Day 11 Aomori, Japan

We arrived early this morning into Aomori Japan. It was very exciting for me….first visit! I did a little shopping at the pier before leaving on my shore excursion to Hirosaki City. The drive was lovely, passing rice paddies during the harvest and seeing the rice tied up and hanging to dry. After arriving into Hirosaki City we went straight to the castle. It was beautiful….the castle, moats, lotus blossoms and the grounds in general were magnificent. As usual I took a gazillion photos. Then we went to check out the Nebuta Festival floats which are used in their annual festival. The floats are very colorful and have lights inside to shine through. We also had some entertainment with some musicians playing the equivalent to the Japanese version of the guitar…. The name escapes me. Nice visit. Then it was off to lunch at the Hirosaki City Hotel…. Very nice. After lunch we first went to the Zenringai area an old Samurai town with 33 Zen temples. Interesting...... but, difficult to get great photos. I absolutely hate it when someone parks a car or there is construction going on at a great site….grrrrrrr! Finally we went to the Saison Temple. Now this 300 year old Pagoda was awesome. It was five stories high and very, very impressive. I even paid 100 yen to have the privilege to ring the ceremonial temple bell….. I felt a little like a High Priest……nah! It was a spectacular day!