On this trip, Maki's parents are joining us. In fact, they arrived in Tokyo a week earlier and met us in Tokyo station the night we arrived. Maki's cousin Hiroko joined us for one night in Nara. And my brother Alex and his girlfriend Christine arrived 2 days later and joined us in Nara.
I have to give Alex and Christine a lot of credit for getting to Nara on their own. From Tokyo station, they had to exchange their rail passes, get their tickets for the Narita Express, get their tickets for the shinkansen to Kyoto and train to Nara, get their cell phone - and do it all without knowing any Japanese.
Alex and Christine arrived in Nara on Monday night, so they got to spend one night at the ryokan and see the Todai-iji Temple complex on Tuesday before we left for Hiroshima. I love that I get to spend over a week with my brother, just hanging, not talking about work, seeing great sights, enjoying yummy food, and getting to know his girlfriend a little better. The boys just adore Uncle Alex so it's a double bonus.
We see Maki's parents quite a bit now that they live in VA. MJ loves Grandma Linda but he adores Grandpa Tak. It was a treat to spend time with Hiroko. She works for an organization that brings ballet and opera companies from around the world to Japan. Her English is impeccable, she's absolutely gorgeous and she is unbelievably sweet.
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