Yesterdays was Monday for us and we are on the bullet train from Tokyo to Kyoto. Last night we overcame most of our jet lag. We stayed up until 10pm and slept (mostly) through the night.

Yesterday, Easter Sunday was a full day. James had a rough overnight with a bloody nose. He is prone to them (like his mother) especially after a cold. So he and I were up around 1:30am, after falling asleep around 8pm after our first full day in Japan on Saturday.

James is a real trooper and after we cleaned up what looked a little like a crime scene we both tried to go back to sleep, without much success. Ah well, that is what Kindles and audio podcasts are for. Remarkably, Jim, blessed with the senior male gene, slept through all of the excitement.

We had originally planned to go to the 10am Easter Service. But, given our early wake up, we decided instead to go to the 8:30 service. We took a cab to Tokyo Union Church. The building is quite interesting and the inside of the church featured stunning stained glass, lit by the early morning sun. The flowers with tropical lillies filled the sanctuary with a lovely scent. As is typical we were welcomed warmly and enjoyed a meaningful and special Easter service led joyfully by the Pastor. The choir filled the sanctuary with the sounds of hymns throughout the service and I particularly liked that they sat in the pews with us for most of the service, singing the hymns with us.

The church was located in the Shibuya district of Tokyo. We decided to walk around a bit before heading back to the hotel by subway. Most Tokyo subway stations have at least once entrance that includes an elevator or escalator, and after some looking we found one and headed down.

Jim thought he knew the destination station that was closest to our hotel based on his iPhone map directions. James thought we should choose a different exit, Roppongo, since that’s the Tokyo district where our hotel is located. We went along with Jim, but he was wrong, and we ended up a half mile away. But it was a great mistake, teaching us about the serendipity of travel. It turns out the “wrong” choice led us to a fabulous “Cherry Tree” pedestrian walkway that went through a park next to the Ritz Carlton. That was another bit of serendipity, because as we explained to James, you can always get a cab if you’re at a hotel, even if it’s not the hotel where you’re staying. And Jim was ready for a cab ride to our hotel.

The exercise was great, but we were still pretty tired even after showering so we decided to eat at the hotel’s Italian restaurant rather than go somewhere else and it was the right choice because we had the energy to do something else on our list: visit the Tokyo City View from the observation deck of the 50 story Mora Building next door. It was a great way to cap off our night. I’ll let James describe the view and compare it to the view from Toronto’s CN Tower which he visited in 2025.

Back at the hotel we were all fading and decided to rest before heading out to dinner. James got up first and went to the hotel gym for another work out. James ran on the treadmill first and then I joined him for a quick swim before dinner.

I’m looking forward to seeing our AirBnB in Kyoto in person. The Hyatt was a wonderful Hotel with great service and a fabulous Concierge. But our room was small like most affordable hotel rooms in big cities and of course we couldn’t open a window so there is no fresh air.

It was a beautiful morning this Monday morning so we decided to eat breakfast in the sun on the hotel’s 2nd story patio restaurant. .Eating outside was perfect and we all enjoyed the food and the sun. I got to enjoy a Japanese bento box breakfast, which I love. The men had eggs and very unusual, but yummy pancakes.

We took a taxi to Tokyo Station to catch the 2 hour “Shinkansen” bullet train to Kyoto. We planned to enjoy the shops and food before heading to our train but, unlike the other Japanese train stations we have used, Tokyo Station had almost no services after we passed through the turnstiles. So we arrived early but then had to wait an hour for our train with no shops or restaurants. No worries.

While I’ve written this blog sitting comfortably in our seats, our “Shinkansen” bullet train left Tokyo, first into the industrial area and then the country side. We’ve passed a big lake (Lake Biwa), photographed Mt. Fuji in the distance and passed lots of hills dotted with blossoming cherry trees. I even saw a large ferry boat crossing Lake Biwa.

Our Kyoto Airbnb.

We made it easily from the train to our Airbnb. The neighborhood is great and really quiet. The instructions were pretty good to get us to the small apartment. The pictures are similar to the unit. It does have 2 bathrooms and 3 bed/matts. Everything is very clean, but . . . very small. We expected small, but this is smaller than we expected. The staircase upstairs is sturdy, but as James would say “sketchy”, with no railing. The screen door is in good condition, but because it doesn’t have a rubber seal that connects to the sliding glass door the bugs can just go around the screen and follow the light into our living room. But the proprietor has been very responsive and hopefully will fix it tomorrow.

After we got settled and laughed quite a bit, we headed out to the coin laundry near by. We met a local there who gave us some tips and we had a great conversation. He’s studying modern and contemporary history (specifically imperialism affecting Taiwan). His English was excellent. While we were waiting for the laundry, we headed out to grab a quick bite.

On our way we crossed the canal and came across the most beautiful cherry trees reflecting in the water. Then we came across a Mexican restaurant in strange little office building that also housed some other small ethnic restaurants.

Here’s the entrance. James was worried. He said it looked sketchy. We thought it was pretty ideal. The food was simple, but good. James was a little worried but soldiered through.

James: Easter was great. Our pastor was full of energy and it was a cool building. It felt just like a regular Easter back in the home in the states. It took some walking after that, but it ended up being even better because of the aforementioned cherry trees. One of the main things I’ve found with this trip is that going the wrong way, more often than not, leads to another adventure. It’s been great to be able to workout and swim, too. The hotel had a very nice workout room and pool. Plus, I think I’ve finally stopped the bloody noses. The night before the train we went to the observatory and had a great view of the city lights. The Tokyo tower is the best at night. The bullet train was interesting; It felt kind of like a mix between a plane and a regular train. Our view of Mount Fuji was awesome. Pro tip: When going from Tokyo to Kyoto, sit on the right side of the train to see it better. I am writing this from our Airbnb. It is small, but it works. The beds were on the ground, but surprisingly comfy. I slept great. I am excited for the sumo wrestling demonstration at lunch.

After the appropriate time we headed back to the coin laundry, folded our clothes and then headed to the local market where we stocked up for breakfast.

Today, for lunch, we are going to a sumo demonstration and chicken hot pot meal. Stand by!

Jim: I’m continuing to enjoy sharing time with my two travel buddies. Our Easter service was one of the best I’ve attended in years. The Pastor was definitely in tune with the Holy Spirit, and the setting, music and sermon were perfect. The Easter miracle and our individual lives are, as the Pastor said, definitely analogous to the miracle of dormant cherry trees awakening, blooming beautifully, living vibrantly, returning to dormancy and re-awakening again, in accordance with God’s plan. T

The rest of Easter was full of serindipities, ending with the beautiful nighttime lights of downtown Tokyo from 50 stories up.

The Shinkansen “Super Express” Nozomi bullet train is always a treat, as we journey 230 miles in just over 2 hours, including just 2 short stops along with way.

Our Airbnb in Kyoto is a very small 2 bedroom, 2 bath apartment, but it’s in a very quiet neighborhood next to a Buddhist temple. We sleep on floor mats which are quite comfortable, but for me, getting up from the floor takes some effort, especially in the middle of the night.

This morning we watched the NASA feed of the Artemis II spacecraft just before and after it went through a communications blackout as it went around the far side of the moon and began its journey back to Earth.

Now we are heading out to begin our exploration of Kyoto with James on foot, including lunch at a Sumo wrestling demonstration. Tomorrow, we’ll be e-biking around Kyoto in a 5 hour guided tour. I’m much better at e-biking than walking so I’m really looking forward to that and the weather should be sunny all day!

Dewa Sayonara!

After a wonderful travel adventure, with unbelievable weather, the clouds rolled into Switzerland and were predicted to stay for over a week. So we looked at our options, including flying back to Amsterdam early, but that was also rainy and cold. On the other hand, there was only a minimal cost to fly home to Seattle 5 days early, so we decided to come home last Saturday and I’m writing this blog post from sunny Seattle.

So back to our last stop in Switzerland: the Swiss Capitol of Bern.

We left Murren after 3 wonderful days in the high mountains. We met a large family there traveling together. Eight of their group all went paragliding together (each with its own professional pilot). What a brave and adventurous family!

Hopefully, we can come here someday with our family and do the same. Jim said he would video our group paraglider flyby from our hotel (his paragliding days are behind him).

After breakfast we left our hotel in Murren and took the giant gondola down the very steep path to the valley floor where our car was parked. On the way down fellow passengers asked me to play my Uke, so I did! We all sang “Edelweiss” together. It was a magic moment.

Before the 90 minute drive to Bern, we stopped at Trummelbach Falls, a crazy, nearby waterfall that cascades down through a slot canyon in the side of the mountain. An elevator takes you up part of the way and then you climb multiple flights of stairs to see the waterfall from multiple perspectives as it courses through the very steep and windy slot canyon. The sound of the force of the falls is so loud and overwhelming that Jim said: “this is the sound of gravity.” So true.

After leaving the waterfalls, we drove about 30 minutes before stopping in Interlaken to check it out for the future. It’s a small city between two large lakes and we stopped at a recommended ice cream place for snack. Interlaken is definitely a good stopping place where you can get to all the nearby mountains and lakes easily by car or train.

From there we drove an hour to Bern and our lovely Bellevue Palace Hotel. It was by far our nicest stay in Switzerland, with room for all our luggage, a real king bed, and space to relax and recharge from our previous fast-paced adventures. Getting our mess of partially packed stuff out of the car was quite an experience. But the hotel staff who helped us were very friendly and didn’t bat an eye. Amazingly, although there were dark clouds during our drive, the big rain held off until we were safely in our room. Then the skies opened, rain poured down in sheets and lighting and thunder filled the sky.

We opened our windows to watch the storm and I proceeded to organize all our stuff back into their appropriate places.

The hotel has what they call the first “American Bar” in Switzerland. We couldn’t figure out what that really meant, but given the rain we went there for dinner that night.

Touring Bern and a quick visit to Murten

Bern is the capitol of Switzerland, a federal republic like the USA, and the capitol in the Canton of Bern, which is one of the largest Cantons of Switzerland. There are less than 10,000,000 Swiss citizens, but they are governed in 26 Cantons, each of which resembles an American State from a tax and local governance perspective. Our hotel was only a block from the Capitol and Parliament building. A winding river surrounds the old town.

We took a 3 hour tour, given by a lovely Mexican guide whose husband is doing cancer research at the local Medical School. Even though she has only lived in Bern for a few years, her love of the city thoroughly infused her talks. The world is such an amazing place.

We began our tour near the bear habitat. “Bern” means bear. Why? Legend has it that when the city was founded in 1191 by Berthold V, Duke of Zähringen, he commissioned the nobleman Cuno von Bubenberg to establish the city on a peninsula surrounded by the Aare River. Apparently, he said he would name the town after the first animal he saw, which was a bear. So now in Bern you see bear references everywhere, especially on the city’s flags, which are also everywhere. And unlike most flags, the flags in Switzerland are squares, not rectangles.

The Main Street of Bern’s old town is a UNESCO world heritage site, totally charming and very walkable.

That night we went to a local restaurant recommended by a local jewelry maker where I stopped and bought some earrings. The restaurant was very good and we met the owner when we purchased one of the t-shirts the staff wears with a “Mary Poppins” penguin on it.

Our second and last full day in Bern was long and fun. We had a lot to accomplish: the Einstein Museum, riding a streetcar to a nearby hill overlooking the old city, riding a train to Murten, buying Sprungli Chocolates, and finally, packing for our early morning flight from Zurich to Amsterdam.

One of our favorite visits was to the Einstein Museum housed in an old castle-like building. Once again, we are learning that creative curation is the magic of excellent museums. We saw that in Melk on our River Cruise and last year in the jewelry exhibit in Singapore. When we bought our ticket, they asked us if we wanted to see the new Bronze Age exhibit in the basement for $2 more. We said yes and we are so glad we did.

The Bronze Age exhibit was exceptional, explaining the importance of bronze and how it was the “AI” breakthrough of the ancient world, right up there with “the wheel.” Copper was the first metal humans mined, but it was too soft for most applications. Tin, the second metal humans mined, was better than copper, but still too soft. Then some creative person figured out that mixing 1 part tin with 9 parts copper made bronze, a hard metal that could be used to produce chariot wheels, knives, swords, spears, armor, dishes, cups, jewelry and many other useful things. The Bronze Age lasted 1,500 years, until humans finally discovered how to produce Iron, which is hard like bronze but even stronger and less expensive.

The combination of art and narratives were inspiring and educational and then there was the “hand”. The exhibit takes you into a movie that explains the recent archeological finding of a bronze hand. At the end of the movie the doors open dramatically in the back of theater to reveal the actual hand and the exhibits discuss it further postulating its meaning (probably a prosthetic hand for a ruler who lost their real hand in battle), but possibly a religious icon or something else.

From there we proceeded upstairs the to our main goal: the Einstein Exhibit. The exhibit begins up a mirrored staircase that appears to visually “bend” space-time.

Many of us know about Einstein’s story, but they do an excellent job putting his discovery of the “special theory of relativity” and the “general theory of relativity” into the perspective of the simplicity of the early 1900’s, when Einstein’s “day job” was reviewing patent applications for Switzerland in Bern.

From there we grabbed a bite to eat at the recommended cafeteria across the street in the Alpine museum. One of the museum guides said it was better and less expensive than the Einstein cafeteria and she was probably right.

As we walked through the main road in the old town we heard piano music and it turned out that it came from a troubadour who had rolled his piano to the center of the street.

After the Einstein Museum we caught the #7 streetcar and then transferred to the #10 streetcar to reach the Rose Garden on a nearby hill with a remarkable view of the old city.

From there we made our way back to the center of town to find the Sprungli Chocolate shop at the train station and then check off the last thing on Jim’s list: Swiss Train trip.

Navigating the busy train station with lots of stairs and no easy way to accommodate luggage validated our previous decision to rent a car after our river cruise rather than travel by train to Prague and Switzerland. But without luggage we were able to successfully navigate our way to Murten, which is a small, old town overlooking a lovely alpine lake.

Unfortunately, by this time we were really tired and after walking down to the lake level, we didn’t have the energy to walk back up and it was starting to rain. Fortunately, there was a lakefront hotel and they called a taxi for us to take us back up the hill and to the train station. I would definitely go back to Murten the next time we visit Switzerland. We thought we might grab dinner in Murten before training back to Bern, but none of the outside dining areas were open so I bought some chips and soda to hold us over on the return train.

Once back in Bern I purchased the Sprungli chocolates before leaving the train station. The rain returned on our walk back to our hotel so we stopped for some pizza. The restaurant only served gluten free pizza, but the crust was yummy and we weren’t going anywhere else in the pouring rain.

Because wetter weather was forecast to continue for several days, we decided to change our plans and fly home 5 days earlier. It turns out the lack of travel to the USA made left many open seats on the earlier flight we booked so the change fee was minimal compared to 5 more days staying at Swiss hotels.

So we woke up early on Saturday June 7 and drove to Zurich, where we returned our rental car and checked in for our flights to Amsterdam and then from there onto Seattle. We weren’t sure if we would be able to check our luggage all the way through to Seattle, but because KLM is part of Delta’s “One World” network, we were able to do that without a problem.

From there it was just two flights. The stop in Amsterdam was easy and the amazing Amsterdam KLM Lounge made the 2 hour wait for our flight to Seattle very comfortable.

In another small world experience two of our Seattle friends were on the same flight from Amsterdam to Seattle!

With our lie flat seats on the final leg of our journey home, we easily relaxed. The plane had decent WiFi and I watched the French Open women’s final on my phone, ate some food, took my ambien and then slept until we were awoken for a snack and the landing. Customs was a breeze. We had itemized all our purchases, but we weren’t even asked about them, even though we had two suitcases, a duffle bag and two backpacks.

Switzerland Tid Bits:

The food. As another traveler said to us, “you don’t come to Switzerland for the food” and that is absolutely true for the German speaking, mostly northern areas of Switzerland (French and Italian are the primary languages spoken in Switzerland’s western and southern regions). The next time we visit Switzerland we’ll have to see how the food is in the French and Italian regions. The coffee we experienced was especially mediocre, and one local we met who had lived in Seattle for many years said she especially missed the coffee.

The prices. Switzerland is very expensive. This isn’t a budget travel spot.

Public safety. Switzerland is very safe. Interestingly, like Israel, every Swiss male must join the military at 18. They are all trained to shoot and they keep their weapons at home. They are ready for anything. No one warned us about pick-pockets in Switzerland, unlike every other nation we visited on this trip.

Large Beds. Switzerland does not believe in King or Queen beds. Each person gets their own bed and comforter, which you can push together if you want one, larger shared bed. Only our most expensive hotel, the Bellevue Palace in Bern, had a single large bed.

Back in Seattle

We came home a bit early for three reasons: (1) The weather shifted; (2) We were ready; and (3) We were cutting it tight on our original schedule to be rested and ready the for Grand Opening of Dick’s Everett restaurant (#10!).

As usual it took us time to get over our jet lag and our house was a bit chaotic because the construction related to our new elevator was almost finished but not cleaned up yet.

It took us a couple of days to get things at the house back in order and almost a week to get completely over our jet lag.

But four days after our return, on Wednesday June 11, we were pretty fresh for the soft opening that afternoon and raring to go for the full opening party on Thursday morning June 12.

Yesterday, for Father’s Day, we enjoyed sunshine, grandchildren and Little League baseball.

We are blessed and life is good.

Thank you for following along on our adventures! Before we left on our cruise up north we got to visit with my sister, Rachel, meet with two friends from the river cruise, Sue and Michael, catch a lunch with friends Erika and Carrie and celebrate our 44th Anniversary on Whidbey with dear friends Erica (who brought a yummy cake) and Laird and Carol who made us a wonderful dinner. I’m finishing the blog as we are anchored at Echo Bay, Sucia Island (one of the San Juan Islands).

True Love Adventures is written by Fawn and edited by Jim.