Different Views of the Sun

The annual Cherry Blossom Festival at Expo Park started yesterday, so we went to taker a look. The first day was chilly and sometimes overcast. Plus, most of the cherry trees were not in bloom yet. That would explain the sparse crowd. Also, Yuki said that since the blossoms were in full effect in Kyoto -- our destination for tomorrow -- everyone went to the ancient capital instead.

Here was the best blossom close-up I found:


Yuki went for the more distant composition:


I ended up taking a lot of pictures of the Tower of the Sun instead. Let's start with the backside view:


Yuki had visited the park when she was a really young so she didn't remember the view from the back. It looks like a really impressive tattoo.

How about some perspective on size? Take a look at 22 clumsy seconds of me walking around the right side of the huge dude.



Yeah, it's pretty big, but so is Yuki:


Walking around the western side of the park, we found pictures that showed what Expo 70 must have looked like. Yuki attended with her parents when she was a wee lass, so she doesn't remember a thing. Here's the German Exhibition Hall:


There are actually two parks to Expo Park. The second one is a Japanese Garden. Yeah, you have to imagine Yuki sneering and saying, "It's nothing like that cheap Japanese Garden in Golden Gate Park!"

I really like the pine trees:


And the bamboo trees:


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