Ritsurin and Tamamo Koen, Takamatsu, 4-29-2013

Naoko, Toshiyuki and Haruto were going to a children's concert in Takamatsu today and they asked if I wanted to ride along and spend the day in the gardens or wandering around.  Of course I said yes.  So I spent a few hours in the beautiful Ritsurin Garden that you might remember from my Golden Week trip with Kathy last year.  There were more people than last year, maybe because it was the first Monday of the vacation week.

This is a former duck hunting place.

This is what is behind that door.

A big park like area in the garden.

Ume (Japanese apricot/plum) see them near
the top?  This is what umeshu (sweet wine)
and ume boshi (salted pickled ume) are made from.

Bonsai for sale.

Box pines.

A tea house.

They don't know why the
water is this color.

Lily pads.

 

 

I splurged and had tea and sweets in this tea house and then spent a little while re-energizing on the veranda overlooking this pond.  The following pictures

are from inside this tea house.

 

 

 

 

Preparing for some wedding pictures.

 

Don't know who they were...
Must have been doing an event or something.

And now, a bit more genki, off I go again.

Leaving Ritsurin I hopped on a bus to the station area, had a quick lunch of Kagawa udon (that's what they're famous for) but as I've said before I think Tokushima's is a least as good if not better. 
After lunch I walked across the street to the Tamamo Park which sits on the ruins of the
old castle - one of only 3 Japanese castles to use seawater to fill the moat.

 

This picture has 3 views.  I took it through a window and the top
is the reflection behind me.  Straight through is the garden on the
other side.  And then there is the room.

This is a poster for a place where you can
go and take pictures of each other
posing in front of these weird paintings or sets...

 

So, although I had a nice (but tiring) day, I realized it really is time for me to move on.  I felt this was a 'nice' day, but nothing spectacular.  And if I feel that way about a beautiful garden like Risturin, it's time to go.  I think, judging by how I felt about the sakura this year vs. last, that part of my excitement about all of these places comes from seeing them for the first time.  Or at least the first time in a long time.  The second time in two years leaves me feeling a little let down somehow.