Tokyo Jaunt, pt.1: 皇居, The Imperial Palace, 6/04/2012

A month after an actual trip, but finally here, it's picture time! It was one hell of a spontaneous trip to Tokyo, with a very cheap hotel booked a day before and the night bus from Kyoto booked 5 hours before departure. It was a lot of fun, and proved it is possible to travel on a budget, even last-minute and to not that cheap of a place like Tokyo.

One of the bridges leading to Imperial Gardens

One of my first sakura, as fresh as a... daisy (huh-huh-huh, sorry, couldn't resist)

A bird amongst the flowers. I was really proud of my little idiot camera that managed to capture the moment!

Entering the Gardens.

Foundation of the old Edo period shogun palace. (During Bakufu, the shogunate, the Emperor was based in Kyoto and had virtually no power)

Very weird building on the Palace Grounds. I wish I knew what that was, there was no way to find out.

Very interesting Occidental lantern in Art Noveau style, looks like the relic of the Meiji period occidental fascination. The sign says it's an electric lantern that was once placed by the main gate of the palace, nearby a stone bridge.

One of the old buildings on the Grounds.

The moat surrounding the Palace Grounds. With beautiful sakura on the bank.

The park outlooking the Imperial Grounds.

These two reminded me of some 1970' postcards In my grandpa's collection! Even the colour pallette is correct!

The main gate leading to the famous stone bridge and a glimpse of the palace...

... but after walking over 5km around the palace in burning sun, we were too tired and hungry to go in and check yet another gate. Of course, ironically, that was the one we were looking for! Oh well, next time!

To make the long walk around the palace more enjoyable, there are 47 paving stones with depictions of flowers (or fruits) characteristic for every prefecture.

For the incurably curious - the list of characteristic flowers and fruits.

The journey has just begun... Please, come and check the other parts soon!