We spent most of the day strolling through Kenrokuen Garden, adjacent to the castle grounds. In 1676, the 5th lord Maeda started the landscaping. In 1822, the 12th lord created a stream and bridges, naming it Kerokuen. Two years later the current strolling garden was completed. After the abolishment of feudal domains, the garden was opened to the public in 1894.
The pine trees are protected using yukitsuri (ropes to protect branches from heavy snow).
Posts support the branches on many of the larger pine trees. Trees that are solid and straight have guide lines to other trees that are slanted.
The gardens are an example of Japanese artistry.
Walking by the Shigure-tei Teahouse, Ray decides that having green tea would be pleasant and we join a small group in a simple tea ceremony. The tea house is simple but elegant. We find that sitting on your knees takes some flexibility we do not have!
Since it is a beautiful afternoon, we continue our wal across town and over the bridge to the Higashi Chaya District. It turns out a few nights ago when we walked through deserted alleys thinking we were in this geisha district, we actually hadn’t walked far enough. The area is bustling with tourists and there are a number of sweets shops.
Kanazawa is known for its gold leafing. We don’t indulge in gold leave cones but do try their matcha ice cream on a sheet of mochi and inside a crisp wafer. By then, we had heard the sad election news which put a damper on the day. We console ourselves with sweets but it doesn’t help much.
Further into the area is a beautiful shrine.
We find it curious that there are no restaurants in this area, only cafes that sell sweets – lots of mochi and matcha! The areas of Kanazawa we are in does not have very many restaurants. Where do tourists eat, we wonder. The concierge at our hotel had given us a map with more than enough restaurants but none are open at night!
We end up at the same small restaurant where we ate a day ago. Coincidentally at the counter, we meet a couple also from California, Portola Valley it turns out. We commiserate about the election and she mentions having driven through Woodside the day Vance was visiting and seeing a group of Trump supporters there. We are all shell shocked at the results and talk about not returning to the US. We share our thoughts about living in a bubble in Silicon Valley where obviously our values don’t align with the rest of the country. Unfortunately, we have reached the end of our trip and head for Tokyo tomorrow in preparation for our flight home on Friday.