April 6 - Fukuoka, part 2.

A bit of a slower day today. Originally we had considered doing a day trip to Nagasaki, but given that we have quite a few big days planned ahead as well as a decent hotel to rest up in, we instead decided to just do a half-day of exploring today to mop up some of the items in Fukuoka we didn't have to for yesterday. The weather continued to be somewhat "bleh" - grey and wet but not-quite-raining - as we explored Ōhori Park.

The park is famous for its cherry blossoms, and though we're here at the right time of year they came a bit early this year and as a result only about half were still on the trees as we explored the Fukuoka castle ruins.

We then continued on to Gokoku shrine which would have been nice if it weren't for the oppressive crowds.

For the most part we found the shrine was closed, which was a theme that carried throughout the day - we suspect today might be some local holiday that we didn't know about. We therefore headed back to the hotel for a siesta and an early night. Our guide at the tea ceremony yesterday had recommended a shrine south of here that we want to try to fit in on our way to Kumamoto so it made sense to have an early night.