We visited the Izu Peninsula. It was a beautiful beach trip. We had a wonderful time relaxing and enjoying the sights of the coast of Japan. The trip lasted two days! The first day we arrived at a beautiful white sand beach. It was an overcast day and we had the beach practically all to ourselves. The water was a little cold, but after we got in, it was quite refreshing.
This is the veiw from our hotel room. At night we stayed at the Hanamisaki Hotel. A fish market was located right outside the hotel. We had some delicious and very fresh sushi!
The girls showered and dressed in the hotel's yukata, the summer kimono. They also enjoyed trying all the snacks left for us in our room. Our room was a traditional Japanese style room. It consisted of one room with four futons on a tatami mat. It was fun, but a little hot. Steve enjoyed watching Sumo wrestling sitting directly in front of the air conditioner!
On the second day, we visited a beach at Tsumekizaki which is famous for its beautiful landscape of beaches amongst a rocky coast and a lighthouse situated on the tip of the cape. Here the beach was a little rockier than the first day, but the girls enjoyed critter catching. They filled their buckets with hermit crabs and small fish. Gracie and I even caught a star fish! We went snorkling and rock climbing. Located right next to a beach was a seaweed farm. It was interesting to see the women coming in from the ocean with big straw baskets on their backs filled with seaweed. After they collected the seaweed, they spread it like mulch on the hot rocks. A farmer next to the beach was cultivating his land and there were rows of Aloe plants growing. Our guide picked one, and we all enjoyed spreading its healing pulp on our sunburned skins.
We all experienced for the first time, public baths! Luckily for us, no one else from the public was there when we went! Thank goodness. The water in the bath was so hot! One thing about Japan, lots of hot springs! It was a little smelly (sulfuric), but it was a nice chance to get cleaned up from the beach. Steve was not so lucky, he acutally had to share his time with local Japanese men. We also had a public bath at the hotel, but opted for our private shower in our room! One public bathing experience is all we need! Hahahahaha!
Konichiwa!
Gracie loves digging in the sand.
Madeline and Gracie get used to the cool water! Jump in, Mad! This was Shimoda beach. It had a few lovely snack shacks right on the beach. Steve and I enjoyed their beverages! The girls enjoyed the shaved ice drinks!
This is the beach at Tsumekizaki. As you can see, we needed to wear our shoes to protect our feet from the rocks.
Snorkeling! Oh yeah!
I left the snorkelers for a small hike up a mountain to visit the lighthouse. I was rewarded by breathtaking veiws of the coast.
Beautiful coast.
We loved our trip to the beach so much that we've planned another trip for Labor Day! Something about the salty air and the waves crashing against the sand...no matter what coast, Atlantic or Pacific, it just melts away your cares and replenishes the peace! Sayonara for now!
