Starting early….. it’s an hour and 20 mins to the south to Kamakura and Enoshima which is a little island connected by a bridge.

We decided on a taxi to Tokyo central as there was a major hold up on the line connecting us to Tokyo. traffic was fine. In fact despite the millions who live here the streets are not crazy.

Arriving into Kamakura was like arriving at a beach holiday destination. There were cries of excitement especially from the hoards of school children. All decked out in yellow caps ( how do they tell them apart) they were clogging the already crowded streets.

I may have mentioned the school children. At the end of Oct it’s school excursion time. They go somewhere for a week and seem to be wandering in groups. They must have a meeting time and place because there aren’t many teachers visible with them.

We walked up the famous shopping street with all its food and novelties and saw the Shrine then caught the little Enoden electric tram along the coast.

We got off to see the biggest Buddha.

Spotted on the tram was a school kid in disguise!

The little tram stopped along the coast where there little beaches where people probably swim in summer but no one was in now.

We got off at Enoshima. From the station you walk down a long street straight to the bridge across to the island. About a 30 mins walk if you take your time.

The island is small and very hilly. Around the islands which should have cafes and restaurants there are car parks. Very strange. The Main Street of the Bridge leads straight up to the shrine and giant candle on top of the hill.

I opted not to walk the 208 steps up and went exploring the back streets which is a favourite thing of mine. Getting off the tourist walk.

Steve walked to the caves which involved lots of stairs

We had stopped for prawns for lunch. Always delicious. Their tempura is great.

Back to the station and the tram to the nearest JR train station back to Tokyo. We got seats which is always a blessing. No one seems to give up seats for older people here.

A little rest was needed. Our days have a lot of walking. Today 16,000 for me and over 20,000 for Steve.

Then out for dinner. It’s Steve’s 75th birthday today. So we opted for a reservation! No wandering around choosing. We were going Frencb but it was booked out so went to Braceli run by an Italian Japanese man. He lived in Rome and Venice for years so we communicated in Italian.

The food was good.

A few glasses of wine to toast the birthday boy and home to bed. I love how our hotel is so handy to many things. an east 15 min walk in a back street of Asakusa.

Tomorrow I’m doing a ring making experience.