Japan - Day 8 - Tokyo to Shiroshi

Today we left Tokyo early. We took a Shinkansen train to Fukushima where we had a rental car waiting. However, at the station, they were promoting a cheap bus to the nearby Hanamiyaka Park to see the sakura and flowering trees. So we spoke to the rental people at Nissan and they allowed us to leave the car with them. We walked back to the station, picked up a lunch and went out to the park.

The cherries were really past their best, but the views were amazing and there were a lot of other interesting trees and rape seed in flower. And we visited their fair and tried some of the cherry dango (mochi like rice balls with a cherry flavoured coating) — a good little side trip.

Then we went back to Fukushima and picked up the car and drove to Shiroshi, a quiet little town, surounded by mountains. We checked into our hotel and walked up to the castle to look around.

Then we had a very nice meal of yakitori, yakisoba and more at a local izakaya place where the owner bent over backwards to provide translations of her menu. The food was excellent and we felt really welcome.