Visiting the Imperial Palace

Day three in Tokyo was spent at Imperial Palace and Yoyogi Park. But first we stopped at a nearby bakery for some delicious pastries. The bakery is a tiny little shop with lots to offer, but only room for about 4 people to stand inside while placing their order. Eating on the street is practically forbidden, and definitely a no-no. It's not even acceptable to drink while walking around. So we took our breakfast over to Arisugawanomiya Park where we stopped our first day in Japan.

And this is where we encountered our first "squatty potty". I was nervous about how this works exactly, especially with the kids, but it was really very easy and I'll admit that I actually prefer this now over a regular public toilet.

We learned something new on the train today. When exiting the train, if you look for these bright yellow directory signs, they will tell you which subway exit will pop you out closest to your destination. This sign tells us we can use exit C10-C13b and be in the right place to arrive at Imperial Palace. These signs are so valuable considering the train system has a multi-level underground walkway that seems to contain a complete underground city separate from the one above. There are even shopping centers and restaurants in some sections of the underground subway areas. The engineering of the downtown Tokyo area just blows my mind.

We exit the subway and find ourselves right in the center of downtown Tokyo. Across the street is a very odd view. It's the Imperial Palace, the primary residence of the Emperor of Japan, with a moat around it. Our first real-life moat.

Our passes to enter, thick like scrabble tiles.

The doors are unbelievably large, thick and contain another regular-sized door inside them.

The walls inside the palace were constructed with these amazingly large rectangular rocks.

The wine cellar.

The cherry blossoms and other trees were starting to bloom.

This was February. I would love to come back later in the year 

when the grass is green and everything is in full bloom.

This section is lined with plum trees. It would be beautiful to see with the red and white blooms.

The East Garden was our favorite part inside the Imperial Palace grounds.

Once again, on the way out you can't help but be struck by the contrast of being inside the palace grounds, a place that is centuries old, and seeing the city's high-rise buildings towering over it as you leave.  Where two worlds collide.

Back to the subway, now headed to Yoyogi Park.