Osaka: Osaka Castle & The Japanese Mint

I spent my 2nd day in Osaka in search of cherry blossoms! This wasn't a hard task because they were everywhere. My first stop was Osaka Castle. It was awesome because, typically, there's a bit of a walk from the subway to the place of interest. However, I stepped out of the subway station and saw this:

Hello, Beautiful!! It was gorgeous. If the photo was a little bigger you could see the castle in the distance. I continued to walk through the park and just explore. It was everyone from tourists to locals. Some were having picnics or napping and others were looking around (like me!).

After walking through "Forest Park," I found the "Japanese Plum-grove Garden". Again, beautiful and awesome! More picnicking and more napping, but nonetheless breathtaking. It was a great day, especially because it was the warmest day of my trip. It definitely made for a pleasant stroll through the area.

After that, I made my way around the Inner Moat to the Sakura Gate. Within the gate there were numerous food trucks. This is where I chose to try the local cuisine, Takoyaki or octopus balls. It definitely was not my favorite thing. As a matter of fact, I passed the rest off to the people behind me. Ha! I grabbed a bottle of water (to get the taste out of my mouth) and happily moved right along.

There's a museum within the castle and an observation deck on top. To keep with the theme, I climbed the stairs to the deck and checked out the scenery!

The "legendary dolphin-shaped fish" or Shachi 

Next, I went to the Osaka Mint. Mark pointed out that this is my 2nd Japanese Mint and he's never been to one. What can I say? I'm an awesome wife and like to get him gifts that he'll enjoy! Haha! Besides, the Osaka branch is known for the 300 cherry blossom trees so it was an added bonus.

After this, I wanted to cry because my feet hurt so badly. Instead, I found the subway and was thankful to take a seat on my ride back to my hotel!

Up Next: My hotel & my night out on the town!