It’s not scrambled eggs or a chicken scramble (for you city folks, a chicken scramble is a county fair event whereby chickens and roosters are put in a big pen with a bunch of kids; the kids get to try to catch the fowl; some have twenty dollar bills affixed to their chicken legs!!!; and Read more

Just when we thought we would be thwarted, the trees are blooming! Saturday March 29 in Tokyo, a rainy cold day, but found some more Sakura. Read more

We left the modern-feeling City of Osaka to travel to Kyoto by car. Our guide from Osaka travelled with us. After a pretty short drive, we arrived Kyoto and went directly to the Fushimi Inari Shrine. It stands out because of its vibrant orange color; over 10,000 Torii gates dedicated by businesses seeking good fortune Read more

Where have I been the past couple of days… you may be wondering since my blogging has ebbed. Or maybe you were not wondering, which I am ok with! Thursday and Friday – Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo Disney Sea. Glad to have done it, but cross it off the list! Tokyo Disneyland bears a very Read more

Hotel Bellustar, our hotel in Tokyo, was very nice, modern and new (about 2 years old). Our rooms were sort of ovals with a wall of windows offering a panoramic view of the City. The lobby was on the 18th floor of this high rise building with rooms beginning around the 40th. Breakfast was included Read more

Did not expect this: Outside our hotel Baseball Update: We were hoping for a better outcome, but game 2 of the Tokyo Series delivered another L for the Cubbies. We did see a monster home run from the Japanese living legend, Shotei Ohtani. And the Dodger’s pitching sensation, Sasaki, delivered 98-100 MPH pitches one after Read more

We woke up to beautiful blue skies and crisp temperatures. Or I did. The rest of the crew was up before dawn to go to the tuna auction which they enjoyed. Lots of huge frozen tuna being dragged around and sold (as explained to me). For our morning outing, we took the train to the Read more

Our first day in Tokyo was jam packed. Breakfast at 7 AM. Self guided walking tour to the Godzilla statue and train station to pick up tourist train passes. This (train passes) pleases my husband, but frankly I would rather be driven…. And we were driven, first to the fish market where all varieties of Read more

March 15, 2025. Jim, Mary and I are at LAX waiting for our JL flight to Tokyo. Jim and I drove to Tampa yesterday and flew to LA. Mary met us here last night after a flight from Phoenix. Francie took the train to Washington DC from Richmond and is already in the air to Read more

In 1985 my parents sent me on a long European tour (maybe 3-4 weeks, I can’t remember) with a student tour group. We started in Athens and ended in London traveling primarily by bus, with an overnight ferry from Greece to Italy and of course a boat across the English Channel. During that time I Read more