value of taking a backpack instead of a nice little rolling suitcase...but then I came to Lisbon and it all became clear. Lisbon is one of the hilliest cities I have ever seen, even more so than Porto. Our hotel was pretty much at the top of the hill, and required walking up several flights of stairs and hills. It was a tough trip, but very rewarding when you got to the top. Our hotel had an absolutely incredible view of the red roof-studded city. We got there late afternoon, and went in search of food only to find that the custom was to eat dinner late, around 8 or 9pm. We walked around and saw a bit of the city before we finally found a restaurant that was open.

One of the customs of restaurants in Portugal is to serve plates of appetizers to you when you sit down, but everything costs extra (though you are only supposed to be charged if you actually eat it). We had learned this in Porto, and were careful during our first meal in Lisbon not to eat from the plates of ham, cheese, and shrimp that they set down, and eventually took away. We had a good dinner of fish, but were frustrated when the bill came and they had charged us for all the appetizers that we had been so careful not to eat. Luckily one of the waiters spoke English and eventually corrected the bill.

The next day, we decided to buy all day transit tickets and spent much of the day riding up and down Lisbon's hilly streets in their wonderful little street cars. Much like San Francisco, these little trams ran on tracks all through the city. We had a wonderful tour around the city for a fraction of the price of the tourist buses.

One last thing about Portugal, they had amazing pastries. There were little cafes everywhere, and each of them had long bars filled with a huge assortment of pastries. Everyone that we tried was excellent, and they were so cheap. After a day or so, we realized that you were supposed to eat at the bar standing up, as they charged more to eat at the tables. We made sure we brought some to go when we left for Madrid.

Map of trip

I covered a lot of ground in 5 weeks. Here's an interactive map that shows where I traveled. You can change the map location by clicking and dragging the mouse (you will need to do this to see where I traveled in Europe). The blue arrows show places I stopped, and the lines show approximate routes. If you click on the arrows you will get a short description of the place. You can zoom in by clicking the '+' button, or zoom out with the "-" button, or use the arrows to move around instead of dragging.

You can also click "View larger map" to see the full map with descriptions.



View Larger Map