3/26 matsuyama

Our pace was leisurely. One day we visited Matsuyama-jo, the major castle in town (we have and will visit many castles on this trip, as per Ben's itinerary.) This was a pretty spectacular one, though it was never actually tested in battle. It's really too bad, because the structure of the outer wall is quite maze-like and disorienting, and could quite easily trick an invader. Now it just confuses the tourists.



As we walked the inner grounds, I heard a small voice from far away, "bang bang!" Looking up at the guard tower wall, I could see a small set of fingers poking through the firing slits and an impish face. I quickly assumed evasive maneuvers, ducking behind a sakura tree, then running out and returning fire ("bang bang") before diving behind a large sign post. We kept up this small impromptu battle for a while, until he dealt me a lethal blow, and I slowly and dramatically died in the dust. Much giggling ensued, including Ben and the handful of onlookers. I'll never know who my opponent was, but I'm glad we were able to put the castle to good use.

After climbing around inside the castle, we reached the top and (once again) were treated to fantastic views of the city. For some reason, Ben and I always seem to pick activities that take us to the highest point in a city. I'm feeling very spoiled by all this scenery.



A short jog across the expansive moat, and we found lunch at Amitie, an adorable French-style bistro. As most of you know, I had just graduated from a French cooking school before setting off on this trip, so it's still very fresh in my mind. I was pretty pleasantly surprised by the obvious care in such an inexpensive meal. We've had some pretty "French" food here (croissants with red bean paste filling, etc.) so finding bread with an actual crust was quite amazing! Ben will demonstrate: