Lu Ann Sidney Explores Chicago North of Michigan Avenue

Chicago is one of my favorite cities.  Since I have visited Chicago so many times, each new visit means I need to find new things to do. 

I had never visited Lincoln Park or the Lincoln Park Conservatory and Zoo.  What a great diversion from Michigan Avenue!  I stayed at the PUBLIC Chicago and found it to be an easy walk north to Lincoln Park.  The zoo is surprisingly nice, housing a wide variety of animals.  All of the animals were fun to view, expect the naked mole-rats!

The Lincoln Park Conservatory was a fun side trip and a warm place to stop.  The Fernery has a large variety of plants and a cool fish pond.

Lu Ann Sidney Saves a Penguin in Tokyo

A small crowd was gathering around a display promoting Hokkaido tourism.  When I got closer, I could see why.  There were two live penguins waddling around on top of a pile of snow.  Everyone in the crowd was laughing and enjoying the funny penguins.  All of a sudden, one of the penguins fell off the display right at my feet.  The crowd gasped.  I immediately grabbed the penguin and put him back on the snow.  The crowd cheered.  When I recounted our trip to Japan when we returned home, this was the first thing I said:  "I saved a penguin in Tokyo."

Just Past the Caravelle Hotel

Not too far from the Caravelle Hotel in Ho Chi Minh City, walking past the street vendors shouting, "Madame, Madame," is the colorful and vibrant Ben Thanh Market.  It very much has the feel, just as was supposed to, of Les Halles in Paris, but with a vastly different assortment of shops and merchandise. I could have spent hours and hours winding through the market, viewing the colorful displays of exotic (to me) produce, spices, meat and fish.  Surprisingly, to this day, I can still remember the pleasantly spicy and fishy odor of the market.

Eating Eggs in Hakone Japan

Not too far from Mount Fuji is the town of Hakone.  We took the Tozan switchback train up the hillside in order to catch the Hakone Ropeway overlooking the hot springs of the Owaku-dani valley.  Plumes of sulfurous steam dot the valley creating an other-worldly view as you travel overhead.  We were treated to a clear view of glorious Mount Fuji at the end of the trip.  Walking a bit father led us to a surprising and truly Japanese experience - eating eggs cooked in the hot springs.  The egg shells turn black because of the sulfur in the water.  It is said you will have good luck from eating these special eggs!

Hakone Ropeway above the Owaku-dani valley 

Lu Ann Sidney eating an egg

 

Special hot spring-cooked eggs

Kyoto at 4 PM

On the last day of our visit to Kyoto, when we were exhausted and almost decided not to see anything more, we decided to try to see Kinkakuji, the Golden Pavilion. It was late, near 4 pm in the afternoon, and we were wondering if the temple would be open. To our surprise, there were huge crowds of people streaming toward the entrance. We quickly found out why. In the last afternoon sun, Kinkakuji is truly golden and mesmerizing, shining so brightly it is almost difficult to look at. What a perfect way to end our trip to Kyoto!