To our disappointment, we learned that the early blooming of the Sakura ten days ago....stopped, with cold weather.  Thus, the chances were that we would not see anything.  But we took the JR Yamanote Line to Shinjuku Station and walked to Shinjuku Park.  There is a small charge, but the guards said that we should come back in two weeks, so we did not even enter.  This photo was from  four years ago when on April 4 there were a lot of blossoms . We then took the Marunouchi Red Line Tokyo Metro to Ginza Station, and transferred to the Hibiya Line to Ueno Park.  Incidentally we this time had no Japan Rail Pass, and paid for these rides using a Suica card which we added around $50.  This amount should cover several days of riding about in Tokyo. At Ueno Park, we were met by my Blue Bar Pigeon.  Looked up the walk path where in the past it was all white and pink.  This time, nothing.  The season officially starts here tomorrow, March 22 with the  Ueno Sakura Festa 2024 .  Lights go on and

Have you ever been to Adelaide?  Will be the first time for me.  Ship arrived this morning, and we have a four hour tour planned. Now why would anyone want to visit  Adelaide ? It is the capital city of South Australia.   Founded in 1836 and named in honor of Queen Adelaide.  Never heard of her, for she was the wife of King William IV from 1830  to 1837, a very late marriage. Is known as one of Australia's most livable city, ranked by  The Economist  as #3 to #1 Auckland and #2 Osaka. Rupert Murdock (yes, the guy who owns Fox News), considers Adelaide to be his spiritual home. Has 51% of the installed capacity of wind generators in the country, Expanding battery powered storage of electricity with Tesla. Some  interesting facts about Adelaide : Is the only capital city not settled by convicts, making the locals extremely smug. Nicknamed the 20- minute city because everything is 20 minutes away. With 1.3 million people, about the same as Hawaii. Home to the largest display of Aborig