Day 2 - Osaka Castle

      After we came back from our morning walk, we checked in on the girls. They had just woken up and we let them get ready while we planned what to do. We decided to check out Osaka Castle which was only a few stations away by train. This was a model of the castle and the moat surrounding it at the station when we arrived.

     I wasn't quite sure which direction to go as I didn't have a map but we just followed where people were gathered including school children on field trips. It was a beautiful sunny day but it being mid June, it was hot and humid - close to 90 degrees so just walking was causing us to sweat like crazy.

     I don't know what these statutes were for but I liked the backside better than the front.

     As we approached the castle, we came across the moat.

Cliff notes version of the post below: the castle has been rebuilt many times and isn't as old as you would think

     I knew the castle had been rebuilt/restored many times but it still didn't detract from the beauty of it. We took our time and marveled at how they were able to move and cut the large stones to have them fit so perfectly without anything holding it together.

    

Don't let the girls' size fool you, the stones were massive!

     Even though it looks like the castle was right around the corner it didn't seem like it. We walked up huge stones and then reach another walkway and then walk up some more stone and then another walkway - this was called Marked Stone Square.

     We looked back at the moat from our location and it was amazing, beautiful and very peaceful!

I had Tony stand next to the base for a better comparison. He's almost 6 feet and still looks tiny.

We were finally getting closer...

And closer...

And still another set of stairs to climb after we paid our admission (the girls were free!)

     The main tower held the museum and most of it was in Japanese but it had air conditioning! There were 8 floors each covering a different part of the history of the castle. The 8th floor had the observation deck with panoramic views of the city.

If you want to see a panoramic video from the top click below. (I apologize for the wind noise- it wasn't that bad but I haven't figured out how to dub music over unpleasant sounds). They had wire surrounding the viewing area making it difficult to get good clear shots.

     After we were done we walked around the courtyard but since it was so hot we decided to go back....

    ;;;but not before I caught a glimpse of this garden a took a few snapshots. 

     A look back at the castle as we walked away.