Plum Festival

        During the first few weeks of the plum festival I visited and there was a huge to-do in the Kairakuen (the famous gardens in my city). There was even a performing monkey. You know it's a big deal if there is a performing monkey...

Here is a map of the gardens. I love pictures, because I know what they are trying to tell me. I am still not great at reading signs in Japanese (unless its in katakana).

Below is a food I really wish I tried. I told myself that I would get one on my way out, but the shopkeeper left before I passed back by him. I think it's sea-meat.

Because it was a festival weekend, there were a lot of people coming to admire the blossoms. There were also a lot of people sitting on benches and admiring the flowers. They all looked just as awed and amazed as I felt. 

After I walked through the entire park and admired it alone, this kind old Japanese man (who spoke no English) offered to give me a tour of the park. It was a lot of fun and gestures. When you want to communicate, you can (without a dictionary) even with a language gap. It was a wonderful good time for both of us. 

What's funny, is that I think those moments are my favorite: the unplanned, accidental collisions with unplanned moments in time. 

I also think there was a wedding in the park that day, because a woman in a kimono (pictured below) and man in black, traditional garb were walking together through the trees. What a beautiful backdrop. 

Within the park there was also a natural spring (I think it is like the springs in Florida, renowned for "healing power".)

As I left the park, I talked with some ladies in Japanese and one of them convinced me to buy this food because, as she said, it is good for my colon. But between the taste and texture there was no way it would get to my colon. Instead I licked the mustard off of them and  used them as hand-warmers on my walk home. It was a cold day and I spent unplanned hours in the park. 

The picture below does no justice to the scene, but I wanted to share a glimpse of the beauty I can see from the park. The park is on the top of a hill so that the whole valley and city are visible from the top. 

The perfect place for a castle or palace. 

Truly beautiful.