We spent a leisurely last day in Tokyo ~ we took the metro to the Imperial Palace East Gardens (Higashi Gyoen) which are absolutely gorgeous and so serene. The Palace itself is off-limits but the gardens were large enough to spend an hour or so exploring. The stone walls around the gardens are made up of large stones that are mortar free so as to withstand earthquakes. It’s odd to see a wall of stones without mortar.
We didn’t realize how good our timing was with regards to the Cherry Blossoms blooming. Normally, they bloom around the the 20th of April so we lucked out since they are in full blooms while we’re here. And I’m so happy about it because they are lovely to look at:
After walking the garden, we spent the rest of the afternoon roaming around the Rappongi district which has lots of restaurants and shops. I tried to find some lip balm for Latitude 13 but all I could find was ‘juicy’ mango not regular mango. We also came across a loud protest and my first thought was “I hope it’s not anti-American” ~isn’t that sad that I would think it was?! More about the protest later.
Right now, it’s time to pack for our early morning trip back to Guam and the land of flip-flops and shorts! š Can’t wait to get the dogs out of doggie jail.
Displaced Beachbums 
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