Today, we took the train to Shimoda, in Shizuoka, Japan. We arrived at the station which was nearly empty (very unusual). We walked from there following the ten minute route along the river towards the hill park which is one of the main attractions of the town, apart from the aquarium, the beaches, the hot springs and the ropeway. The hydrangeas were just about perfect today and we spent a decent couple of hours wandering around the park taking in the lovely scenery. The f;lowers are arranged along the path and follow it up and up the hill to the space where the food stalls are. Then it gets more impressive with whole slopes, banks and valleys filled with the flowers. This is the most impressive place I've been in Japan for hydrangeas and the day was great too. There are food stalls and cafes dotted about over the hill and a fantastic variety of hydrangeas on display. Considering that were in the middle of the rainy season here it was a perfect day for looking at the lovely flowers and it wasn't crowded at all either.. Here are some pictures of our time walking around the festival.            After the festival and after lunch, we went up the Shimoda ropeway, which also was totally deserted, at least, when we got on the cable car, and we walked around the garden on top of the mountain opposite Shimoda Station. Its not a bad place to go , with some nice views, but a bit overpriced. Here are a few pictures of that too...
Shimoda is a fantastic place to go for a weekend stay and can be reached within about 2 hours 30 minutes from Tokyo. Its best known for its beaches in the summer, but is impressive at other times of the year too. As we experienced today.
