The View from the 19th Floor of the Tokyo Sofitel Hotel over Ueno Park at Dusk

Japan or Europe?

Krissy and I have known each other for 22 years, and On June 30th, 2006 we celebrated 10 years of marriage. In an effort to do something to honor this auspicious occasion I hunted for reasonable airfares to Europe, but was confounded by a lack of available seats and very high costs. This was due to the high interest in the World Cup Soccer tournament being held in Germany, so I started monitoring Travelzoo.com for cheap fares and other travel options. One day a bargain fare to Tokyo popped up and after some hemming and hawing I grabbed the bull by the horns, and off we went for a week of travel to Japan. (Stuart, our 7 yr. old headed off to Pennsylvania with his Grandpa and Nana and we took advantage of this to take our first adults only vacation within the last 8 years.)

After struggling to find dog and cat sitters, and deciding on long term parking in San Jose, we embarked on our adventure. What followed was a 10 hour flight to Tokyo's Narita Airport, a sweltering journey in a foul smelling train with a broken air conditioner, and a bewildered exit from Tokyo’s Ueno (pronounced oo en oh ) train station. We then took a 20 minute walk through a city park, surrounded by the surreal sounds of a horrendously loud Japanese punk rock band screeching in the Ueno’s amphitheater, and the bizarre cawing of dozens of park dwelling ravens, after which we arrived at the Tokyo Sofitel Hotel.

First Day: Hotel Sofitel and Tokyo Proper

The hotel was a bewilderingly tall edifice, that resembled something Stuart would have constructed out of Lego, but it stood proudly over Ueno Park. Our room, which was on the 19th floor, was clean, comfortable and modern. We had a commanding view of the northeast of Tokyo, and in our excitement we did our best to try and quell our jet lag.

Sofitel or Lego Land?

The flight over was a non-event but it was clear that this Jumbo jet was laden with a crowd quite different from the average US domestic flight. I sensed very little chatter, as most folks were busy dozing off for what would be a long and boring journey. The in-flight entertainment was good for a few hours, but not for 10 hours worth. Reruns of CSI, Two and a Half Men, and dated Harrison Ford Movies can only entertain for so long. I did my best to sleep, but sitting up in a tiny airplane seat has never been my forte.

Once we landed, we queued up for passport control, grabbed our bags and passed through customs. After a quick trip to an ATM for a few thousand Yen, we took on the next challenge of trading in our Japan Rail exchange tickets for actual Rail Passes, and setting up reservations for the journey from Narita Airport into Tokyo subway station, and our impending Bullet Train journey to Kyoto.

Regrettably, (as stated earlier,) we had a bad stroke of luck when this initial rail trip was adversely affected by a broken air conditioner. The weather in Japan is similar to that of New York in July, with high humidity and an average temperature of 85 degrees. Trapped for an hour in a fully reserved, sweltering train car served only to compound the misery of jet lag and fatigue. But this was our vacation, and while it dampened our brows we were still game for the adventure ahead.

After dealing with the Japan Rail Reservation Office we set out to find our hotel, winding our way along the margins of Ueno, Tokyo’s oldest city park. It was early on a sultry Sunday evening, and many folks were strolling along a broad expanse of lake cloaked with a tapestry of water lilies. When finally we got to our room, we were overcome with jet lag, and lacking energy decided not to head out for dinner. American Airlines in flight food wasn’t as bas as I’d expected, but it lacked the sort of gustatory intrigue one might experience on JAL or Lufthansa. The American Airlines meals made up in quantity what they lacked in flavor, which was good as we were too exhausted to deal with finding a decent dinner on our first night in Japan.