An Unfortunate Turn of Events/Imperial Palace

Due to jet lag, D wasn't able to sleep much on Monday night. While I was taking a shower, D asked if I had moved the cash (yen) that he had left in our suitcase. I hadn't, and my heart sank. D is not one to misplace things, and the first night we had carefully divided our yen between ourselves, leaving some money in the room, "just in case" something happened to us while out and about, e.g. stolen wallet/purse, etc. So, we knew the exact amount that was missing: 20,000 yen (~$240). Our only conclusion was that housekeeping must have taken it. D went downstairs to talk to the receptionist, but we knew nothing could really be done. The receptionist said he would talk to housekeeping, (only 1 person) and he/she denied touching our bags (of course). By that time, we didn't have time to file a police report, so it was a lost cause. I must say, that D and I handled the situation surprisingly well. We were upset, but at the same time realized that: 1. God is in control, it is only money, and there are much worse things that could have happened; and 2. We couldn't let this incident spoil the rest of our vacation. We even made up a story that maybe the person who took our money had relatives who were victims of the earthquake, and we had made and unwitting donation to the cause!

After eating another lunch-breakfast at the cafe next door, we set out for Imperial Palace, in the heart of Tokyo. It is strange, because the palace is an imposing compound, stuck right in the middle of busy intersections and high rises. It is difficult to imagine what the landscape looked like back when it was first built.


There is an actual moat, and imposing walls made of stone surrounding the palace.


We knew that we wouldn't be able to tour the actual palace, but thought we would have access to the East Garden. Unfortunately, we were there before it opened, so we decided to walk along a path that circled the grounds. (Facing the entrance, we started to our left). We had no idea how HUGE the property was. People were jogging along the path for exercise, and some were walking in their suits to work. It was definitely good exercise...probably, around three miles. However, my feet/legs didn't think it was a good idea, especially considering all of the walking we had done the day before. Our recommendation would be to walk until you come across this scene:


You can see this double tunnel bridge without even going into the official entrance. This is one of my favorite pictures from our trip.




There are some interesting trees along the way.

Then, if you turn back, go past the main entrance, and past the East Gardens entrance, there is a small park with some lovely cherry blossom trees.










Flowers along the moat.

We did finally enter the East Gardens. There was a lot of open space, good for a picnic, but we didn't see too much of what you think of when you think of a Japanese garden. Maybe we were in too much of a hurry. We were anxious to get to our next stop of the day: Ginza.