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Looking toward the Seto Inland Sea & Otake's smokestacks beyond.
After we cross the bridge, we take a little shortcut through this quiet street.
Now we're riding alongside the river. I love the sound the river makes here. See the cherries in bloom along the other side?
Someone is flying HUGE carp banners for upcoming Children's Day on May 5.
Looking down into the beautiful gardens alongside the river. That's the bridge we watched being built a few years ago.
And just behind us, over my right shoulder across the street, is the hotel up high on the hill that's near a shrine that we have visited. The view from the top is fantastic!
We've taken a shortcut off the main road to continue to ride alongside the river. There's a beautiful canopy of cherry trees here and not much traffic. And yep - that's a 2-lane road.
Someone has planted lily-of-the-valley & they're in bloom with delicate little white bells.
White bridal bouquet - spirea - in bloom near someone's front entrance to their home.
Stan's headed into the train tunnel on our shortcut toward the Kintai Bridge and today's hanami. It's too low for him to ride under here, so he has to crouch down & walk his bike.
But not too low for me - as long as I duck my head a little, I can ride. There's water running in the canal to the left beyond the guardrail so it sounds so nice in here.
Camellia is the winter flower, but they're still blooming here.
Pink tulip tree (saucer magnolia or Japanese magnolia) in someone's yard. This is the street with the "Dr Seuss trees" that leads directly to the the bus station, and the Kintai Bridge just beyond. That's Stan ahead of me in red. Did you notice all the cars? It's VERY crowded here and traffic moves very slowly, which is why we always prefer to ride our bikes.
We're passing a colorful bus headed toward the Kintai. The young boys inside got my attention & wanted me to take their picture. Kawaii - cute!
Big cherry tree on left behind the white wall. I love riding on this pretty street.
Big crowd at the Kintai bus station. Can you see my reflection in the black marble pillar on the left?
We've turned right & then left, and have already ridden across the car bridge. It's VERY crowded, so no photos on the bridge, and now we're walking down the ramp behind the restrooms, that leads down to the food booth area at the river bank. Beautiful cherries!
As many years as we've been here in Japan to enjoy sakura season, the beauty of these old cherry trees always takes my breath away!
Lots of photographers here at Kintai Bridge, but especially during sakura festival!
Pretty girl in what we think is traditional Thai dress. This is the third most popular place to visit in all of Japan during sakura, so there are many visitors from everywhere.
Look at the bento box I bought for lunch. It has a little bit of everything, just the way I like to eat. Perfect . . . and delicious!
Stan had some meat on a stick & of course, roasted corn on the cob on a stick.
Girl in a bright blue kimono with red obi - from the back.
And from the front. Pretty!
Lantern in a cherry tree.
A pair of pack dogs - good way to haul your stuff, I guess.
Kampai! Stan picked up the tiny Johnny Walker Red Label bottle at a 7-11 on our way here, but the beer we brought from home. One of the advantages of hauling our own little cooler . . . Fortunately, he shared the scotch with some friends (some he already knew, some were new ones) so he didn't "have" to drink it all by himself!
The family in front of us (to our left), had this very cool bright green sunshade tent set up when we arrived. About 2 PM, they took it down & it easily and quickly folded up into this round carrier - how convenient!
It's called a "One-Touch Love Sun Shade" and of course it's UV to protect from sun. They had a small baby, so this was perfect.
Cute little boy on a tiny 4-wheeler bike.
Young boy climbing one of the old cherry trees in front of us. Everyone always looks so happy this time of year! Winter is finally over and the gorgeous pink blossoms just cheer us all up.
There were lots of babies here enjoying their very FIRST hanami!
We arrived here relatively early today - around noon - so we were able to score this GREAT location with a perfect view of the bridge. Our bikes are parked behind us against an ancient stone wall.
See how the branch is supported on this old tree? Cool.
Perfect blossoms growing directly out of the tree trunk above us. And yes, we are UNDER the sakura blossoms.
Lots of cute doggies here today.
Our view - looking slightly right toward the end of the bridge.
Closer view of gorgeous & slightly fragrant cherry blossoms.
Pink buds & blossoms.
Lots of folks enjoying hanami under these big, beautiful cherry trees.
Stan & Margie at Kintai Bridge on Easter Sunday. We made friends with the family nearby, so we took their family photo & they took ours. We always meet the most interesting people!
Cute little girl taking a break & being strolled instead of pedaling. I love these little training bicycles with a long handle for pushing. Do they have these in US?
Perfect spot for viewing Kintai Bridge.
An old, twisted tree growing in the ancient stone steps - but supported, so it thrives.
Walking toward the end of the bridge, underneath. Great view!
Margie (me!) under another old, twisted, sakura tree at Kintai Bridge. Or is that me, who is old & twisted???
I'm ready for my close-up . . .
Walking alongside the river.
The bridge and the water change color as the sun drops lower over the mountain.
These hanging lanterns will be lit up later this evening.
Looking across the river toward the large hotel on the other side, and boats in the river for viewing cherries from another perspective.
Closer view.
Lantern on a very old weeping willow tree.
Walking in the food booth area. It's crowded today, but I love being here with the crowds! We always see folks we know, we make new friends, and it's just fun to see who's here visiting this beautiful area!
Perfect view of the Kintai Bridge with cherries.
Little boy with a monkey on his back, riding on top of his dad . . .
Man attempting to get "the perfect" shot of the Kintai Bridge.
Yum! Stan went to the restroom, and brought back oysters cooked in their shells. So - is this early dinner or late afternoon snack???
Cute dogs in their stroller . . .
Hey Sue - how about these shoes?!?!?
Looking under the center of the bridge toward the other side where all the tour buses park. Most tourists who come here, want to walk across the Kintai Bridge for good luck. I've done it once, and for me - once was enough!
Closer view of the people walking on top and buses on the other side.
This shows our little "camp site" - our bikes are behind our chairs, up against the stone wall. While I was gone to the restroom (very loooooong line!) Stan fell asleep on our Mexican sarape on the ground. I poked at him to make sure he was alive & then climbed back into my comfortable camp chair.
I love that most Japanese children, once they're walking, ride bikes instead of being strolled in a stroller. They're exercising and learning to pedal on their own!
Cherry blossoms above us.
Since Stan was sleeping, it just seemed appropriate for me to prop up my feet & get comfortable as well. For some reason, many people thought this was funny, and many smiled, waved, and even took our picture. One man even came over and posed beside me! By now it's cooler, so I've put on my socks and Stan's wearing his coat.
Oh we saw this male "geisha" performing last year. Guess she/he's done for the day. I love sitting here and people-watching!
Stan woke up after about a half-hour, and we decided to take a little ride around the Kikko Park area, so of course, we had to stop for ice cream. Since I was chilled already (and still full!), I declined.
I never noticed the colorful ice cream cones on top of the building before! There are lots of people walking around over here as well.
Stan got a large caramel sauce ice cream with a little heart-shaped cookie, so I decided the least I could do was to help him eat it . . . oishi! (delicious!)
We were going to stay later, but we got chilly . . . and we have a long bike ride home. Here, we're just riding up onto the car bridge to cross back over the river. Below us is a sea of pale pink sakura as darkness begins to fall.
Many families and other groups are still enjoying hanami (eating and drinking under the sakura - cherry blossoms). In this area, you can have fire, so most are cooking and keeping warm with a small hibachi grill - smells wonderful!
The lighted area on the top right are the food booths, and the Kintai Bridge is to the left on the river.
The sun goes down pretty early behind that mountain, so it always gets dark earlier here. It's nearly 7 PM.
Looking back at the festival area as we cross the bridge. The sun is down and lights have begun to come on.
Closer view. Still a lot of people here will be partying into the night!
On the opposite side, you can see the hotel and shops all lit up.
Kintai Bridge with the spotlights - beautiful!
Riding along Hwy 2 on our way home. Not so crowded here now.
Tokugawa okonomiyaki restaurant on Rt 2, close to downtown. It's nearly 8 pm, but it's been a few hours since we ate, so I think we may have time to eat one more meal today! We usually only eat okonomiyaki in winter, but we're both chilled, so it just sounds perfect.
The cooking surface is heated and greased, and the okonomiyaki mix is stirred together and placed on the hot grill. This is Osaka-style, which is made primarily of cabbage, egg & sauce. Strips of pork are on the bottom to cook crisp, and I will add my baby shrimp on top last to avoid overcooking, along with other seasonings and decorations. Yum!
Stan enjoys cooking here. But we each do our own.
That's mine on the left with the baby shrimp on top & Stan's on the right. In front, is my half of the salad we're sharing. Perfect!
My completed artistic creation! After it's cooked, I've decorated with dark brown okonomiyaki sauce, white mayo, light brown fish flakes, & green seaweed flakes. Beautiful & yummy!
Closer view of Tokugawa restaurant as we leave. Check HERE for a website that tells more about this chain of restaurants based in Hiroshima.
Next door on Rt 2 is an interesting monument shop . . . the motorcycle is lifesize!
Downtown Iwakuni on Hwy 188 - not so crowded this time of night!
Stan waiting at the train crossing for a 4-car passenger train.
Lights on the river as we cross the pedestrian bridge. There's also a huge yellow, full moon. What a great day! This is my FAVORITE time of year in Japan . . . and we rode 22 km today - about 13.6 miles. Hooray!
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