[ Three Day Weekend

Last Monday was a national holiday in Japan: Sea Day. This was the first
national holiday we had since Golden Week in April/May.

My SO and I went to see the exhibition titled 'European Masterpieces between
Renaissance and Baroque'. It was quite foolish of me to think that it would be
quiet, especially, since my SO pointed out, school summer vacation has just
started. So we walked through Ueno Park, with hundreds of other people, in the
simmering heat to get to the museum.

The exhibition featured small drawings, and the gallery was dimly lit (to
preserve the artwork) and there were a lot of people, so we had to shuffle
along waiting to get a look at each piece. What surprised me was that
photography was allowed; it usually isn't, and I think I know why: you get
people who have to take pictures of every single piece of work. There were also
Chinese tourists who posed with peace signs in front of Monets, Renoirs and
Picassos. I don't get it either.

The next day I went by myself to Ueno Park again, to the National Museum of
Nature and Science. Since it's geared towards families, there were many, many
families there. If you want to see Hachiko, he's upstairs on display in one of
the cases (if you look at the photos posted in the Google Maps listing of the
museum you'll see him.) Admission is only 630 Yen.

Each day the heat is oppressive and constant. It's hot and muggy all day long,
but it is especially bad at midday, and it is quite dangerous. The second day I
was in Ueno the heat snuck up on me (as it does) but I was able to escape into
the subway and get a seat on a nice, cool train.

There are more exhibitions on my list to see, so my weekends are going to be
booked for a while. I'd rather spend time in a nice, cool museum, in someone
else's air conditioning, than sitting around at home doing nothing. On the
other hand, all these museum trips have inspired me to take up drawing again, 
but I won't be sharing anything online (not in this day and age.)

Stay cool, if it's hot where you are.