Sayonara

Caroline, Robert, & Julia taking in a view of the moat
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Our flight tonight is at 7:00, so we have a good amount of time to squeeze in a couple more adventures, then catch the limo bus back to Narita.

First order of business was to explore the Imperial Palace.  From Tokyo Station, it was about a 10 or 15 minute walk (remember, we had kids in tow, your mileage may vary).  You can't tour the palace, just wander the gardens and enjoy the huge park that surrounds the palace.  There are real moats, with our kids thought was cool.  Since it's a nice place, with paved paths, it is popular with joggers.  And, since crime is so scarce, the runners all leave their equipment bags on benches, unattended, while they exercise.  Imagine being able to leave your things, and be sure that they'll still be undisturbed when you return from a run!  We were so flabbergasted that we had to take a picture.

View of the Imperial Palace
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Some other observations we made during our week were 1) public trash cans are very difficult to come by, and yet 2) there is no litter, possibly because 3) people don't eat on the run.  When it's meal time, they sit down and eat.  This could be a contributing factor as to why 4) people are generally thin.  Oh, and Louis Vuitton is unbelievably popular.  Our 5-year-old remarked about how so many people have the same design on their purses that her schoolmate has on her backpack (yes, the schoolmate has an LV backpack).

Sakurada-dori leads to many government ministries. Uchibori-dori gets you near the Diet Building.
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Our very last tourist stop was the Sony Building, in the Ginza district, not far from Tokyo Station.  We'd heard that it was full of fun, hands-on exhibits that would be good for adults and kids.  We heard wrong.  There were some extremely cool TVs and video cameras with definition like you wouldn't believe!  I mean, you could see the pores on people's faces.  It was a little too clear, actually.  I don't need to see that much detail.  Anyway, the girls did enjoy playing in front of a video camera and watching themselves on playback.  The Sony Building had three very small floors of products exhibited.  The other eight stories were meeting rooms and restaurants.

Caroline at the Sakurada-mon Gate, Imperial Palace Grounds
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And, thus, it was time to catch our last train back to the Monorail, pick up our luggage, and take the limo bus back to Narita.  Sayonara, Tokyo.  There were so many things we wish we could have done, but we're out of time.  We hope to come back again!  Domo Arigato for a wonderful vacation.