Ahhem...Long Time No See...2

Let's continue shall we?  Zack and I made it to Himi and began our more rural adventures. This is the May 1-4 portion of Zack's Golden Week visit.

First adventure was a festival in Takaoka.  It was a little rainy so they just stopped the giant floats right in the middle of the road and covered them with plastic.

When the rain died down.  They took the plastic off and started right back up.

On another day we went to Kanazawa, as that water sign shows.

The very cool Kanazawa train station.

Ninja Temple...like that wasn't going to happen.

Exploring the temple district I found a large stone frog. This picture is for my siblings, hopefully they weren't too young on our walks "to the animals" to remember another big stone frog.

Oyama Shrine with its unusual gate, which was designed by a Dutch architect using elements of European and Asian religious themes.

Kanazawa Castle

Kenrokuen is the famous garden in Kanazawa.  It's supposedly among the top three most beautiful gardens in Japan and I can believe it. 

On another day we went on a biking trip to explore Himi.  At the bottom of a hill we found a sign for castle ruins.  We didn't see anything particularly castle-like when we got to the top but there was a shrine in a glass box. 

Also, the view from the top was great.

On that same bike ride we saw mysterious steps that were too neat looking to pass up.

It led us to some old graves scattered about.

And of course, we couldn't miss the famous Himi clock.

There was Lion Dancing going on around town for the holidays.

At on of the parks there is a large statue.  I liked the hawk sitting on a hawk.  It's almost like he was catching a ride.

This is what rice fields look like before they've been planted. 

One of stops in Tokyo the day Zack left was Asakusa.

A completely random picture to end with.

In summary, Zack and I had a wonderfully fantastic time and saw way more than I thought possible for a week long vacation.  Having visitors gives me an excuse to get out there and see all the sights I wouldn't necessarily get to on my own.