Ashikaga

On the rainy day over our weekend we visited Ashikaga.  This is one of the towns that Drew travels to for his out-of-town classes and he wanted to show me some of the sights.  Plus, there were rumors of a Mexican restaurant which I was all about!

Ashikaga Gakko

This is known as Japan's oldest university and is now a historic sight.  It is said to have been founded sometime between 794-1185.  That's pretty old.  Even with the rain, the garden looked beautiful as we stood in what used to be the classroom building.

Orihime Jinja Shrine

This shrine was built in 1937 and sits up in the hills.  Meaning lots of stairs, but completely worth the hike.  Sometimes Drew comes here between classes to eat lunch.

Mexican lunch

We found the Mexican restaurant, Southwest Paradise, and took shelter from the rain.  Mexican food is very scarce in Japan so I, of course, always crave it while I'm here.  Drew and I ordered the beef tacos, which came as a build-your-own set.  Unfortunately, we only had two tortillas a piece and were forced to stuff each taco to the brim.  They hit the spot!

Later that night we had tacos for dinner at Natty Pub because it was crucial to have a taste comparison in order to determine which establishment creates the best taco.  We were drawn to Natty Pub because they boast tacos and buffalo chicken wings, all in English, on their outside menu.  I will say that Southwest Paradise had the better, and more authentic, corn tortillas but Natty Pub put cheese on their tacos.  Cheese wins out every time.