Saitama

Drew ended up only having one class to teach on Wednesday, at 8:00 pm, allowing us to take a little trip.  We made the 45 min. ride down to Saitama, a commuter town to Tokyo, and stopped in the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum.  I totally fell in love with the Juniper trees.  The bark is really beautiful.

Drew was drawn towards the pine trees.

After browsing the museum we headed over to Omiya park.  It was much bigger and more impressive than I expected.  I'm so jealous of all these parks.  I hope when we return home we can live near some good outdoor space.

You can get to the Hikawa jinja shrine through the park.  Also a pleasant sight to see.

Since this city is known for its bonsai, you can find bonsai shops with old men trimming and tweaking their creations all around town.  There were even itty bitty ones for around $8-$10.  If only I could figure out how to carry home a tree.  

Drew found a little surprise down one of the streets.  Someone had this miniature horse in their tiny front yard.  I'm starting to learn that having a small yard is not an excuse for anything.  A good amount of Japanese people have fairly substantial gardens relative to their lot size.  Even a postage stamp yard will at least have a half dozen pots filled with flowers.  So, if you want a horse, buy it mini!  

We made our way back to the train station just before the rain moved in.  Good timing!