Day #12 It's Saturday, We Must Be In Okayama

Art told us yesterday that today would be a busy one and he wasn't kidding. We got up at 6:00 and had breakfast at 7:00. We were out the door soon after to catch a taxi to the Korakuen Garden in Okayama.

Korakuen is the 3rd of three of the most beautiful gardens in Japan and is a cultural heritage site. It was begun in 1687 on the orders of Tsunamasa Ikeda, a Japanese feudal lord.

The sisters were eager to see the beauty they had read about.

That's Okayama castle in the background. Auntie loves castles so Art planned out several castles just for her.

We thought it might be good for mom to get a little exercise since it was such a beautiful day. Cold! But almost sunny. Auntie helped mom through the garden.

While I stayed below with mom, Art and Auntie climbed the hill to the lookout. What are the chances I'll be as strong as her when I'm almost 80?
We saw a grove a cherry trees and ... well... I don't have words to describe the feeling.

Here's a bride and groom having a photo taken.

Between Art and me, we took 761 photos today. It took me over an hour just to look at them.

There were clouds of cherry blossoms waiting for the sun.

Every so often the sun would peak through to give the blossoms even more life.

I know we took a WHOLE lot of photos but I love every one of them.

If it wasn't too cold for mom, we could have stayed there forever.

Okayama castle was built 400 years ago by Lord Hideie Ukita. It was destroyed during the war and rebuilt. Auntie and Art went up to the top while I kept mom company under the cherry blossom tree. The sun did shine on us most of the time to give us some wonderful warmth.

When Art and Auntie rejoined us, we spent more time under the cherry tree. Mom said when anyone is under a cherry tree they somehow look even more beautiful. Well there you have it! That's why Art is looking particularly lovely.

The blue skies added a much nicer contrast to our blossoms.

Those holes in the castle wall were to shoot guns, bows and arrows out of.

When the sun suddenly decided to stay a while Art and I just had to go back to the cherry blossom grove to take more photos. Mom and Auntie looked like they needed some rest so we told them they could choose a beverage.

Hmmm... Mom chose amazake for the both of them. That's warm, sweet sake. Ummm... the bowl was pretty big. They LOVED it! While we were gone, Auntie said she loved it so much she would have loved to have had another bowl. She said it's weak sake... so not to worry. This is now their new favorite instead of doboroku.

While they were having their bowl of amazake to warm them up, we went to the cherry blossom grove. A crowd of people had come to sit under the trees to eat their lunch. This is called Hanami (flower watching).

I wished we could have done the same but Auntie and Mom would have needed several more bowls of amazake to keep them warm.

We went back to the train station, had lunch of Korean bi bim bop and took a train to Kurashiki. Auntie is also an artist and loves paintings. Art planned this trip to the famous Ohara Art Museum for auntie and mom.

Art and I have already seen quite a few art museums around the world. Therefore, at the last minute we decided to send the sisters to see the art collections with a docent while we explored Kurashiki.

It was the best decision! The weather turned suddenly very warm. We could hardly believe it. Art and I walked around Kurashiki. It used to be a storage area is the olden days and still retained that old Japan charm.

The canal was used to transport goods.

And yes! There were more cherry trees to admire and take another 100 photos of.

The day was so warm that Art and I were able to sneak in a soft, creamy, wonderful, scrumptious, smooth soft serve. Mmmm.... We felt a little guilty having this without the sisters but, well... they had their amazake by themselves so we deserved this.

A heron walked by us. It was such an elegant bird.

We returned to the Ohara Museum to pick up the sisters. They were so excited with all they'd seen. They felt sorry for us that we had missed seeing the beautiful paintings. Actually, we visited the museum store down the street and saw the highlights of the museum's collection.

I swear he gets prettier by the minute. He's going to kill me if and when he sees this post.

We saw several girls dressed in kimonos walking among the cherry trees. I have no idea why. I think there's some kind of festival going on there.

We decided to have a huge dinner at one of the train station restaurants. We didn't leave any leftovers. Every bite was wooonderful!

What a day! It was perhaps a little cool but as far as I'm concerned it was perfection. What a day! What a day! So much beauty to hold in our memories. We had so many cloudy days at the beginning of our trip that it made today even more special.

Tomorrow, we leave Okayama and move on to Himeji where we will see the Himeji castle. It's going to be an EARLY and full day. Oh nuts! It's past midnight again. I'm going to bed now.

I love having you all come along with us. I've been telling the sisters about your comments and they are loving it!