Mito & the Umematsuri
If you haven't figured it out already, "matsuri" means festival. Ume means plum, or in this case, plum blossom.Friday night Peter, now known as Maverick, and we three ladies headed to Mito for a gathering of co-workers and a friend's 30th birthday. Though I did not have much opportunity to talk to the
birthday girl, I know that Angela (from Vancouver!) enjoyed herself. When we reached the Drunken Duck to meet up with Amy and Christa (friends from my company) around 11pm, it was PACKED... about an hour 
later we were closing the place down. Snore. We decided to try a club in Mito, only to find it less hopping than the 8 people we left at the Duck. At this point Jody and I went back to Amy's where I promptly fell asleep, while Tressa and Peter put a valiant effort in making a night of their trip to Mito (uh, karaoke, woot). For another version of these events, and pictures, view Jody's Blog: http://jodydwhite.blogspot.com/2006/03/mito-several-days-late.htmlSaturday morning I met Riccardo at the Mito train station
and we set off on our day of culture. The Umematsuri is just beginning in
Mito, and the eleventy-billion trees in the Kairakuen park (the third most famous park in Japan) are only about 10% in bloom. Nonetheless, the park itself is beautiful and we didn't have to deal with the throngs of people expected in the next few weeks.After marvelling at the lack of timidity of the ducks and swans inhabiting Senba lake, Riccardo and I sat
in the perfect sunshine and enjoyed a picnic! YAY! We wandered through the park, and through the Kobuntei, a traditional Japanese building once inhabited by a ruling lord of the area. The Kobuntei featured 
hand-painted sliding doors, very low entrance-ways, and an amazing view.After the park we walked through town and visited the Mito Museum of Art. I have been wanting to visit the gallery since I've been in Japan and was not let down. The exhibit was called "To The Human Future: Flight from the Dark Side" and featured about 20 international artists dealing with human degradation via war in a variety of media (paint, sculpture, photography, movie...). There
were haunting pieces involving Chernobyl, The Manhattan Project and various wars. I had heard of only one artist in the exhibit: Yoko Ono. Surprise!! Her included sculptures were quite thought-provoking and graphic.Topped with dinner, great conversation, and the odd staring
contest, Saturday was fabulous. I hope to have more cultural adventures very soon.My weekend was rounded off with a viewing of The Chronicles of Narnia and dinner with Koji. While I
was with him my new sofa was delivered to my apartment. YAY!As it turns out, all these photos are by Riccardo; my thanks to him for weilding his camera so skillfully, and also for re-sizing the picture for me. I have just found out that my camera is en route from Canada by ExpressPost and am crazy with anticipation! YAY!
I am glad Mito on SAT was better than Mito on MON ;o)
I will try to downsize the pictures for you, no problem.
Riccardo