Heading homeward - one last garden

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(SC writes)Yesterday we woke to grey skies and heavy rain. Luckily it was time to move and we only got a little damp on the short walk to the station. Our luggage has expanded somewhat over the past three weeks but we coped! It’s going to get worse, as we have plans for final shopping in Tokyo. Before that, though we had one last Garden to do, as Cathy explains below. So we travelling back eastward through Tokyo and onwards to the town of Mito, over 4 hours in all.

(Cj writes) We came to Mito specially to see the third of Japan’s three best gardens. The Kairoku-en Garden is planted with 3,000 cherry and plum trees, in a couple of hundred or so different varieties, and from late February through to April or early May it is an absolute riot of pink blossom. The same trees also produce stunning autumn colours. Unfortunately, we’re here at the end of May, when there’s nary a cherry blossom to be seen (although the azaleas were coming into flower), so in fact it was all rather green, and not nearly as uplifting as we’d hoped. The lawns were poorly kept too - full of dandelions - but, then again, it was free entry where we’d paid for all the others. However the Kobuntei - the house, if you like - was interesting.

(SC continues). Yes the Garden lacked the wow factor but the house was good, containing some lovely wall illustrations, and, unusually, three floors and great views out from high up. The house was burnt down in August 1945 following an air raid. It nearly survived WW2 ..... but was rebuilt in the 50s. So, we have included more pictures of the house and interiors than the rather disappointing garden.

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Photos

Kairakuen
Nice, very green... mmm.

Inside the house at Kairakuen
Better interiors than we saw elsewhere.

Inside the house at Kairakuen
The plastic bag contains my shoes. We got used to having to take them off, even in a couple of hotel rooms,

A cheat - Kairakuen in the spring
We did NOT see this.