Lucidity tomorrow ?

Somehow my i-Phone won't talk to my i-Pad. A trip to a wonderful electrical store soon sorts the problem out. The store sells electronics and wine - which is an unusual combination. If they only sold chocolate I'd happily spend the rest of my life walking its corridors.

We are having a great time despite the weather which reminds me of Largs in January. Tokyo is sophisticated and beautiful in ways we didn't expect.

This morning we went to see the Catholic cathedral . This is not on the bucket list of most visitors to the city and requires a lengthy discussion with our disbelieving cab driver who thinks we should go somewhere more 'popular'. It's a wonderful piece of 1960's era Japanese architecture in a somewhat nondescript suburb.

A fervent Japanese nun assumes that we are equally fervent and gives us a tour of the cathedrals relics. Her lack of English in no way holds her back. There is a replica of the Lourdes grotto in the parking lot which would appear to be a particular joy.

After the cathedral it's off to the National Diet. 'The Font' has done an online language course ($59 for three months ) from the Waseda University of Tokyo. This has been backed up with conversational lessons with a Japanese girl who is studying Farsi and German in St.Andrews. Since the start of the New Year the Japanese girl has dyed her hair pink and has taken to wearing short skirts and stilettos. Her father is something in politics and she has arranged for him to show us the parliament building. We tell the man and his wife that their daughter is working very hard . We deem it best to say nothing about her active social life.

The tour of the Japanese parliament building is heavy going or it is when your guide is keen to explain the subtleties of bicameral chamber procedures at length.

A lot of time is spent looking at a room where the emperor takes off his hat. There may have been more to it than this but there is only so much hand gestures can do when describing constitutional niceties. We part amid much laughter.

Then there's time for a stroll through the drizzle to the bar in the Imperial Hotel for a restorative 'pick me up'. We've been told that the Imperial was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright but our guide book fails to mention that the hotel he designed was knocked down in the 60's and replaced by something altogether less interesting.

The staff are amazed that anyone would come looking for vestiges of the old hotel. While Angus sips a glass of Macallan the manager arranges for lights to be turned on and an old fresco and original table brought out for us to study. Brochures from the 1920's for the original hotel are produced. 

Then it's a walk back through the gardens  ...

... to our hotel which has one of the most beautiful terraces we've seen anywhere. The view is quite remarkable. There are cormorants and moorhens on the water which are a strange reminder of Scotland.

Later this evening Angus will try to sort out the bugs in the i-Pad. If it works  a more lucid account of our travels may appear tomorrow.