Suzuka

Dan and I treated ourselves to a late anniversary weekend just south of Tokyo in Nagoya. It was awesome, and Dan was able to cross seeing a Formula 1 race off his bucket list.

After a year in Japan we finally rode on the Shinkansen (bullet train), so we got there way earlier than we would of if we had driven.

We ended up walking a good 45 minutes to our hotel and it turned out to be the wrong one, so we walked another 30 minutes to finally get there, but, we got to see some of Nagoya.

After we dropped off our heavy backpacks we went straight to Nagoya Castle.

The lion-headed dolphins that adorn the top of the castle and are plated in 18 carat gold.

The staircase inside the castle.

The next day we set out early to see some more local sites before we took another hour train ride to Suzuka for the F1 qualifying race.

Science Museum

Osu Shrine

We needed lots of walking snacks...

We ended up at Atsuta Shrine but it was busy! Lots of weddings so we really didn't get to see much.

And then, off to the race.

Fast cars! The actual race day was so rainy with the remnants of a typhoon, we looked like drowned rats in ponchos by the time the race was over. Still, great weekend.