A sweaty Saturday excursion to Muramatsu 👹🍣🎎 Wonderful Japan

Sure we are in summer now and the comfortable temperatures seem to be a thing of the past. But that doesn't mean we can' get outside anymore and have to stay inside some cool room. No way, there is way too much to explore outside and I am way too curious and eager to explore it. That weekend last month was hot,and really humid too, but on that Saturday we really wanted to make it a point to tackle one of our famous trips again. After all, what's to be gained by hanging out at home all the time, there's so much to discover outside the house and best of all, outside the city. Even if you sometimes have to drive or maybe walk a bit, but life wants to be sought and found.

That time it was as Saturday that we had chosen for our tour. Actually, we intended to start a little earlier, but with children it always takes so much longer before we get out of the house, so when we left it was already half past one. But fortunately, these day the day light stays a little longer, even though not as long as I was used from my hometown. But the sun should be with us until about 7pm, so we still had quite some day to make this day a great day.

I had three destinations in mind, a park at which ground there was once a castle of a local Samurai clan, then a shrine that was recommended to me, and finally a park and another shrine to finish. I was quite optimistic that we could do the whole program, but as always everywhere it takes a little longer and in the end times becomes an issue again. But in the end we managed to get everywhere and we made this day another success.

The park with the former castle was not quite as spectacular, but had a small playground and lots of green to offer. There were some wall remains to see and a small museum, which showed a model of the former castle complex and some other finds and collectibles from local history. And for the equivalent of one euro entrance fee, we gladly accepted this little excursion.

The first shrine was located on a small hill, and except for a cat and myriads of ants, we were all alone up here. It was a very tranquil place, which I would love to see again in more pleasant weather with a little less time pressure, but I was still glad to have been here.

I collected enough strong impressions and fantastic pictures, which are stored in my head right now and will hopefully stay there and cheer me up for a while.

Now at the beginning of the rainy season it is already wonderfully green around us. Actually, it's been this green all spring, but it feels like the greenery has been steadily increasing since April and that we're nowhere near peak yet. The next few weeks it will rain a lot in our region and in most parts of Japan, so I guess the green will continue to increase. Humidity and warmth should be quite beneficial to plant growth, and soon for a while it will feel as if we are living in a greenhouse.

Also the mushrooms seem to show off a bit this year. No idea what this one is, and whether it's edible or not. Looks like a giant chanterelle, but I postponed the test for now.

Somehow the local general store got me hooked. There are many sights like this, maybe that's why I just had to take a picture of this scene this time. A little bit out of time, it nevertheless presents exactly the everyday life of some people in this part of Japan.

In the last park we climbed a small mountain, on which there was another shrine and a viewing platform. I didn't know anything about the observation place before, so I was all the more curious when we stood in front of it and of course we didn't let this chance slip through our fingers. From the top there was a pleasant view of the distant mountains of the coastal range and the lush green of the forests and rice fields.

The first hydrangeas are also blooming now and were a wonderful colorful addition to the whole scenery. Soon we will probably make a very special trip, which will lead us only to these wonderful flowers. Likely we will be there at the beginning of July, then when the summer will really hit and come close to its peak.

At the end of the day, we also treated ourselves to another picnic outdoors, just because life is after all so beautiful and it's at its best outside. The many green and the fresh silence around us were another confirmation that we have done so much right on this day. And on the way to the car the setting sun smiled at us in vibrant colors and wished us a safe journey back home.

The drive back was also pretty smooth and even though the little faces on the back seat looked a little tired, it seemed like everyone was very happy. I was too and I'm still smiling now....

Have a nice rest of the day and a wonderful week ahead!

~ PEACE!