Monday, August 10, 2009

Spain in Japan

At long last we were able to have our summer family travel this weekend. We went to Mie Prefecture in Ise-Shima.
Our main target was this Spain Village also known as Parque Espana. We stayed there for 3 days... since last Friday and as I am posting this... we've just came back from Ise. That was our first time adventure there. We never expected too much on going there but it turned out to be interesting and fun... and should I say funny for some ironical stuffs we experienced and encountered. Imagine... Spain in Japan? lol! They did a great job of making the village a Spanish ambience anyway!
The place is a theme park about Spain and also the relations between Japan and Spain. The area also have a Spanish style resort hotel where we stayed and yes... spa and hot spring! OMG... we love it!
We enjoyed the stroll around the village. There are some amusement parks, museums, plaza for shopping, dining and events, outdoor theater stage, parades, fire works exhibitions and more. Good or bad but we also enjoyed the different taste of paella. The performace of flamenco dance by Spanish dancers was great.

They even build the replica of Xavier Castle.

My best shot... summer in Spain Village!

Fireworks at the plaza

Family bonding at the terrace of our hotel room

Nagwawala lang po!

On the way home... we visited the famous Ise Shrine. My hubs said he had been there with his family very long time ago. But I think everyone should go there even once in a life. It is actually regarded as the holiest shrine in Japan. The main shrine is actually located inside a sacred forest. We passed a sacred river, the Isuzu River then we walked for about 20 minutes inside the forests to reach the main shrine. Below pic are steps to the main shrine.
Ise Shrine...also known as NAIKU (inner shrine) has about 2,000 years history. The main shrine building is a thatched hut built in the ancient Japanese style of unpainted Japanese cypress (hinoki). The main shrine is currently under construction. Pictures are not allowed inside.
We also enjoyed the streets of restaurants and omiage shops. It looks like a time slip of old era of Japan. Truly amazing!
That's all for our 3 days family trip. We did enjoy our bondings and the adventures. We are blessed with fine weather. What more could we ask for?!
-more slide pics to come-

No comments:

Post a Comment