Keeping You Posted ...: The Umeda Sky Building ...

Back in March we made yet another trip to Osaka. One thing I still can't get over is how easy it is to travel around Japan. You just hop on the train & it takes you literally wherever you want to go. It's so convenient. A lot of my European friends say that the same style of efficient travel is available in Europe and people just can't seem to understand why the same isn't true for America. I had no answer. Maybe I'll bring the concept of the Shinkansen back when I come home. :)

So the Umeda Sky Building is the funkiest looking building ever. It's pretty hard to miss and you can see it from just about anywhere in Osaka. It looks just how it is described: "a pair of skyscrapers connected in midair built in an unusual architectural form rarely seen in the world." I can't say that I've ever seen anything quite like it.

The Umeda Sky Building (梅田スカイビル) is the seventh-tallest building in Osaka, Japan, and one of the city's most recognizable landmarks. It consists of two 40-story towers that connect at their two uppermost stories, with bridges and an escalator crossing the wide atrium-like space in the center. (Wikipedia, of course).

We took the elevator up as far as we could & then you have to take the escalator to the top. I was terrified, of course. I would have preferred the elevator the whole way up. The escalator was slow and the more I thought about it the more I realized exactly where we were in proportion to the buildings (and most importantly, the ground) and my heart started to beat really fast. I'm such a wuss.

The never ending escalator:

I'm smiling though :)

Amanda is always fearless, although Amanda's mom was floating in my boat.

Once we got to the top I was fine, but it was almost unbelievable how high up we were. The view was absolutely stunning. I fall a little bit more in love with Osaka every time I go.

Can you tell it's me?

Looking down through the middle. Yes, those are the escalators we just came up.

The view from 173 meters up (568 feet):

Random Trivia: The Floating Garden Observatory in the Umeda Sky Building was visited in Leg 10 of Amazing Race 12.

The Umeda Sky Building was featured as a renovated skyscraper in the game Simcity 3000.

Yea, no problem.

Despite the fact that it was sunny out, it was FREEZING on the observation deck and the wind was outrageous. I was sure I could feel the building swaying, but that idea made me want to vomit. :)

Me, Amanda & Lynda on top of the world:

Looking at these bridges made me queasy.