As sometimes happens when travelling, today did not go as planned. As I mentioned yesterday we were booked on a tour today of a few local sights. It was supposed to leave at 8.15 but the tour operator contacted me yesterday to ask if we could please go earlier at 7.45. I wasn’t thrilled at another early start but agreed.
I woke this morning feeling pretty blah. I just couldn’t stop coughing and my nose was running. The temp has also dropped overnight and it’s a breezy chilly day, so we both decided that we’d give the tour a miss. Instead we had a relaxed breakfast and morning in the room.
I was more relieved than disappointed, we had really wanted to visit Hiroshima but the tour today was just an extra to fill in time. I’m sure the Golden Temple and Bamboo Forest would have been beautiful but I’m equally sure they’d have been packed with people. We’re a bit over crowds now.
We went out late morning to get a refund on our ICOCA cards and to purchase the tickets for our train to the airport this afternoon.
We explored the station, which is huge! There are escalators up to rooftop gardens and cafes and art displays. In one area we found a huge Lego model of the station.
Then we went down to one of the dining areas in the underground shopping plaza to look for lunch . We enjoyed Pizza a dAnd pasta and Neil had another Japanese craft beer at the Craft Brew Market.
We had a mission to use up all our yen so I spent our last few on a chocolate donut at the 7/11 convenience store.
Back in the room we did the big repack to squeeze all the dirty clothes back in the bag and freshened up. Irritatingly I checked my email to learn our plane is delayed by 40 minutes, I wish I’d known before we bought our timed train tickets!
Anyway, we checked out at a little after 4 and went down to catch our Haruka Express train.
The trip to the airport felt slow after yesterdays train but it did the job.
At the airport we first joined the (inevitably!) long Jetstar queue before we realised there was a very short businessd queue at the end. That was a relief! All checked in we went through security and found a bar where we had beef curry and quiche for dinner.
We will board in an hour or two and head for home..Simon is collecting us from the airport ( we are very grateful!) .
…..update. the flight was delayed by 2 and a half hours. Minimal information during the delay. We’ve finally boarded and at least the bubbly is cold!
Update two.. we enjoyed our bubbly but have been sitting on the tarmac for another two hours! I’m in seat 1C so have a front row seat to all the chit chat and urgent goings on at the flight deck. We’re now nearly 4 hours late. Buttttt. I think we might be going .😂
It’s been a lovely trip, particularly the main part in Italy in Greece. It’s been challenging for Neil, his knees have really been sore all the time and very sore on some occasions. He has been a real trooper and I take my hat off to him. We were glad we had more two and three night stays this time, and not too many one nighters. I’ll remember not to schedule too many early morning starts in the future too!
And if someone can come up with a solution to catching cold on a trip I’ll gladly pay them!!
Meeting Jo and Steve in Italy and traveling with Erin were real.highlights. lots of fun memories. Now it’s time to go home and start planning the next trip