Kanazawa Kenrokuen

I had a few days to spare before my dreaded Board of Education meeting so decided I'd make the most of the gorgeous weather and be a proper tourist in my new city. So I walked into town (which takes about 20/25 mins depending on whether I sprint walk or just walk) and went to the famous Kenroku-en ("garden"). Briefly, the garden is an old private garden developed by the Maeda clan and is one of the three most beautiful gardens in Japan so I felt rather privileged that I was there for cherry blossom season. No entry fee either so extra bonus there!



Oh and when I say garden, I'm talking 25 acres of garden so don't think small here (for a change) I won't post all the photos up but it really was beautiful (packed with Japanese but still beautiful). This is the famous "flower viewing bridge".

I got hungry (typical) as soon as I got inside the park grounds, actually I got grouchy hungry which is not pleasant as friends/family are aware! So as well as admiring the beautiful fountains, statues and pagodas I scoped out lunch. Now as a girl on her own in Japan I'm paranoid about committing major social faux pas and wasn't sure whether eating alone in a posh kenrokuen restaurant was the done thing. So as much as the restaurants looked sooo idyllic I carried on walking about trying to find something that wouldn't committ a social crime.

Ooooh until I saw another Japanese lady eating on her own so I took my shoes off, plumped myself at the next door table and looked at the menu which was all in hirigana with minimal food pictures, JOY! I picked something that looked like a ramen bowl which was edible but I've decided ramen isn't my fave japanese dish.

Having satisfyingly stuffed my face I took another walk around the park, took some more pics and again wished I had my SLR! Ladies below enjoying the view of the cherry blossoms from the park. Note: Moutains in background (some snowcapped but need zoom to shoot them!)