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Published: April 6th 2007
Marc and Arlene
At the Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden Hi Everyone, (Note you can click on any picture to see a larger version of it)
I have a lot of things on my wish list to do while we are here in Japan, but without a doubt at the top of the list was to see the cherry trees in bloom in the spring. Last weekend they were at thier peak, and it was glorious! Marc took friday off, and I skipped my Japanese lesson so we could go explore. There are cherry trees everywhere, but there ares several places where they were planted "en masse" and those areas are the most popular for "cherry blossom viewing" On Friday we went to the moat around the Imperor's Palace. It is just breathtaking. They are on both sides of the moat, and we could could see them as we walked around the outer side of the moat (NO ONE gets on the other side of the moat as that is where the Imperial Palace is), but by far the best view is had by renting a row boat or paddle boat and seeing them from the middle of the moat. We rented a paddle boat and indeed the views
Marc (& freind)
Making sure we don't get lost! we phenominal. Funny story though..... the Japanese, for the most part are shorter than the Americans, thus there was no way Marc could paddle that boat! I had to do all the work while he sat there all scrunched up trying to steer! Many of these pictures are from our boat trip around the moat. Also on Friday we went down to Ayoma Cemetary. This is a very large cemetary, and there is one small road (for through traffic!) through it and the trees are planted on both sides. Really beautiful. It is customary to have "Hanami" parties druing cherry blossom time. Companies will send a lowly staffer out to save a space early in the day and in the afternoon all the office workers come out to enjoy the cherry blossoms and eat and drink. It was strange to us to see them setting up for these parties in the middle of the cemetary, but there they were! Marc bought a beer and insisted I take a picture of him because he said "Hey... where else am I going to be able to buy a beer in a cemetary!" (That picture did not make it into this blog!!!!)
A Tokyo Street
A nice stroll during Hanami (Cherry Blossom) time On Saturday we went to the Shinjuku Gyoen National Gardens to see the trees there. This is a large 144 acre garden and the MAJOR Hanami party place. The crowds were enourmous and people were sitting everywhere enjoying their picnics. From what I understand it was even more crowded on sunday, without even a place to stand let alone sit! This is a really beautiful garden and there were several additional varieties of cherry trees.
There are a few more sites that we understand are good for cherry blossom viewing but we are saving those for next year as we were worn out from all the walking after two full days.
I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter, Passover and Buddah's Birthday! (Covering all the bases here!!!)
Until next time.... See ya!
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Margo Dolan
non-member comment
Beautiful Blossoms
Arlene....the photos are amazing. How lucky for you and Marc to see them in all their glory. Thanks for posting them. Margo