Cherry Blossom Fesitval, Nago 2013.
So today we ventured north to Nago City's Cherry Blossom festival. This event was added to our Okinawa "must do" list last year but when we first attempted to find the park we failed and ended up doing something else. We visited a dam I think. This year I was determined to find better directions and make it to the festival location. TA-DA! We found it at Nago Castle City Park. One would think that, just judging by the name alone, the park would be awesome. Well, sadly it wasn't that great. Don't get me wrong, the walk up the mountain was nice but there was very little outside panoramic views to see. There were a few shrines and a neat bridge but no playground equipment or any real place for a child to run around and play. As to not waste the 450Y it cost on the expressway I was determined to see all we could. We trekked up the stairs then up the mountain. There were hardly any trees in bloom but the weather was great and the views were nice. After the hill-acious climb up we sat for a bit, fed Terra a snack, and then turned to retrace our steps. The thought of lunch at the bottom of the stairs kept us going. One thing that I have just learned to accept with Japanese festival food, its terrible. Most of it is overcooked and overcooked about 20 mins before you order it. However, I found a stand that sold chicken and cheese as well as beef empanadas. I bought one of each and Terra picked out a fried delight but after biting into it she found it was not to her liking. Paul saved the day with chicken yakitori. After eating lunch and walking around for a bit with a very ill-behaved 3.5 year old, we called it quits. At least we got a nice walk out of it. Needless to say I don't think next year we will return. Oh, and I got peed on by that little green bird.
