Hina Matsuri and Plum Blossoms again!

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Winter has started to fade away and the first blossoms of the year, plum blossoms, have returned to Shikoku and this year I went to the Utazu Hina Matsuri (Doll Festival) and Ritsurin Koen(Park) again. I really love this time of year when the weather starts to warm up!
Hina Matsuri ~ It’s pretty intriguing to see the old section of the town I work in all dolled up (literally and figuratively) and open for everyone to see. Even though it’s a bit weird to look into or walk into a stranger’s house, it is quite interesting. I’m a bit of a nosey person by nature. Mariko, Katie, Simon and I all went together through the town. We also visited some temples, ate some snacks (They had some really, really scrumptious fried octopus.) and looked at the displays. At the last temple we visited there was a tea ceremony serving up some macha(green tea) and cakes. The ceremony was inside an old temple room next to an amazing garden. I can really see how people can meditate for hours in a temple when they have a view like that.
Ritsurin Koen ~ The next day Simon and I went to Ritsurin Koen to stroll around the park and see the 100s of plum blossoms there. Unfortunately we both forgot our cameras and didn’t remember until we were already on the train. In the end we ended up buying a disposable camera. The weather was perfect for a stroll through the blossoms, the sun fighting off some of the winter air. In some ways I prefer plum blossom season over cherry blossom season. Plum blossoms smell heavenly and they come in such vivid colors, but the blossoms are a little sparse. Cherry blossoms don't have any smell, but they form such beautiful canopies full of pale pink above your head that is nothing short of magical. In either season, I love Ritsurin so much. I wish I lived right next to it I would visit it all the time to see the constant changes in flora as the months go by.

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Photos

Dolls
Mariko and Katie

Part of the Display
Simon and I

Very Serious
Statue at a shrine

Me at Ritsurin Koen
Beautiful trees!!!

Simon in the Plum Grove
Ritsurin is such a fabulous place to walk.