Study Break in Ueno Park

Fortunately after returning to Japan I was lucky enough to have a few days off from school due to a series of national holidays that added up are called Golden Week. During Golden Week folks typically go back to their hometown's if they live far away or go on short trips. I had my Golden Weekend in Maine so had some catching up to do!

I did manage to take a study break however, and went with my friend Hiro to Ueno Park in Tokyo. The park is an amalgamation of Japanese stereotypes the good, the bad, the fashionable and the questionable. The park area includes several national museums, a zoo, a peony garden, a few shrines, and lots of green space.




It was a splendidly warm and sunny day so we decided to check out the peony garden. No kidding some of the flowers were the size of a kids head! These are special flowers I think, so much so that some of them had their own umbrellas to protect them from the spring rain!

After perusing the garden we filled up on lots of goodies from various yatai (street vendors) for lunch, fried noodles, boiled potato with far TOO much butter and okonomiyaki - you'll find out what that is if you come visit me!