Castles and Concoctions

Today, after church, we decided to go on a little jaunt to the ruins of Shimpu Castle. It is a rather nice place. Evidently there was a castle there some time where they would do castle-y things. I couldn't read the signs because they were in Japanese. 

This is what Japan looks like if you go 50 feet off the roads or paths. 

 You can see the sign there, they were nice enough to print it in English too. Unfortunately, this is the last of the information provided. 

 That is an informative sign in Japanese, and you can see the stairs there on the right side. 

 Heading up the old steps through the torii to the shrine/castle.

 Really steep stairs. Really. Steep.

 Looking back down.

 Almost to the top. Needless to say, I can imagine that not a lot of people attacked the castle from this side.

 Statue at the entrance to the shrine.

 The other side. Some kind of significance is place on these lions and what they have under their paws, but I can't remember what it is. 

 Its almost like a little park up there. 

 Entrance into the shrine. 

 The upper part of the shrine (let's be honest, I have no idea what the different parts of a shrine are).

 There you can see the descriptive picture of how the castle looked once upon a time. They had a moat thing as well. 

 Pathways where the castle was.

 A more modern shrine. If you look closely, you can see a little cup on the front of the shrine. People leave things that their ancestors liked and would want in their next life. Evidently this ancestor likes beer.

 Nice view of the valley beyond.

 This is where the walls once stood (maybe?).

 This is a big old rock which has stuff growing out of it. Crazy right? Who does that? 

 Those are peach orchards that you see on the hill.

 Mount Yatsugatake. It is one of the higher mountains in Japan, and the legend goes that it was formerly the highest mountain (higher than Fuji). To settle the dispute of champion mountain, the Budda put a bamboo chute with water in it on the top of both mountains to see which was taller. Yatsugatake was bigger, so Fuji got mad and smashed Yatsugatake and cracked it into pieces. Turns out Fuji is a mean lady. 

 I think they purposely thin the trees up here. 

 Can you spot the human? Tricky right? 

 That sign evidently says second hill. We didn't look at it because we already climbed one. Who do we look like? Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay? Noway.

I think this part looks like something from the Lord of the Rings. 

 In other news, I continue to make wonderful concoctions of the breakfast variety. Here we have what I have named the "Bowl of Boldness." Cook your hashbrowns and sausages, then create a nest for your eggs to live. 

 Cook your eggs

 Add your Costco-purchase Pace Picante Salsa once the eggs are cooked and placed in the 'boldnest.'

The light is not great in my kitchen, but there you have the bowl of boldness. If it doesn't taste right, you may not be a bold enough person. Try pushing someone out of the way next time you are in the grocery store...that should help.