I loved Japan. I used to read a lot about it when I was a child. And I always wanted to go. And it was delightful. I absolutely loved it. What a smashing place.
Billy Connolly
We hung around Fukuoka today so as to have a good look around the city before visiting other areas. Tracy is still coming good from the bug she picked up in Sydney so better to stick close. First of all the room with upgraded to in the hotel was a cracker. It’s nice to spend time in an area that you can move around in. Hotel Nikko hats off and if I get back here, this is the spot.
Another good point about the location is that there are plenty of sights to see close to here. The first cab off the rank was the Buddhist Tochoji Temple. The temple itself dated back to 806CE and was surrounded by apartment buildings (I think they are more recent additions). An interesting area was the burial monuments to former war lords of the region (one having 5 additional monuments to the retainers who took their life after the warlords death). From here it was off to Shofukuji, the oldest Zen temple in Japan (dating back to 1195). Tracy spoke to young German girl who was visiting for the first time. While this isn’t that extraordinary in itself, walking around Fukuoka is different to other larger cities on the island of Honshu. There isn’t the same amount of tourists as you see in Hiroshima, Kyoto, etc which is kind of cool.
Next stop after a bit more walking was lunch on the river bank (thanks Family mart for the sandwiches and drink). After lunch was consumed it was off to have a look at the Acros Building which was just around the corner. The building’s frontage has a plant facade which consists of 50,000 plants of 120 different varieties. The final stop for the day was Ohori Park and the remains of Fukuoka Castle. The lake which was part of the Castle moat (must have been a big bloody moat) which must be a site in spring and summer. Tracy was struggling by this stage so we decided to go back to the hotel so she could have a rest. Better to get right so the trip is enjoyable rather than battling and getting worse.
We had dinner out after a break, Hakata ramen is to die for. I suppose it is very much the old adage, when in Rome …
Images Day 2 – Fukuoka
2019 December Japan 