Tokyo: Departure, Journey, Arrival (11/1-11/3)

We’ve been excited for this trip for WEEKS. It was a crazy October trying to get here: Lucia had pneumonia before her birthday, and then Greta had pneumonia before her birthday, and then there was Halloween. Finally, on Friday 11/1, we drove to Connellsville to deliver Farrah to Mom and Dad. After spending the night there, we drove to Pittsburgh for our fourteen-hour flight to Tokyo. Flying is never straightforward, especially when a connection is involved, and we ended up having to be rerouted from DC--Tokyo to Chicago--Tokyo because of a delay. Once in Chicago, we had to sprint through the airport. None of our seats were together, so we had to get that sorted out at the gate. But finally we were on board and en route. (Poor Greta, still recovering from pneumonia, had to do the nebulizer at the Pittsburgh airport. I’d gotten a travel one for this trip.)

For fourteen hours we watched movies (all of us), listened to podcasts/books (me), and napped (most of us). Then--Tokyo.

By the time we landed and got through passport control and found our driver and got to our hotel, we were all pretty beat. Andrew and I--though eager to dive right into Tokyo life--had learned our lesson in Paris, and instead of trying to go to a restaurant for dinner, we got some food and ate in our hotel room. See? We’re getting smart.

Our hotel is so cute--it’s one big room, with one big bed and two Japanese-style futons on a raised tatami platform. A unique, very Japanese setup. Let the adventure begin.