Japan

Another bucket list country and my new #1 in several categories:

Best public transportation in a large city.

Best food. Not only is Japan doing sushi and ramen really well, they're also doing a number of other cuisines really well.  Ate some of the best pizza I've ever had, one of the best burgers I've ever had.  We heard French cuisine is delicious as well.  Is there any food Japan does NOT do well?  We heard Mexican, but that's understandable.  They probably haven't even tried yet!

Cleanest city.  Literally saw only 2 bags of garbage in 9 days and I remember exactly where I saw each one.  In NY, there is a bag of garbage on every sidewalk square.  Also, there aren't any garbage cans.  Either people keep their garbage with them or they just don't accumulate trash.  Truly amazing.

Best service.  Excellent, polite, attentive.  It's the standard.  And there's no tipping - it's actually considered insulting.  At one restaurant, our waiter watched our table after we paid the bill and were ready to leave.  He quickly went to the door, opened the door for us, walked us outside to the curb, waited until we figured out where we were going, waved goodbye and stood there continuously waving until we rounded the corner.  And we only had drinks and apps, no dinner!

After 9 days, barely scraped the surface on how much there is to do.  Too many bars and restaurants to even begin comprehending.

Daniella was an amazing travel partner and didn't kill me when I dragged us to every end of Tokyo at all times of day.  She's an angel!

Will be back.