Never Give a Four Year Old a Finger Bowl

During an absolutely delicious and mostly well behaved dinner in the dining room of the grand Fujiya Hotel in Hakone, finger bowls appeared at the table and Ariana thought she would save time by taking two of them without spilling a drop. I think we have a type A multi-tasker on our hands.

As our time in Japan is coming to an end, we decided to finally take a trip to Hakone. Only about an hour and a half from Tokyo, it was one of those places that we kept thinking "we'll go one of these days", but only now had the motivation to go. Despite the raining weather, it was a beautiful trip. After checking in at the hotel, our first stop was the open air museum.

A collection of sculpture placed in a gorgeous park, even the rain couldn't dampen our enjoyment of it all.



And, in typical Japanese style, there was a full supply of umbrellas to borrow if you were lacking one.

With Ariana taking one of her several naps during the day, Baba san did the pushing as we visited a Toy Museum and yes, Ariana woke up just in time to see an amazing collection of old toys.

To see all of Hakone, one must take a train, a tram, a gondola and a boat - Ariana almost missed out on most of the gondola ride, but woke up in time to wave at the others passing in the opposite direction.

And our room - what can we say about the Fujiya Hotel - it was fantastic. Very rustic in an elegant way. They have several different wings with different style rooms - it opened in the late 1800's and has hosted people from all over the world. It is a definite must see if you ever get there.

This was our room, with a great view of the train that passes by. On a single track, it moves slowly enough for you to see the sites - though not into our room as it stops running before dark. I would say I can't wait to go back, but I know that won't be happening for a very long time. In any event, it was a memorable trip.