Hikone castle

What a cool place! Just this little town with a village like setting enclosing this grand castle that watches over. You can see lake biwa, the largest lake of japan.

It was lunch time so I stopped at this random pasta place. They had a lunch set with soup salad bread tea and a pasta dish for really cheap. So I tried it. The soup bread and salad came out in little dishes.

Unfortunately the rain didn’t stop so I had to get an umbrella. I’m glad I did because it rained the entire time. As you weave the way through the town I the castle, cherry blossoms are in bloom and add a hint PC color to the otherwise monochromatic color palette of the castle.

Once you cross the moat, you walk all the way up the hill through the winding platforms forming a sort of staircase to the top. At the top, a beautiful panoramic view of the town below adds to the regality of the idea of being in this historic castle.

There was a long queue for the entrance, and in typical Japanese fashion everyone stood happily waiting until we got toy the foyer where you Havel ba tour umbrellas and shoes. Then there was a mad dash for the bags as if they were going to run out. They didn’t, so we were soon on our way through the castle.

There really wasn’t much in the castle, but cling to thtr top was fun. The stairs were practically at an 80 degree angle and I was amazed that no one stepped out of line to forego the climb. Old grannies were climbing up these huge steps with the rest of us!

After taking some pictures, I headed back towards the station just to make sure I was in time for my train onward to the hot springs village.