My wife got her booster shot for COVID-19 last Saturday so she was out all day on Sunday. I was hoping to go to Ashino Park in Goshogawara on Monday to check out the cherry blossoms and have lunch at a cafe called [Ekisha]. Unfortunately, my wife was still not in the best of condition to go out. I resigned myself to staying at home on such a nice day again. However, my wife said she was feeling good enough to go out to see the blossoms but instead of going to Ashino Park, she suggested we go to Hirosaki Park in Hirosaki instead. We invited my mother-in-law along and left the house around eight in the morning. It's a little after the full bloom but we wanted to check out the cherry blossom carpet that would appear on the castle moat.
妻が先週の土曜日新型コロナの３度目のワクチン接種を受けたため、日曜日は完全にダウンでした。月曜日は五所川原にある芦野公園の桜を見に行こうと提案したが、月曜の朝妻は万全じゃなかった。仕方なく、今日も家でゆっくりするしかないと想った。ところが、妻が段々回復して、出掛ける元気はあると言った。義理の母も誘って桜を見に行くことにした。でも芦野公園ではなく弘前公園の桜祭りに行くことにした。桜の満開はちょっと過ぎましたけど、今回の狙いは弘前城の環濠に現れる桜絨毯。
Weeping Cherry Blossom / しだれ桜
The cherry blossom carpet on the moat.
弘前城の環濠の桜絨毯。
Cherry blossom close-ups / 桜のクロスアップ
I spotted a Sakura Miku panel in the park.
桜ミクのパネルを公園内に発見した。
A two-shot with Sakura Miku.
桜ミクとのツーショット。
A large gingko tree. It has a circumference of 600cm (236 inches), a height of approximately 32 meters (105 feet), and is over 300 years old.
弘前市古木名木のイチョウ。幹周は６００ｃｍ、樹高は約３２ｍと推定樹齢は約３００年以上。
Another Sakura Miku panel.
別の桜ミクパネルを発見。
So I had my picture taken with her.
ということでまた桜ミクと一緒に写真を撮って貰った。
You can see Mount Iwaki in the background.
奥に映ってる山は岩木山。
There were a lot of people rowing boats in the moat.
結構環濠の中でボートをこいでた人が大勢居た。
Not cherry blossoms but they were pretty as well.
桜ではないが、綺麗でしたよ。
Another large tree in the park. This is a pine tree. The circumference is 2.4 meters (7.9 feet). It has a height of 6 meters (19.7 feet) and is over 300 years old.
また弘前市古木名木。アイグロマツ。幹周は２．４ｍ、樹高は６ｍ。そして推定樹齢は３００年以上。
This is another Weeping Cherry Blossom tree. It has a circumference of 307 cm (10 feet), a height of approximately 5.4 meters (approx. 17 feet), and was gifted to the city of Hirosaki in 1914.
弘前市古木。サダレザクラ。幹周は３０７ｃｍ、樹高は約５．４ｍ。大正３年（１９１４年）、弘前市に寄付されたものです。
Hirosaki Castle / 弘前城
Gotta get in one touristy picture.
観光客ぽいの写真も撮れてもらいえないとね。
Mount Iwaki in the background.
奥にあるのは岩木山。
This looks like a cherry blossom shop-curtain. "Are you open for business?"
桜の暖簾みたい。”店開いてますか？”
Me with my mother-in-law.
義理の母と一緒。
Me and my wife and cherry blossoms.
僕と妻と桜。
My wife didn't bother going to the top of the castle but I did.
妻は弘前城の中で上まで上るのは却下したが、自分は上りました。
This picture is taken from the top floor of the castle.
この写真は城の最上階で撮ったものです。
Repairs are still being done on the castle walls which started in 2014 and is scheduled to be completed in 2025.
弘前城の石垣の修理が２０１４年から始まって、２０２５年に終了する予定。
Another area of the moat completely covered by cherry blossom petals. In Japanese, it's called sakuraikada which translates to "cherry blossom raft".
環濠の別の場所の桜筏。
My wife knew about this spot as she saw it featured on Instagram. We almost forgot to look for it. You can see the silhouette of a heart.
妻がだれかのインスタグラム投稿でこの場所を知り、見逃すところでした。ハート型になってる。
I should have had my palms flat so it looks like I was holding up the heart.
あっ、手を平らにすれば、自分がハートを片手で持ち上げてるみたいな感じにすれば良かった。
The park even provided a marker to show where the best position is to see the heart.
弘前公園の管理人がちゃんと場所をわかりやすくするため、目印を設置してました。
As we were headed back to the parking lot I just had to share this stylish Starbuck's Coffee shop.
駐車場に戻る途中どうしてもこのお洒落なスターバックスをシェアしようと想った。
