2013年4月12日金曜日

2013年4月12日金曜日 -

Jade - Trip to Matsumoto



Last year, I had one of the most unforgettable experiences of my life. I went backpacking for five months with my best friend! We traveled to India, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia, Vietnam and Japan. My friend and I fell in love with Japan; it was exactly as we imagined it would be. The people were incredibly friendly, the culture was very interesting and different from the USA, and the food was very delicious!


 
One unexpectedly amazing city I visited last year, was Matsumoto. The train from Tokyo to Matsumoto was much more expensive than I expected, but I decided to go anyway as I had already planned on it. The train ride to get there was very relaxing and the landscape was breathtaking! While I love Tokyo, Matsumoto was such a peaceful city and a great getaway from city life. Everything seemed very laid-back
in Matsumoto. And there were an abundance of benches throughout the city! After backpacking for five months, this was appreciated!
The best part of the day was exploring Matsumoto Castle. It's such a beautiful castle! I had a lot of fun climbing to the top and overlooking the city of Matsumoto and the surrounding mountains. Afterwards, my friend and I enjoyed a maccha and vanilla swirled ice cream, which was very refreshing on a summer day. We also met a friendly local who gave us a free tour of one of Matsumoto's shrines. I always like meeting new people, so it was a nice experience before heading back to the busy city of Tokyo.
 
unforgettable = 忘れられない
backpacking = バックパック旅行
incredibly = 信じられないほど
unexpectedly = 予想外に、意外と
landscape = 景色、風景
breathtaking = 息をのむほど、驚くほど
getaway = 保養地
laid-back = のんびりしている、ゆったりしている
abundance = 多くの、多数
appreciated = ありがたく思う、重宝する
overlooking = 見渡す、見下ろす
Afterwards = その後、あとで
swirled = うずを巻く
swirled ice cream = ソフトクリーム
local = 地元の人
shrines = 神社
heading back = 戻る、帰る