The view from the top

With full bellies, we walked to the twin towers of the Umeda Sky Building. At 173 meters (576 feet) high, you take a sideways glass escalator to the Floating Garden Observatory. (We saw this in the television show Amazing Race a few seasons ago.)Before you read any further I want to point out that there is no garden at the Floating Garden Observatory. The observatory is centered between the two towers. You can go up on the deck and view the Osaka skyline. Or you can stay inside a glass-encased observatory, which happened to be themed a "Sweetheart Christmas" while we were there.

We drank hot chocolate, ate a sweetheart sundae, listened to carols in English and cuddled in a chair that was built for a Japanese couple. With my prego belly it was a tight fit for the three of us.



The observatory had high tech displays that were Christmas-themed for this month. Besides this tree there was also love room where you sat on a bubble bench and how you shifted your weight would create a geometric light pattern on the floor.



Plus we were given a silver star cut-out to write a wish. We placed each star in an offertory-like box you typically see at shrines and temples.



In the courtyard near the towers we stumbled upon a German Christmas Market. Vendors, who came from Hamburg, were selling German food, drink, nutcrackers, Advent calendars and all things German. We sampled some German pizza and green apple licorice.



Besides the village of vendors, there was also a Christmas "tree" of lights and Nativity scene.
This photo was taken from the 38 story of the Sky Building.

At the end of evening as we walked back to the hotel I was wondering if I took a wrong turn and ended up in my grandmother's homeland.