train – Roving Sun

December 10, 2025July 2, 2026

Dazaifu

In the morning, we walked from the Grand Hyatt over to the Nishitetsu Fukuoka Tenjin Station to take the train to 太宰府 Dazaifu. We had lunch at a special Ichiran restaurant featuring auspicious five sided bowls and longer 59cm noodles. After, we walked through the tourist shopping street on the way to 太宰府天満宮 Dazaifu Tenmangu. We walked through the large shrine before visiting the 九州国立博物館 Kyushu National Museum nearby. We had some snacks on the way back to the train station before returning to Fukuoka for a sushi dinner and Amaou Strawberries.

December 9, 2025June 30, 2026

Kagoshima

After waking up at the Grand Hyatt Fukuoka, we took the Shinkansen down to 鹿児島市 Kagoshima and then a local train to Sengan-en Station. From the station, we had a fantastic view of 桜島 Sakurajima, a nearby active volcano that was spewing an ash cloud at the time! We visited the nearby 仙巌園 Sengan-en and had lunch there. We visited 城山公園 Shiroyama Park before having dinner and returning to Hakata.

December 8, 2025June 28, 2026

Hakata

After checking out of the Courtyard in Kyoto, we took the Shinkansen to Hakata on the island of Kyushu. We visited the 櫛田神社 Kushida and 住吉神社 Sumiyoshi shrines and had some ramen before checking in to the グランドハイアット福岡 Grand Hyatt Fukuoka at キャナルシティ博多 Canal City Hakata. Later in the evening, we watched Canal City’s water and light shows behind the hotel.

December 5, 2025May 17, 2026

From Dulles to Kyoto

We flew from Dulles to Haneda on United, arriving in the late afternoon. We went right to Shinagawa Station to take the Shinkansen over to Kyoto. We then checked into the Courtyard, which just opened in August, and ended the long travel day with Tsukemen for dinner.

August 14, 2025September 25, 2025

Leaving Innsbruck From Munich

We returned to Munich from Innsbruck yesterday night, having spent five nights there. After breakfast this morning at the Le Meridien in Munch, we took the S-Bahn to the airport for our flight on United back to the US. We arrived just in time for rush hour traffic.