Illuminating

Last night we took a trip to the neighboring town of Ashikaga to see the famous Ashikaga Flower Park.  In the spring, the park is well-known as the place to see huge Japanese wisteria vines.  But in December and January, the park is decorated with Christmas lights, or "illuminations" as they are known here.

Chad and I had a tradition of going to see the Roper Mountain Lights in Greenville every year so we were hoping for a similar experience.  And it was, except here you park and walk it instead of driving through.  There were holiday gift shops and lots of little food vendors selling marshmallows and hot chocolate along with the ubiquitous seafood and cabbage-y vegetables.  It was a pretty impressive display, perhaps a little more elegant than what you usually see in the US.

Oh, and I had an issue with camera batteries so these are all with my iPhone.  :(

the pyramid is in a pond, hence the reflection

lights are hung to mimic the springtime wisteria vines

yellow "wisteria" tunnel

lots of places set up for picture-taking--including this canoe

the park is next to a mountain, and the lights are all over the side

I liked these all over the ground

Japanese Santa is skinny

roasting marshmallows