Today, our second day in Nagoya, we went to the main park to see the cherry blossoms and the Nagoya Castle. It’s a tiny bit before peak cherry blossom time but the blossoms are still very beautiful. We had scones and donuts for breakfast and then we got on the subway and walked to the park from there. Everyone has picnics under the cherry blossom trees in the park. All around the park there are locals on picnic blankets eating and chatting. The park is called Meijo Koen which translates to Nagoya Castle Park . The Nagoya Castle was destroyed after World War II, they rebuilt it but it is not as ancient as most castles in Japan. The symbol of Nagoya is a mythical dolphin. Link. If you go to the park on a sunny day on the weekend you will not be able to find a picnic spot, luckily today it was overcast so it was not so busy.This is a beautiful tulip garden in the park. Do you have a favourite tulip in this picture? I like the yellow ones.This is me under a cherry tree. I think this tree is really pulchritudinous. Before we took this photo there was a man that took a photo of his four pugs by bribing them with a dog biscuit. The photo was really funny. This tree is the one with the most blossoms that I saw in Meijo Koen.Here is a close up shot on a few blossoms. The river was very beautiful.Many of the trees bent over the river creating beautiful reflections.  In the middle of the river there is a fountain that adds a nice element to the river. From the bridge you can get very good views of the cherry blossoms. In Nagoya at this time of year it is usually about 15 degrees Celsius. We have been in 30 degree weather so it feels pretty cold.This is the Nagoya Castle, there is a big moat around the front side of the castle. At the top there are 2 of the golden mythical dolphins that I talked about earlier.This is me and Denise with the Nagoya sign. This is kind of like the Toronto sign in Nathan Phillips Square.

After the cherry blossoms we went to a ramen restaurant called Ippudo, it was really good :).  I got a basic tonkotsu based ramen. It was a great day today.