We visited Washington, DC in the morning today to see the cherry blossoms around the Tidal Basin. It was, unfortunately, well past peak bloom.
Continue reading “Past Peak Bloom at the Tidal Basin”Past Peak Bloom at the Tidal Basin
Chur
After breakfast at the Kameha Grand Zurich, we decided to visit Chur, a city in Switzerland that is easy to get to but we haven’t been to before. Upon arriving, we took the Chur Bergbahnen up to Brambrüesch on a mountain on the south side of the city. There was snow on the ground and soon there was heavy snow falling from the sky! After enjoying winter, we descended and had lunch in the Altstadt. We walked through the area, visiting the Martinskirche and Kathedrale St. Mariä Himmelfahrt. We continued on to the Haldenhüttli at a wonderful viewpoint above the Altstadt. On our way back to the train station, we encountered the Swiss Army engaged in a ceremony! After returning to Zurich, we had döner before returning to the hotel to end our last full day of this trip.
Continue reading “Chur”From Luxembourg to Zurich
After a quick breakfast at the Luxembourg Marriott Hotel Alfa, we checked out and headed to Zurich by train. This was not originally part of our travel plans as we were going to return to Belgium but due to the SNCB strike decided to go to Switzerland instead. After a late arrival in Zurich, we visited Uetliberg, a small mountain on the west side of the city that we’ve never visited before. After enjoying the view and a tiny bit of snow on the ground, we visited the Lindt Home of Chocolate where we enjoyed some free chocolate and bought some chocolate as well. We returned to Zurich to check in at the Kameha Grand, a hotel we’ve stayed at before.
Continue reading “From Luxembourg to Zurich”Christmas Day in Tokyo
After another late start from the メルキュール東京羽田エアポート Mercure Tokyo Haneda Airport, we had sushi for lunch in Meguro before visiting the 肥後細川庭園 Higo Hosokawa Garden to the north. Next, we walked over to the 椿山荘 Chinzanso Garden and enjoyed its fog display. After, we briefly visited the modern Roman Catholic カテドラル聖マリア大聖堂 St. Mary’s Cathedral before dinner at Yurakucho. We ended the day by walking through the rain to see the Christmas illuminated 東京タワー Tokyo Tower up close.
Continue reading “Christmas Day in Tokyo”Nagasaki and Super Mario
After waking up at the ザ ブラッサム熊本 The Blossom Kumamoto, we checked out and headed over to 長崎 Nagasaki by a combination of Shinkansen and conventional rail. We left our bags at the 長崎マリオット Nagasaki Marriott and visited the 山王神社 Sanno-jinja and its one legged torii, having lost the other leg during the atomic bombing. After, we took the 長崎ロープウェイ Nagasaki Ropeway up to the top of 稲佐山 Inasa-yama for a fantastic view of the city. Next, we took a quick look at the 眼鏡橋 Spectacles Bridge before having a sushi dinner and checking in at the Marriott. Our room ended up being fantastic! In the evening, we took the Shinkansen over to 武雄温泉 Takeo Onsen to ride on the Super Mario train which was operating as the Midori.
Continue reading “Nagasaki and Super Mario”