Roving Sun – Here and there but not quite everywhere!

We visited Washington, DC in the morning today to see the cherry blossoms around the Tidal Basin. It was, unfortunately, well past peak bloom.

After breakfast at the 名古屋マリオットアソシアホテル Nagoya Marriott Associa Hotel, we headed out to visit 名古屋城 Nagoya Castle… which was closed for the Japanese New Year holiday! We ended up walking around it before having the local 味噌煮込みうどん miso nikomi udon for lunch nearby at 山本屋 Yamamoto-ya. We then visited 熱田神宮 Atsuta-jingu before spending the rest of the afternoon and evening around the 栄 Sakae district and オアシス２１ (Oasis 21). We had dinner in the area at 矢場とん Yabaton, a local chain that specializes in the local 味噌カツ miso katsu dish.

Upon waking up at the 名古屋マリオットアソシアホテル Nagoya Marriott Associa Hotel, we headed upstairs to the lounge for breakfast where we also saw the sunrise. We took the train over to 岐阜 Gifu and ascended to 岐阜城 Gifu Castle via aerial tram and a short walk. After, we had lunch and visited 正法寺 Shōhō-ji to see its Great Buddha Statue before walking around 岐阜公園 Gifu Park. We ended our visit in Gifu with a walk through the historic 川原町 Kawaramachi before returning to Nagoya for dinner.

After checking out of the メルキュール東京羽田エアポート Mercure Tokyo Haneda Airport in the morning, we took the Shinkansen from Shinagawa Station to Nagoya Station and left our bags at the 名古屋マリオットアソシアホテル Nagoya Marriott Associa Hotel. We then took the train down to 常滑市 Tokoname, one of Japan’s 六古窯 Six Ancient Kilns. We walked around this historic town, browsed some of the pottery shops, and bought a tea pot before returning to Nagoya.

We got another late start at the メルキュール東京羽田エアポート Mercure Tokyo Haneda Airport this morning. We headed over to Shinjuku to meet up with family who live in Japan. Later on, we visited アルトニア Artnia, the Square Enix cafe and shop at their headquarters. We ended up walking around Shinjuku for a bit before having sushi at Shinagawa Station on our way back to the Mercure.