Schoolhouse, no not a tour. We leave tomorrow for LA, spend the night and the next day fly to Japan. I have family I've never met so they will be our tour guides for the first 2 days and then towards the end of the trip. One of those days we will go to visit my mom's two brothers in a city on the coast about an hour and a half from Tokyo. Our Japanese exchange student is showing us around on the 3rd day in Tokyo. The 4th day is on our own. Then we go to Kyoto for a few days. The next few days will be spent with cousins again near where my mom grew up after the war. Then another couple days at another cousin's house in Isesaki. My original plan was to go to Tokyo and Mito. lol Sjern, it is actually hotter in Kentucky than Tokyo right now but still not going to like the humidity. It'll be in the 80s at the hottest part of the day when we are there. My cousin said it is cool in the morning and muggy during the day. So, my daughter is a big Star Wars fan...I guess I am too. On the way back we are stopping for a side trip to Disney so she can see the new Star Wars area. I booked ANA airlines to and from Japan in hopes of getting on one of their Star Wars themed jets...and I found out that our flights coming and going are one of them! Hopefully that jet won't break and we will be able to fly on it. I hate flying but am kind of excited this trip.

Breakfast at our hotel in Mito. 2 days I picked the Japanese breakfast and then I decided on the Western one for the last day. This is the Japanese one, of course, the best breakfast I recall having in Japan, except for the natto (fermented soybeans-gag). cousin Isamu who wouldn't let us pay for anything and went to so much trouble for us, me, and my uncle who looks so much like my mom. His younger brother looks like his twin too. lunch: miso ramen at a Ramen restaurant in Mito. Little town on the coast. The whale is a town mascot. Every city has one apparently.

I have been to Japan many times, the last fully as a tourist. Tokyo is easy to get around via the subway and trains. It used to be that even in Tokyo the signs would only be in kanji but now the transport sector usually includes signs written in Romanji (Ran characters). With the Olympic I would guess things will be even easier. Also you generally can ask the hotel for a card with return instructions for a taxi or get a map in two writings and circle the hotel. We’ve navigated China with a dual language map, but Japan is easier. Outside of Tokyo like in Kyoto you can find a local guide. I’d also recommend a stay in a ryokan with hot springs near Mt Fuji.

Girlnamedgalez, I wish you well in planning your solo trip tp London. Before retirement I often traveled for business to London, and many times it was solo. Whenever I was there over a weekend I made a point to do some sort of tour or to get out and see or do things. The London Walks tours are a very easy way to see and hear about different things in the city with a guide. I also did a couple of day tours outside the city with Evan Evans tours via bus. At the time i did the tours the bus would pick you up at your hotel and drop you off at or within a few blocks of your hotel at the end of the afternoon. And of course there are so many sights, museums and galleries to keep you busy in London itself.