Nameko's first visit to Miyagi Prefecture!
Riding the new E5 series Shinkansen (bullet train) from Shichinohe-Towada to Sendai Station.
Waiting in Sendai station for the express train to Matsushima Kaigan Station.
Welcome to Matsushima!-considered one of the three most scenic sites in Japan.
Aboard the Nioumaru on a 50-min. boat tour around Matsuhima Bay. (Tons of seagulls follow the tour boats hoping for food for visitors, who usually oblige them. You can even get them to take food from from your hand as fellow passengers demonstrated. @_@)
Enjoying an oyster burger and zunda (mashed edamame (soy beans)--a local Miyagi specialty) croquette.
Trying on a kabuto (samurai helmet)--actually the entrance-way to the Date (pronounced "dah-tei") Cafe. (Date Masamune was a prominent daimyo (feudal lord) during the Sengoku period and the founder of Sendai.)
Enjoying a "Masamune Parfait" (only 780 yen!) at the Date Cafe.
Headed to Godaido, a small Buddhist temple hall in Matsushima.
Taking a walk along the bridge from Matsushima to Fukuura Island, a small island designated as a sort of natural botanical garden/park. (There's a 200yen toll to cross the bridge.)
A view from Fukuura Island.
Snacking on zunda melon pan (a type of sweet bread with a cookie-like crust on top) from a local bakery.
Enjoying gyu-tan (beef tongue) teishoku (set meal) at Sendai Station before catching the Shinkansen back to home. Gyu-tan is a local specialty (albeit with a relatively recent history) in Sendai/Miyagi.
Omake (oh-mah-keh - bonus)
Enjoying zunda mochi (pounded glutinous rice cake) and Matsushima Beer at home after the trip.
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