On our Sunday morning walk, the air quality seemed to be improving as we looked towards Downtown from Boom Island. Yesterday, we could smell, taste, and see the smoke pollution from the Canadian wildfires.
Category: Place
A Seat at Al’s Breakfast
With most university students gone for the summer, it was finally possible to quickly snag one of the 14 stools at 1950s-era Al’s Breakfast in Dinkytown. The corned beef hash with a fried egg on top in the narrowest restaurant in Minneapolis was sublime.
Tired Time Travelers
Problem: Working through a 14-hour time difference, and too lazy/tired to cook dinner. Solution: Walk across Washington Avenue to Maxwell’s.
Cloudburst
Sat in Lunds & Byerly’s, consuming a donut and coffee, and watched as a downpour drowned my bike. A few minutes earlier, the heavens had opened as I was locking up the bike, soaking me to the skin. Back home, a hot shower made everything OK.
A Final Tokyo Walk
Stowed our backpacks in lockers while we walked around Tokyo’s Ueno Park before we headed to Tokyo HND for our journey home. Lockers are ubiquitous.
The Final Stretch
Mount Fuji from a fast train to Tokyo. Tomorrow we head home.
Rainy Day in Osaka
Rain set in for much of the day, but we never had to put on rain jackets. We took a 15-minute bullet train to Osaka, where we walked a few miles through the city’s vast indoor spaces, both above and below ground. A side trip to the Cup Noodles Museum added variety.
Hiking Through a Sacred Forest
Took a local train to Kurama, a village on a mountain above Kyoto. Hiked a quiet trail up and over Mount Kurama, passing through a temple complex and past shrines and ancient trees. Rejoined the train line for the trip back to Kyoto.
Introducing B-List Kyoto
We introduced our nephew and his dad to Kyoto’s over-loved bucket list favorite, Kiyomizu-dera Temple, in order to build the case for exploring B-list Kyoto. After that initiation, we walked towards quieter places.
Naoshima Island
Spent the day on Naoshima, an “art island” beautifully set in the Inland Sea. Visited the Chichu Art Museum, which is housed in a series of underground galleries, and several “art houses”—former homes that have been converted into works of art.