When I eventually got out of the hotel, I headed for Takamatsu Castle in Tamamo Park. Originally, this spot hadn't been on my radar for places to visit, but I met a Japanese-American woman on the ropeway yesterday who recommended it.
I wasn't in time for the kiku matsuri (chrysanthemum festival) she had seen, but there was still one small display left.
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| The castle doesn't exist anymore, but one of the turrets is still there. |
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| A nice, relaxing place for a nap |
I spent about 40 minutes strolling through the garden before making my way over to the train station and on to my next stop: Ritsurin Garden, the top tourist destination in the prefecture.
This garden is huge! The woman I met yesterday said she'd spent five hours here. I only stayed for about three hours or so, but there's definitely plenty to look at.
It was also a bit more crowded than I'd expected, so today I thought I'd try something different with my photos. I normally take a lot of pictures of structures or landscape, but today I did a little people-watching as well.
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| Quite a few little kids in kimonos today--I think they must be celebratingshichi-go-san (7-5-3), a rite of passage ceremony held in November. |
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| Enjoying snacks and feeding the koi |
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| On a tour of one of the ponds |
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| Playing with the fish |
Finally, I sat down to enjoy Kagawa Prefecture's most well-known dish: udon noodles. They were serving some at a food stall in the middle of the garden, so I got to enjoy my yasai-ten udon (udon noodles with vegetable tempura) while taking in the view.
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| The noodle menu. At the top of the board, they're also advertising the fact that a tremendously popular boy band (嵐) has also eaten here. (Ono-kun really enjoyed his noodles, apparently.) |
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| Udon noodles in broth, topped with pumpkin, sweet potato, and burdock tempura |
While browsing through the handicrafts on display inside one of the buildings, one of the sellers told me that tonight was the first night of their annual "Autumn Light-up"--they illuminate some of the trees and other features in the garden and allow admission after dark. He told me that I wouldn't have to buy a second ticket; I could just show up with the same one from this afternoon. It sounded like a good idea, and my hotel isn't that far away, so I went back to my room to rest for a couple of hours before going back out again.
The seller had mentioned that the garden has a completely different atmosphere at night, and he couldn't have been more right:
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| Crowds surrounding the tent where the vendors were selling udon and other snacks. |
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| Dango (balls of chewy rice on a stick) was a popular choice |
I think I liked it better there after dark. In the daytime, the most noticeable color is green, but the illumination really draws your attention to all the other colors.
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| Koi thrashing around in the pond |
One of my favorite parts was how the planners had really taken advantage of the pond. Lights were placed to create perfect reflections everywhere.
After nearly an hour, I made my way back out of the garden and caught the bus down to the port. Tomorrow morning I'll take a ferry to a tiny island famous for its art, and I wanted to make sure I knew where to go.
But now that I'm back at my hotel, I've got a little homework to get done before I call it a night.
Which picture was your favorite? How did my people-watching experiment turn out? Let me know by leaving a comment, and check in again tomorrow!
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