And in the south, we have Chikura

I did indeed end up going to Chikura. And what a lovely place! It is a small town where the mountains dip their toes in the sea.



Between these mountains there are fields and field of flowers. You can stop at almost any of these fields and find local vendors where you can pick and pay for the flowers of your choice. We ended up with 5 stalks of snap dragons and host of other flowers which I am at a loss to name (all for under $10!) This story is going in reverse order as that is the flower fields were the last place we visited. The first place was a few minutes walk from those colorful fields: the beach!

There were sandy beaches along our drive with plenty of people enjoying the waves. They didn't seem to mind the slight chill still in the air or the strong wind. Surfers just won't be stopped! There were surfers anywhere there was a beach. Where we stopped though, there wasn't much beach: all huge rocks. Kids were jumping and playing on these rock. Some were looking for clams in the little pools between the rocks. We stopped where the fishing was going on!



As you can see, we enjoyed some fresh fish! (Actually, we enjoyed fresh squid, shrimp, mussel, and some vegetables.) We cooked this in a fair-style tent as it was rather windy outside! I imagine that you can eat under the sun when it isn't so chilly. Right beside this tent is a large fishmarket. They have drying racks outside where fish and quid are being dried. They only kind of seafood I didn't see was octopus.



And this is the little Toyota we rented. I am including it as many of my readers don't know Japanese cars. I did drive some! But, my fiance grew very edgy at my driving so I retired quickly for the sake of both of our nerves. It was fun to drive on the opposite seat (from American cars). This thing is a totally different machine from my Trans Am! (Well, duh!) I think I'll have to rent again. It's fun just to go somewhere new! Also, the navigation systems in Japanese cars make it about impossible to get lost. The even count down the distance to where you should turn. Miss a turn or change route and it will find a new route for you! Crazy!

But, the trip was not without a few dark spots: traffic was awful and we lost literally hours because of it. In fact, we missed the return time of the car! We had to bring it back the following day and pay the late fee. (Not all bad: we used the car to go out to dinner to celebrate our new car purchase.) Also, the weather was a bit more chilly than I would have liked. I guess I'll just have let spring build up a little more steam and take another trip!

Trips are fun.