So here is the temple on the water that I have never been able to visit...cause I don't know anyone with a boat :(. But at least its nice to look at it.
Julia on the bus to the Castle.
And me :D
So this is the price for the both of us and this is me paying.
These guys were sun bathing in the mote around the Castle....there are about 40 of these guys chilling.
So this is the entrance to the Castle grounds.
[click to read]
So after a lots of stairs later here we are at the Castle.
Look...LOOOOOOOK....
So these are the original Dolphin Gargoyles that were removed when the Castle was rebuilt in 1950-1955 they were so damaged they had to be replaced.
Here are some of the preserved Helms from Samurai that lived here.
And some armor with a mask....Coooool.
So this is the top of the Castle and a small view of the court yard....NIIIIICE.
Picnic time Mmmmmmmmm.
FRRREEEEEEEE LOADER [click to see]
So after the lunch we found a clue to where the Samurai Residence is located.
Back path from the Castle on our way to the Samurai Residence....and on the way there we saw.....
Cranes settling in their tree and getting ready for the baby bird season....you can see the nest to the right in the trees. [click to zoom in]
We need sewer covers like this in Canada.
We found this nice little pottery store...also NIIIIICE.
So after 2 hours of searching we arrived to the Samurai Residence "Yeahoo"
So in this room we can see that they have folding screen with a map of the Castle grounds on it.
This is some of the front yard garden SWEET!
Nice walkway.
Here in the back they have a place for prayer.
This is an over view of some of the back of the building....which is quite large.
Back doors.
Some Koi....they are bigger than my forearm.
Flower.
And to end our trip to the Castle some more flowers.
Behind the trees is a museum where we are meeting friends for a view of the sunset.
And so it begins.
I bet you they polish this art piece every day...it reflects the sun set nicely.
Now were just waiting for our friends and watching the sun set.
Beautiful.....everyone arrived in time to watch the sun go down over the lake.
Now we sit for dinner......mmmmmm build your own pasta.
Hhahahaahahah good joke.
So I'll sign off this day with my lemonade...yes that is half a lemon stuck on my glass.Next is our trip up to the second oldest Shrine's in Japan and its located one hour bus ride away from our apartment......it so happens that its also located on the side of a mountain...Mount Disen.
Allllllll aboard for Mount Disen.
These are called Koinobori (Coy-No-Bor-ee) they are Koi shaped flags hung outside to give boys turning 15 (I think)in the family good luck....the more flags the more luck.
There is Mount Disen. Its still got some snow on it.
This is the little town that lives at the foot of the mountain and this is the road that leads to the shrine.
So to this point the road has been steep but as you can see up ahead that this has been a cake walk....as they say its all up hill from here.
So at the top of the road we come to this sign....you can read the English translation on it if you [click pic].
If you look closely I finally got my picture with Sakura (Cherry Bloosom) petles filling the air when the wind is blowing....I wish my camera was better though.
This is one of the ways up but it is the way we will come down later...
This is the way we go up....to see a smaller shrine first.
This is me content and at peace...its so beautiful here.
This is where we cleanse our selves by pouring the water on our hands with the bamboo cups.
You ring the bell twice to wake the gods.
Some Buddha's looking on.
This path connects to the other walk way at the map at the beginning and also connects to the mini shrine we just came from.
Come on lets go :D
So a little while later we came up to this gate and you can see the Sakura trees in the background.
And here we have another place to cleanse our selves.
Gate two and a little further is the famous temple.
And there it is Ohgamiyama (Oh-ga-mi-ya-ma) Shrine one of the oldest shrines in Japan.
Aaaaaaaaaa now its time for no sox :D
This is over the entrance to the shrine....Exquisite.
This is the path that is behind the shrine and it leads up to the dam...up we go ;d
These look like the wild version of the veggies Fiddle heads.
Nice hike.
Mountain wall in the distance.
Great job sweety just a little and by a little I mean 30 min more.
30 min later we arrive at the dam.
Crabby Julia.... ;d
After an apple and a funny comment from me and she is all smiles :D
That makes me happy too ;D
So we've made it back to the gate just before the shrine and this is the back.
This is the path we took up.
And here's the gate back at the beginning.
Good bye Mt.Disen until later when we climb you :D....but now we wait for the last bus to get home.