I woke up early today, and as this is not the kind of hostel to hang out with, especially with my burbling host I went to the store next door and hot myself a couple of pastries and a coffee. I’d picked out a couple of places to check out and decided to save some cash after last nights beers, by walking down to Sendai station.
First up was Aoba Castle, the ruins of a castle from the Date clan. I took the subway to Aobayama Station which is amongst the university campus grounds, and you can marvel at the magnificent buildings as you walk to the castle. Alternatively you can take a bus, but I figured walking would be fine, though there’s no pavement for most of the way. It’s a windy downward road, and cars drive pretty sensibly so I don’t think it’s too much of a problem walking, one guy on his morning run went past me too. The ruined castle grounds are ok but I’m sure most people here are enjoying the views over the city and towards the mountains more. There was also a couple getting what looked like their wedding photos done.
Heading back to the subway, this time on a bus which departs from the car park I learned that you board in the middle, touch in with your money card, and touch out when you leave at the front. I then rode the subway back to Sendai to get a bite to eat and plot my next journey to a Osaki Hachiman Shrine.
Now I thought I had buses worked out, but no. Probably party due to me trusting Google maps far too much, but I got on what I thought was a bus to the shrine of choice, I was taken one stop which was back at Sendai station. Using Google again (why do I not learn) I found the number of another bus, but was there any indication as to which stand I needed? Not a chance. Fortunately there’s a really helpful information kiosk in the centre of the bus stands, and a kind lady handed me a paper stating which buses and stands I needed for the shrine (870, 876 & 880 from stand 13 or 840, 845, 850 & 855 from 14).
The shrine was impressive, though there were a couple of Japanese people milling about with pro looking cameras, there were a few signs stating no photography of the shrine or people visiting the shine, so my camera stayed in the bag until I was outside the main area.
From here I headed back to the centre, this time riding a bus until I was close enough to a subway station back to Sendai.