Shimabara (now with Fyoire)

Ok...so I never actually talked about our first trip to Shimabara. I took Fyoire down there so I'll cover that.

We went to the Castle. It's a neat walking tour. The primary display is all relics of Christian persecution from the area. It's kind of neat to look at. I wish I could read more of the signage to understand all of it. They also have a really neat display of Samurai armor that's great fun to walk through. Another floor has pictures of various Japanese castles around the ceiling.

There are 4 or 5 buildings on the grounds. The main castle is 5 floors, I think. The top is an observation deck that's kind of neat to look from. There's another that has antique household and farming goods. One with statues, including prototypes of the Peace Statue that's in the Nagasaki Peace Park. One has more current things in it, but we didn't fo there this time. There's also a small temple and another little 2 room tatami house that's behind the castle.

After we finished there, we went to the arcade. It's nothing too special. We stopped at the foot bath, though. Bliss! We happily soaked our feet in water that was so hot our skin turned bright red in an instant. Roo kept trying to put her feet in, too, only to pull them back with a wince as soon as the tender bottoms hit the surface of the water. It was delightful. Our feet felt fresh and happy for the rest of the day despite the walking we did. I want to do that over and over again.

We also drank from the springs in the arcade where the water is cool. It was delicious and crisp with a slight aftertaste (maybe the sulfur). Roo wanted LOTS of that.

Then it was time to come home, where we learned that it takes twice as long to get back as to get there - oops! Too bad Roo didn't sleep that round.