Patapan Art

We decided to breakfast in the hotel and discovered that we were to get a surprise: 

consome, rice, hamburger and tomato sauce, salad, yoghurt and strawberry jam, and tea.  Yum!

Then we were off  and headed towards the Senso-Ji Shrine.  On the way we came across rickshaws pulled by strong young men:

shops with very tempting bowls for sale:

tradition nestled beside modernity:

 

 

We saw biscuits being made:

And then we were at the shrine with crowds of other tourists:

I had to waft smoke all over myself to wish away my aches and pains:

 

( and though I look it due in part to my bad posture, I am not pregnant)

and make wishes at various sites

I am sure that a lot of the images that we saw there will reappear in my future art:

 

I especially loved this monument of a woman who helped the poor and promoted education for women:

As we were leaving, we discovered some old ladies in wheel chairs out with their carers.  One of them wanted her picture taken and with a lot of giggling, they helped her out of her chair and she painfully manipulated herself into position to pose:

 
We wandered out into a world of tourist shops:

But were more interested in cheese and green tea icecreams.

And then we made the mistake of wandering over to the Ueno Park without using a map.  This took us through back streets as tidy and clean as the main streets.

Partly through the hike, we succumbed to hunger and picked a restaurant based on the number of office-workers frequenting it.  Although we spotted prosciutto ham on the counter, we took another of our pot-luck picks at a meal, with the help of another friendly waiter who didn't speak English.

 

We think we had a mushroom and pork stew with rice, pickle and salad, mushroom soup and tea..... and it tasted good.

After getting lost, footsore, hot and exhausted, we finally found the park, only to discover that the art museums were all shut for the day. 

Bob did his good deed for the day by returning lit mosquito coils which had fallen off the back of a cyclist's basket (?!), we had a drink at the local Starbucks and people watched, we discovered a homeless camp in a secluded spot, and we took more photos.  This time of the Green Festival:

We discovered more temples where people made wishes for their love ones:

 

And finally, caught the train home for a little rest!