Day 4: Traditional to Modern

みなさん、こんにちは！

Hello everyone!

日本旅行の４日目は原宿・表参道エリア～浅草・スカイツリーです！

Japan Trip Day 4 - Harajuku & Omotesando area, Asakusa & Skytree area

この日はひとつのエリアに限らずに１日であえていろんなところに行きましたよ！まず、少しでも涼しいうちにということで、午前中に明治神宮へ。高層ビルがそびえ立つこんなに静かで緑が生い茂るところがあるのか！と毎回初めてくる時のように驚いてしまいます(３年連続来てます笑)。ロンドンにもだだっ広い公園とか Hampsted Heath とか緑が生い茂る森っぽいところはあるんですが、緑の濃さが違うなと思います。明治神宮の雰囲気ももっと重々しいし。

We didn't stay in one area but visited different places! First, we went to Meiji Jingu in the morning because it's always cooler around that time. I can't stop getting surprised with this deep green and the quietness of this place as if this was my first visit (I went there three years in a row lol)! There are huge parks and greens like in Hampstead Heath in London, but I think the depth of green is different. I feel that the atmosphere in Meiji Jingu is more dense.

スペインの家族にとって初めての神社だったので、最初は手水場（名前知らなかったのでググりました）で手口の洗い方を教えたりして、参拝しました。お庭の中もうろうろと散歩しましたが、結構外は暑かったんですが緑の中を歩くとひんやりするんですね。すごく気持ちの良い散歩でした。やっぱり午前中に訪れるのが◎。

As it was Spanish family's first time to visit a shrine, I taught them how to purify their hands and mouth at Chozu-ba (I didn't know this name so I had to google it lol), and then went into the building. We also walked around the garden, and it felt much cooler though it was quite hot outside. We were feeling good walking around there. I would definitely recommend you go there in the morning.

明治神宮を堪能した後はガラッと雰囲気が変わって原宿の竹下通り。スペインの家族が意外とかなり喜んでくれました。あのごちゃごちゃした感じが日本っぽいのかもしれません。レインボーの綿菓子やKawaiiカルチャーを楽しんでいるようでした。

After enjoying Meiji Jingu, we headed to Takeshita Street in Harajuku. As the atmosphere was totally different, everyone seemed to be pleased. Probably the messy streets with rainbow cotton candies and "kawaii" culture were typical Japanese stuff to them. I'm happy that they enjoyed it.

そのまま歩き続けて表参道へ。ちょうどお腹も減ってきていたので美味しいトンカツを食べに「まい泉」へ。スペインの家族にとってはじめてのトンカツ。お肉は勿論ですが、タレが結構気に入っていた感じでした。海外で、あれがけ濃いソースってあんまり出会わないような、、、。個人的にはあのサクッとした衣が最高です。

We walked on the streets and reached to Omotesando. We got hungry by the time we arrived there, so entered this Tonkatsu restaurant called "Maisen". This was also their first time to try Tonkatsu. Not only the meat, but the Tare (sauce) was popular among us. Speaking of which, I may not have seen this strong sauce here in the UK nor in Spain. I love the crispiness of the batter!! Yumm...

お腹いっぱいになったので次の目的地、浅草へ！雷門に着いてふと気づいたのが、彼の家族の名字が、スペイン語の「稲妻」なんです。しっかり雷門の前で写真を撮って、周辺を歩き回りました。お土産屋さんが並んでいて、ここでご家族初のくず餅を頂きました！初の食感？だったらしく、気に入ったようでした。

We got quite full, so we headed to Asakusa. I realised just in front of the Kaminari Mon (thunder gate), my partner's family name means "lightning" in Spanish! So we took lots of photos with the gate. We walked along the streets with a variety of souvenir shops and had their first-time Kuzumochi (Japanese sweets)! It seemed the texture was new for them, which they liked a lot.

そしてそこからなんとあの暑さの中歩いて！スカイツリーへ。予約無しで大丈夫かな〜と心配でしたが、意外と人が少ない時間帯だったようでスルスルっと入っていけました。スタッフの方がとても親切にしてくださって、チケットを買ったのがちょうど日没の１時間前くらいだったので、お勧めの回り方を教えてくださって、明るい昼間の風景から日没の神秘的な夕焼け、夜のキラキラした都会の風景まで東京のいろんな表情を楽しめてよかったです！個人的には日没〜夜がお勧めです！

And then, I didn't expect us to do this, but we walked to the Skytree in the crazy heat! I was a bit worried because we didn't book tickets, but we bought tickets and entered smoothly as there were not many people surprisingly. The staff was really kind to us, explaining that it was just one hour before the sunset so how & where we should go around to make the most of the visit. Thanks to this, we enjoyed different views of Tokyo, from the bright view of day time, mysterious sunset, to the sparkling city view at night. Personally I would recommend you go there from sunset to night!

夜はスカイツリーのところに入った和食レストランでさっぱりしたおうどんを頂きました！東京の伝統的なところからモダンなところまで見られて、疲れはしましたがこの日もとても楽しい１日でした :)

We had Udon at the restaurant in the Skytree after that! Seeing traditional to modern side of Tokyo, we had a tiring but really good day!

続く！

To be continued!

れ

R