April 2018
Aomori I knew was where the tragic lovers ran away to and frolicked in the snow in numerous Korean dramas. But our trans-Pacific cruise ship was to dock there at the end of April, and what would we do, I thought. (Aomori climate)
Cherry blossoms. We were extremely lucky to be there in the middle of the Cherry Blossom Festival at Hirosaki Castle not fat from there. Celebrity Millennium ship was docked at the spot right in front of the triangle building where the Aomori(population: 287,000) tourist information center is located. There was not much service at the dock, but we could get a map of the city and the directions to get to Hirosaki from the information center, which was about a 5-10 minute walk. Yes, free Wifi was provided.
There was not much distraction on the way to the train station(another 10-15 min. walk), and we got the tickets($5 – $8) and hopped on the train. It was a commuter train(every 20-30 minutes during the day) and jam-packed with local tourists all going to Hirosaki. The 45 minute ride was not comfortable as I was barely hanging on to stand on my two feet. As we got closer, there simply was no room for more people to get on.
Once arrived at Hirosaki Station, we just followed the crowd. They all went downstairs, walked out of the station, then got on the “100 Yen(about$1) Loop Bus” which connects the station to the City Hall, which is pretty much in front of the south entrance to Hirosaki Castle Park.
As soon as we got off the shuttle bus, we could see why everyone came here! Pat and I had seen cherry blossoms before: in Washington, D.C., Brooklyn Botanic Garden, and the Ueno Park in Tokyo. You hadn’t seen nothing till you came to Hirosaki Castle!
By this time we were hungry. I had picked a very famous shrimp soba noodle restaurant, Takasago, just several blocks from the park for lunch. Luckily, there was a tourist information center in the municipal building right across from the shuttle stop, and they directed us to the restaurant with enthusiasm. Finding the place was not too hard, an easy 5-10 minute walk. Getting in was another story: a line was already formed out front not long after 11 AM. We thought our chance was good and waited for about 15-20 minutes. The line was getting longer but not many people came out. Finally we were led inside, and, surprise! You were to sit in the waiting area there to wait for another 20-30 minutes for a table. Pat said, “forget it. We have no time.”
We went back to the municipal building area where some kind of outdoor food court was set up. We picked up a few different items and ate. The world’s biggest apple pie was there, too. We had to have a piece. Delicious!
We hurried back to the park and bought the basic entrance ticket(about $3) because it did not seem necessary to go into the buildings and the garden where people were packed in like canned sardines.
There were more than 2,600 trees of 52 different varieties of cherry blossom at the park, we were told. Lots of people, young and old, enjoying the gorgeous setting: we were happy to be part of that. But, now, we knew we were spoiled forever: we won’t be easily impressed by other cherry blossoms.
On the way back to the train station, we got off the shuttle bus a bit sooner and tried to find a restaurant to eat. It happened to be a Sunday, and many businesses were closed. Those that were open were packed with people. We gave up and went to the station. Now there was a long line formed to get on the train. We did make the first train that got in and came back to Aomori. We finally ate at a restaurant near the train station in Aomori.
Well known for its summer time Nebuta(float) Festival, Aomori may have more to offer than a train station to go to Hirosaki, but we did not have much energy left to look hard. I did wonder, though, what it would be like there in winter time. It is one of the most snowed cities in the world, and there might be wonderful food to go with that!
Small Wide World 