Tokyo - Sunday- Ochaanomizu - Our School

We had gone back to our old neighborhood and wanted next to go to our old school where we had taught English as  a Second Language for four years ( 1974 - 1978 )

When we came out of the station, we were shocked at the change. No building had been more than two stories high but now there were all these tall buildings, even a new street or two.

Walking to the other side of the station, we saw a familiar sight . At the intersection, there  was a police box (the smallest building) where the policeman would yell at pedestrians and tell them to  move faster as the light was changing.

We almost gave up finding our school. The neighborhood had changed, incredibly so. But then we saw the sign for the Hilltop Hotel, just two blocks from the school.

Now if it had not been a holiday, we could have gotten information right here and found the school earlier.

And there it was : the Athenee Francais,  a school that taught English and French and also offered Greek and Latin but most of the students chose the first two languages.

It was a multi colored school building.

The other side of the school.

Coffee shops then and now dotted the neighborhood.

This McDonald's was here in '74 and perhaps the most popular restaurant in town.

But times do change, they now deliver!

Tokyo- Saturday- Kamakura

We went to a famous city - Kamakura- for sightseeing and a day out. It was Golden Week  - a time when there are three major holidays. We were joined by our dear friends George & Nozomi Hite and about 10,000 other people.

The start of our walk.

Cotton candy anyone?

• 

Beer anyone ?

Perhaps a hot dog ?

Careful, these strawberries cost $2.00 each.

The long, long climb to the temple.

We had seen the temple before so we opted to just take this photo and skip the climb.

George and Nozomi

There were many wedding parties at Kamakura. I believe this was an auspicious day to get married.

Actually, this couple could have put a coin in the fortune vending machine to check their future.  If they liked what they read, there was a stand next to the machine where a priest would bless the fortune  - super charge it - for a small donation.

Off to the honeymoon..  No time for  fortune telling.

Tokyo- Friday - Kichijoji - Our Apartment

We went back to our old neighborhood in an area of the city called Kichijoji, famous for its beautiful park and lake, We had seen so much change in Tokyo, we hoped we could find our old apartment and maybe even meet our old landlord.

Baskin Robbins was our meeting point to meet our friends for dinner later in the day.  The line was long at 2 pm , even longer at 5 pm

First view of the lovely park that we would walk through to get to our apartment.

As frequently happens, the rowers run out of steam.

This temple was our landmark .

I just love the ancient design of Japanese bridges.

The it was . The steps leading to our apartment.

Our street

And finally, our apartment on the left and the landlord's house straight ahead.  However, the man who came to the door said our landlord - The Takahashi's  -had moved.  Medi was very fond of Mrs. Takahashi and was sad to not see her.

We continued our walk in the park and found the park had been "discovered ". Hundreds of more people were there than we remembered.

We came across the playground where I would swing Karen on the swings and she would shout "Higher, Daddy, higher"  Ally was just an infant at that time.

Later that evening  we came across this place and learned there was a chain of Pepper's throughout Tokyo.

All in all, it was a lovely nostalgic day.

Tokyo - Thursday - Imperial Gardens

We decided to walk the Ginza and use the Imperial Gardens as a destination point.

Our block gave us a view of Tokyo that made the city look open.

Surrounded by tall buildings and on a major intersection,  the famous Kabukiza theater, stands out and draws hordes of photographers, Japanese and foreign.

Japanese seem to love architecture and buildings with a twist. I would call this the green thumb building.

Now these buildings form the Tokyo we remembered.

We had walked about two hours when we finally got near the Imperial Gardens .

At last, the Gardens came into view.

Medi outside the Gardens

We saw just a small part of the very extensive Gardens.

The Gardens

The flowers made the area so pretty and free.

And here we are again with Medi wearing sunglasses to hide  her from her public.