Hirosaki Cherry Blossom Festival 2015

My mom, step-dad, and a couple they are friends with went on an awesome cruise that started in Tokyo, went around to near where I live in Aomori prefecture, and then on to Hokkaido, Russia, and a few stops in Alaska before ending in Vancouver.  My sister came along with my parents and then stayed with me while they were on the cruise.  The timing of their cruise worked out perfectly for the sakura viewing at Hirosaki castle.  We drove up and picked them up at the port, headed to see Big Buddha in Aomori, and then drove down to Hirosaki.

The pictures really speak for themselves, but like most beautiful things in nature, these can't do it justice.  It was a beautiful day.  The park was packed with visitors.  There were many good foods to choose from.  

Here you can really get an idea of the large crowds.

I love to see the river covered in cherry blossom petals.

Here you can see what is known as hanami, or cherry blossom viewing, which is often done with a picnic.

Here I am with Ryan, sitting in the same spot we sat in to take a picture a couple of years back.

This is one of my favorite views.

We managed to get a view of the snow capped mountain nearby.

Here is another one of us.

Since I have been to Tokyo so many times I ended up not taking many pictures while I was there with my family.  They took pictures but I passed and instead was busy playing the role of tour guide.  I wanted to really show them as much as possible during the few days they were visiting.  We managed to fit in a lot and it was a great trip.  Really glad they were able to make it over to Japan before we moved.

QUESTIONS:  Did you see the cherry blossoms this year?  If you live away from family, how often do they come visit?

More Family and Food

I may have grouped a few days into the last post, so I think we are up to day 4 of their visit.

We started out by taking advantage if the nice weather and heading up to a high point on the island where there is a lookout spot.  This was helpful because it put us headed in the right direction towards Angra, in what we call the long way.  Apparently what we consider the long way is not the long way according to the Garmin.  Don't ask, but we actually used the Gamin once to see what it would tell us.  There is actually very little chance of ever getting lost on this island (it's 12x18 for heaven's sake!), but we have the Europe maps, and this has maps for the island.  Too bad the Garmin does not account for the shorter way having a much slower speed limit, and being made of almost all cobblestones, hence making it the bumpiest ride on the planet.

But, this is a fun way to go, especially if you are heading to the Serra do Cume, which is an awesome lookout point not too far from our house.  On the way we stopped to look at the altar looking place that is carved on the side on the mountain.

I posed with the waterfall.

Here is the view of the island from the top.  Doesn't this look fake?  It's not!

All the little squares are made of lava rocks piled up to make walls, and this sections off the farmer's land.

Here I am at the lookout point observation deck.

They built it off the edge so it is like you are dangling.  Almost like the one at the Grand Canyon, but no where near as big or over anything as deep.

Here is Ryan's mom and Aunt, trying to hang on tight as the wind picked up.

I love that the altitude sign is in meters.

This is the view off the other side.  See, this spot is like the ridge of the hill, so you can see off in both directions.  The other pictures look out over the interior of the island, but this side overlooks the ocean towards Praia da Vitoria.

Not sure, but we think there is a rock out there because there is always a wave patch off the rocky cliff in that direction.  You can see it is the random white patch out in the water.

Then we got back in the car to continue our trip in the direction of Angra.  We stopped in the industrial zone to look for a toilet seat.  We really needed one after our cracked.  Since the furniture store is always so much fun to look around in, we took them inside.

Can you believe this couch has a built in fish tank?

Look at this crazy couch.  Those are pictures of people.

What about this chair?

Here is a dining room to show you that not everything inside this store is crazy.

 
This is Ryan's aunt trying out this children's desk.

 
While driving we had that all too familiar conversation of what to do for dinner, which would determine what to do for lunch.  We wanted a small snack, and the restaurant for dinner would open at 7 pm, so we knew we had to eat.  We stopped in at a little cafe and snack shop that we have wanted to try for some time.

Both Ryan's mom and I ordered a veggie burger with a fried egg on top.

 
Ryan had a tosta mista, which is the equivalent of a hot ham and cheese.  It is a standard snack food here.

 
His Aunt ordered a tosta queijo, which is just a grilled cheese sandwich, and she added tomato to this.  that's how I would have done it too!  I also could not resist an order of fries for those of us not eating off Ryan's plate (as in everyone other than Ryan).

The next stop was the museum in Angra.  It is the perfect place for a Sunday because nothing else is open.  I know this is a World War I display, but I would really like some transportation like this.  The ammo is in the back here and you can load it up and shoot it out behind you.  Obviously not how things would be done these days.

Since we had some time before dinner we walked through the gardens.  We found this really need, extremely large leaf.

 
After killing as much time as we could there, we stopped in to a cafe for a coffee (this one here is known as a galao) and a little snack while we chatted.  This is at O Central, which is my sister's favorite cafe on the island, mostly because of the location and the relaxed atmosphere.

I know what you are thinking, we went from a snack right to dinner.  If you are familiar with European dining you will know that we had some time before we actually ate our meal.  Plus, we had the snack and then chatted before heading to the Whale restaurant.  Yes, we are on vacation and wanted them to try all the yummy foods they have to offer here.  Oh, if you want to know why we call this the whale, it is because it is called O Cachalote, which means sperm whale in Portuguese, and the building has a whale sculpture coming out of it.

Dinner started with some tasty items, including fried shrimp and olives, and of course bread and cheese.

Ryan and his Aunt both ordered steaks, which are cooked table side.

The steaks were served with rice and fries.

Ryans mom ordered the salmon with an orange sauce.

I ordered the squid and jumbo prawn skewer.  This prawn was HUGE!

Then it was off to get some rest after a long day, and way too much food...but it was worth it!

QUESTIONS: Have you ever had a shrimp that big?  Have you ever had the shrimp with the head still on (obviously common on the island)?  Do you have any places with higher elevation near you that you can visit for a great view of your town?  What's your favorite part of vacation?