Awaji Island

Its such a wonderful thing to be able to capture memories through photos but then actually writing what they mean and what happened adds a whole new meaning. This isn't exactly day one, but where I wanted to start with recapping my parents visit. It was early on in their trip after what began with a few rainy days. I don't know where or how but they suggested we head over to an island for the day to check out some gardens and other attractions. I was on board trying something new because I knew our week ahead held some repeat things that I had already seen but knew my parents would enjoy as well.

 

The morning of we hopped on a train, then took a 15 minute ferry, saw one of the longest suspension bridges, grabbed some maps from information and set out. I had done little research the night before and had very little idea of where on the island we were going and what we were going to try and see. Mistake #1.  

 

Our first sight to see happened to be right across the street from where the ferry drops off. It was this giant rock. Cool. Mom had mentioned next that the other three sights were all within a close distance so we headed down the road walking. We came upon a little beach and then directly across from that, a shrine that happened to have a festival of sorts going on. While some of us were intently studying our whereabouts on a map, ahem dad, others were eager to go see what the music and cheering was all about, me!  I didn't care what the map said I was checking it out and dragging them along with me. I really can't explain what took place so I will let the video show you.

 

After that, whatever you call it, we continued on to our next destination. After a little bit of walking we came across an intersection and all three of us were having trouble locating our 'your are here' point on a map. I had brought our wifi internet with us that day, and it was not of much use at all. Them a nice man on a bike asked us if we needed help. Of course we did. So we showed him our map and he too couldn't locate our spot but suggested we weren't far off the map. He told us we had a 2km (1.2 miles) walk or so, we thanked him still not quite sure if we should keep walking or redirect our plans for the day. So we walked and the sun beat down on us, but we walked. Along the way we stopped at a little bike café. I was whining and needed to stop, take a break, get a drink, and figure out exactly where we were going. They also had a cute puppy out front that I pet and gave me a little dog fix for a while. The owner was super nice and we were the only ones in there. We, just to make sure, asked him if we were headed in the right direction as well. Map laid out on the table, he too told us we were just off the map, but close. We gathered our things, and a rocky road brownie for the road and continued our walk. And then we saw the sign for the park we were headed to - a botanical museum/garden gallery.

 

Let me tell you, we all agreed it was worth the walk. The landscaping and flowers were some of the most beautiful I have ever seen.

 

We paid a few extra dollars (again worth it) for a greenhouse exhibit they had going on for Mother's Day. It too was filled with perfectly pruned flowers, everything you could think of and tons of roses! I do believe my mom said, I think this is probably what heaven will be like, and I hope she is right because I'm going and it was gorgeous.

 

Since it was one of the warmer days while my parents were here, we stopped to have a seat and grab a snack at another little café within the park. We all had ice cream treats as we laughed about our latest discovery that made us feel more silly and like tourist than ever.

 

My mom laid it out perfectly. Imagine you are in downtown St. Louis with a map of the Six Flags Amusement park, and you stop to ask someone where you are on that map. Our map, was actually a map of the park we were trying to get to, not a map of the entire island. Yes you can laugh now and call us big dummies but we had a good laugh and a great day.

 

After ice cream we finished our day at the 100 tier garden which sat up on a hill behind the Westin hotel with a gorgeous view. It was like an optical illusion with lots of stairs.

 

Needless to say after our long walk and tackling all those stairs, some of us were worn out! We went to the hotel and took a cab back to the ferry instead of walking. Best move of the day. One ferry and a train later we were back home for dinner.

 

And because I loved my last video so much I've decided that I'll keep making them.