Day 21 Our final day in Japan

This morning we checked out, left our luggage in reception then took the metro to The Imperial Palace Gardens. It was lovely and warm in the sunshine and not too crowded on our arrival.

They had some seriously big door bolts

The gardens were surrounded by high rise office blocks built on reclaimed land, similar to Canary Wharf, The Palace was once by the sea!

One of the turrets, restored in the 60's, the original Palace no longer exists after being destroyed by fire in the 1800's

There were also a couple of lakes

After a very disappointing buffet lunch, our mistake, made a poor choice! We met up with two of my choir friends and their husbands who happen to be on holiday in Japan at the moment. We went for a drink and a catch up which was lovely.

Afterwards we walked back to our hotel via Shinjuku Gyoen Garden, a beautiful space full of locals and tourists enjoying the cherry blossom 

After taking in the atmosphere whilst lying down under one of the cherry blossom trees, we had one final cherry blossom photo taken

then walked the rest of the way back to our hotel. Had a cuppa and a cake with a view

We had intended to have dinner and then visit the Metropolitan Building for a drink but were running out of time so had dinner there as well as a drink, the waiter took the photo before getting our drinks though!

Back to the hotel to collect our luggage, then a metro and monorail ride to the airport. We had a very straightforward check in and security check, so I'm now sitting writing this and hoping for an equally straightforward journey home. Should be back in sunny Swindon mid afternoon on Wednesday all being well. We've had a wonderful trip and have had a fantastic experience of a very different culture.