Sendai Essentials

       I've started training and it's progressing well. I'm comfortable in front of the fake students(other trainees) and applied for a job last year teaching English, so I've had practice speaking slowly and using lots of gestures and simple language. The writing today however, is about the walk I went on during my last free day before training started. I had looked up a "Stuff to do in Sendai" and seen these two options already, but had dismissed them based on their distance. Maybe I'm lazy, my defense is that I didn't measure but guessed it would be too far to walk. It was in fact 6 miles total. I went to a burial place of several early clan leaders who lived in the 1500's and 1600's and 1700's. Members of the Date (Dah-tey) clan who became the founders of the Sendai clan( who founded the city I'm in currently. After visiting Zuihoden I walked up to the Castle remains another mile or so away. Here's my day.

       Started walking in the general direction I needed to go. Had pictures of the rough areas of the city I wanted to go to on my phone for reference. Looked something like this (picture).

The little blue dot on the right is the hotel. Zuihoden Temple in the center botton. Sendai Castle on the lower left. I mistakenly passed the Zuihoden entrance the first time because it was fairly far back from the road... and.... you know... I can't read Japanese signs. Instead I walked up a big hill and stood on the threshold of some other mildly sacred looking place with a sign and then decided not to wander into what may have been someones house? Back down the hill, found a sign. Started up this little path.

Comes out into this area.

May not be able to see it but there's a very large bell in this structure.

Then this bigger structure with all the well tended garden. I went up to the entrance and it was wide open but still looked like it wasn't ready for visitors? No lights or anything. Tatami mats for the floor. I learned today (several days later) socks and bare feet only on tatami mats, no shoes or slippers. I had taken my shoes off as a precaution. The interior.

       I thought to myself "well this is neat" and wandered toward the gate straight out of the building. At the gate I noticed the road continued and seemed like there was a little more. I had come into the area through a graveyard on the downhill side. I tried to take a cool picture of some bamboo but the camera wouldn't focus with the different light levels so you all get this mediocre depiction. 

The city was a neat backdrop but the light levels were too different. Anyhow outside the gate I saw a sign showing that I had barely breached the actual temple.

I was actually in the little part just underneath the red "You are here" writing. The two sets of stairs shown are pretty cool. I started up the left side and paid 5 bucks to get into the museum (sorry it said no pictures) and stuff on the left side of the map. It had a sword and bits and pieces of things buried in the tomb and a replica skull with facial reconstruction for two of the old clan leaders from the 1600's. 

       Up the stairs and pay your 5 bucks and then they let ya into that area. Museum on the left and then the actual building made for the burial of one of the important dudes. Sadly all the buildings were replicas because they had been destroyed in WWII bombing raids. The detail was really extraordinary on them. Oh and I absolutely loved the trees. They are large and old and excellent. I continued around the loop and walked a woods trail, then had to loop back to the stuff on the right side. Then I headed down the other steps and tried to find the castle. 

  (The other steps)

       Walked over to the Castle remains and up the hill to get a few of these shots. 

(How the castle looked in the back when)

(Stones marking out where it was)

(You see the castle embankment wall and the city of Sendai)

       I had lunch up at the gift shop area and looked around for about an hour. Slow walk back to the hotel with a little snapshot of some fun English.

(My lunch. Beef tongue called gyutan, is a regional specialty. Rice underneath. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to dip the meat in the broth to the side or drink it. So I did both. I also tried to find a Zunda milkshake. It's a milkshake with soybeans in it. Couldn't find it at the castle but was able to root one out in the big(read giant) shopping area underneath Sendai Train station. Was pretty tasty, not sure if it was good enough to make me want another though? I did the Sendai Essentials today though. Sendai Castle, eat gyutan, and have a zunda shake.)

       Not very easy to convey but I think this day will be one of my favorites in the country. Things are still new and enchanting and it was the first time I saw more than buildings and shops. It was big trees and OLD things. I enjoyed reading the information plagues at each place learning about when things happened. Another few days of training and then off to my city. A few days to get situated and then starting into the work. Should be nice getting into the swing of things.