Nikko - Day 1

The morning after Thanksgiving, Glenn and I got up early to hit the trains for Nikko. It takes about 3 hours to get to Nikko, one on local trains to Tokyo and then 2 hours on a limited express train straight to Nikko. Side note: the limited express train had compartment cars just like the Hogwarts express. If only they weren't so expensive to reserve, I would have gotten one just so I could take pictures. They even had a lady with a food cart, but sadly, no Burt's Anyflavor Beans.

We arrived in Nikko around lunch time and found our hotel eventually. Interestingly enough, the walking directions lead you to a hotel (not always ours) the exact same way whether you leave the station to the north or the south. Our first night in Kinugawa, we stayed at a Japanese style hotel. I was excited about this because we got our own private onsen (aka hot tub) out on our patio. Fun!


We got to the hotel before we could check in though, so first we headed to the local attraction - Tobu World Square. While what I'm about to say may sound corny or hokey and if we were in the US, it would be, but in Japan it was awesome. We went to a miniature display of famous world architecture. So imagine, the great pyramids of Egypt recreated in a 1:25 scale complete with camels and all!

 Or the colesseum, the Tower bridge, Tokyo station and every other architectural marvel you can imagine. And to our (ok, maybe my) delight, during the Christmas season that it is, they have a special Illumination which means the displays light up after 4 pm (the usual closing time).

Here's a picture of Glenn and I at the actual Golden Pavillion in Kyoto-

And the tiny version-

I think the part of TWS that impressed me the most was that all the trees and plants were real. They were all tiny bonsai trees so the trees even change with the seasons.

Even the World Trade Center still exists at Tobu World Square.