Yesterday was supposed to be our last day here, and we split up with me returning to Akihabara and KLS shopping in the massive Tokyo Station complex. We both shopped until we nearly dropped, and met back at the hotel. I made some extraordinary purchases, which I’m sure I’ll blog about in time.
Neither of us took many photos, so the ones on this entry are ‘out-takes’ from previous days.
Late last night we received a text from the airline: our flight home was significantly delayed, and the delay was long enough that we’d miss our connecting flight home and have to spend the night at Atlanta airport. Apparently this was due to a ‘computer glitch’, which we later learned was the FAA glitch in the USA that affected nearly 10,000 flights.
This is not the sort of news anyone wants to hear on the night before their departure home, but we decided on a plan quickly. We extended our hotel another day, booked an Atlanta hotel, and made the most of it! We now had nearly an entire extra day in Tokyo (and in addition are booked for tonight in two separate hotels in two countries)!
So we had an unplanned full day today. We visited some giant Game Centers, had a nice lunch and did a leisurely walk back to our hotel from Ueno, stopping in many shops along the way. It was far more relaxing than most days of this trip, and we ended up turning an unexpected delay into a nice day in the city.
It’s now late at night and we’re at the airport waiting to depart. We’re tired and have a long trip ahead of us, and are both hoping we can get some sleep on the flight.
As always Japan was welcoming and modern and convenient and surprising and efficient and a wonderful place to take a vacation. It’s interesting to see how the country has evolved in the over 20 years I’ve been visiting, and even in the pandemic years since my last trip it seems to have taken significant steps into the future (compared to the USA) while keeping in touch with its rich history and traditions.
I already look forward to what I will see when next I visit 🙂