From the city on the water to the city of water: Turkish Delight...plus a Sakura addendum!

I apologize for the lack of related pictures in this post. I know I took some of the said events, but I can't find them on any of my memory cards, so oh well. I realized I forgot to throw up any pictures from the cherry blossom season, so I'll throw a blurb in about that at the end with some pictures.

I had a few weeks of down time before my dad and stepmom came to visit, and didn’t do anything too crazy. One weekend in early May, we (Jon, Sarah, and I) decided to try out this Turkish restaurant in Gifu that we had gotten a flyer for a long time ago. Jon had chiropractic appointment earlier in the day, so Sarah and I met up with him later. I ended up going into Gifu city early to trek to Kinka mountain to check out the spring scenery. The previous evening I had seen something on the local newscast about this particular plant “blooming” on the mountain so that it looked like the mountainside was dusted with gold. So I went to check that out and climbed maybe halfway up the mountain, taking a few pictures here and there, and just getting some nature time in. I trekked back to the station, met up with Jon and Sarah and headed to the aptly (read:stereotypically) named Turkish restaurant, Sultan. They had this “Turkish Pizza” that I was curious about, so I went with that. Sadly, though, it ended up being rather bland. Although maybe the Turkish equivalent of pizza, it was far from pizza. A thicker crust was topped with egg and cheese and some herbs, but the herbs didn’t lend a ton of flavor and there was no sauce, so it felt a little dry as well.

Topically related but chronologically out of place tidbit!

Now this is pizza...err, it was twenty minutes ago. Jon, Sarah, and I stopped at a Pizza Hut in Nagoya for a little booster shot of America, right to the arteries. We each got our own pizza, which may have earned us few quizzical looks from the person at the register.

The next day there was an informal capoeira instrument jam session in the park by Gifu station. Essentially, a few of us gathered together and practiced rhythms and a few songs, and generally lazed away the latter part of afternoon. At one point a kid riding his bike became curious as to what we were doing and came over and talked to us. We explained the instruments and played a little capoeira to give him an idea of exactly what it is. He warmed up to us quickly and was certainly a bit curious as to where I was from. We were trying to convey to him how big the world is and that he should go study abroad, etc. when he’s older. I of course piped in that he should come to America to study. At which point he made an odd face and said, “…but everyone there carries a gun.” Yes, folks, this is the image that this young Japanese boy (probably about 8yrs old) has of America-a bunch of gun-toting loonies. I’m not surprised he’s leery about going. I tried to convince him that most Americans are actually quite kind and don’t carry guns…he didn’t seem entirely convinced. After chilling in the park until the sun went down, we decided to grab some dinner, and everyone else in the group decided on…you guessed it, Sultan! So here I go showing my face in this place for the second day in a row. This time I decided to try a glass of a Turkish beer called Efes. I went for the “dark” beer and Naomi tried the “regular.”

It was decent but nothing to write home about (not that I really know what I’m talking about when it comes to beer anyway, though). Not having been terribly impressed with the “pizza” the night before, I went with a staple I knew I’d enjoy-the kebab pita sandwich. These were pretty solid, but I have yet to be back to this place, so again, nothing too mind-blowing. They did mistakenly give this large appetizer salad, at which point they just let us have it on the house, so the service is decent. And of course there were the intangibles, and by that, I mean the fact that it coincidentally was belly dance night there. Although we could have been done eating before the performance was scheduled to start, we obviously slowed our pace and stuck around for the show. They had two ladies, one a more experienced older lady, and then a younger one, along with a guy drumming along to pre-recorded song. The ladies rotated dancing duties, and then the owner and some of the employees got in on the dancing, until finally they were pulling people from their tables and teaching them how to do some basics. Eventually nearly the entire restaurant was on their feet, with people clapping along, and taking turns dancing in the middle of the circle. The other guy from capoeira and I were attempting to mimic the dance steps of the owner, but with little success. The music was great, and the energy filled the entire place (granted it’s not that big, but still). One of the more impressive things was actually the guy’s drum. Besides have a really unique sound, it had this ridiculously intricate, and all-together badass, pattern on its sides. After the unexpected show, we left the restaurant and parted ways. Overall, though, it was a great day. I had missed just kind of chilling in the park and messing around with capoeira in such a relaxed fashion. It reminded me a bit of all the lazy summer afternoons spent on Library Mall back in Madison. Uh-oh, I’m waxing nostalgic, better end this thing here.

Another thing that happened at some point in this approximate time frame was a day trip out to Hamamatsu with Naomi to visit Vitor and see a massive kite festival. It was a ridiculously large event, with so many gigantic kites in the air, you wonder how none of them run into each other. Although, at times a couple kites did "battle", what was essentially a game of chicken. It takes a whole group of people working in tandem to control the giant kite properly. It was super freakin hot that day, but quite the spectacle to behold.

Have at thee!!

Vitor and I at the festival.

We cut out halfway through the afternoon and drove to a smaller nearby town where Vitor heard you could see wisteria in full bloom, and wow was it worth it.
Walking under a canopy of these things was pretty surreal.

ADDENDUM!
To be honest, I can't believe I forgot about cherry blossom season. Definitely one of the best times of the year, although it was still uncomfortably cold during full bloom this year, making the outdoor picnics under the trees less enjoyable than normal. Cherry blossoms, along with the associated season, have a special place in the heart of most Japanese people, and it is a significant aspect of their culture. Countless songs mention the beauty of the blossoms, or use them as a metaphor life, love, and anything else you can think of. It is a time to get together with friends or family, sit under the trees, enjoy the beauty...and get schwasted. Drinking sake under the blossoms is a traditional past time, and that has expanded into alcohol of any sort. I headed down to Nagoya upon Rock's invite to hit up Tsuruma Park in Nagoya for some blossom viewing. I had been to this place for blossom viewing when I studied abroad and was excited to be able to return again during the season. I also did some exploring around Ogaki during this time to grab a couple shots of the local nature.
GRATUITOUS SAKURA BLOSSOMS!

Ogaki, in the district with some history relating to Matsuo Basho (famous haiku poet)