Fish Market, Tokyo Tower, and Imperial Gardens

We woke up in the morning and headed to the Tsujiki fish market, which is the largest wholesale fish and seafood market in the world.  We didn't go to the live auction. They only allow a limited number of visitors each day.  The auction starts at 5 AM, so you have to get there between 3 and 4 AM to get a spot.  We decided a visit to the outer market at 9 would be just fine.  The market was crowded. There were many stalls set up selling various types of seafood, as well as dried fish and seaweed. Several of them gave samples and were amused to see all the different things Charlotte would try and liked.  All the lines for the restaurants were all really long, so we just bought a few snacks from vendors and decided to get lunch somewhere else.  The market was crowded and at one point a lady and I bumped into each other.  I turned around and apologized, she bowed at the same time.  I love how polite the Japanese are!

Tsujiki maket

Next, we headed to the Tokyo Tower.  The Tokyo Tower was designed to look like the Eiffel Tower, except they made it 13 meters taller so it would be the tallest tower in the world.  The kids had a lot of fun looking at the views from the observation deck. 

view from the top

After the tower, we went to the gardens of the Imperial Palace.  This is a popular time to visit Japan because the cherry blossoms are in bloom.  Some of the parks had hundreds of them and they are breathtaking.  On the way, we stopped to see the Zojo-ji Temple.  The path to the temple had little statues.  They each had brightly colored hats, flowers, and outfits. 

overhead view of Zojo-ji temple from the Tokyo Tower

 

Zojo-ji Temple

decorated statues

Cherry blossoms with the Zojo-ji Temple in the background

We took a train to the Tokyo station, which is a beautiful and huge old building.  Then we walked to the Imperial Palace.  It was a long walk.  We stopped at a park on the way, with lots of fountains

Tokyo station

Beautiful fountains

  

I was surprised how many people were enjoying the Imperial Gardens.  I thought they would be considered sacred, instead there were hundreds of people lounging on the lawn and enjoying the beautiful spring day. 

Imperial Gardens

The walk around the gardens was long, about an hour.  The kids were pretty tired by the end.  We decided to get some ice cream from the snack shop.  They had ice cream bars covered in chocolate with a waffle around it.  They were delicious.