お正月に関東の友人宅を尋ねました。いつも手厚くもてなしてくれる友人ですが、今回も様々な場所に案内してくれました。
I visited an old friend, who lives in the Kanto region, during the New Year Holidays. He is always very hospitable, and this time he showed me around many places, as ever.
最初に訪れたのは、忍野八海です。世界文化遺産に登録されているほどの景勝地ですが、恥ずかしながら知りませんでした。友人から地名を聞いたとき、正直、日本酒の銘柄ではと思ってしまいました。向かう途中、車中から見える富士山がだんだんと大きく迫ってくるのにワクワクしました。
The first place we visited was Oshinohakkai. It was so beautiful that it was placed on The World Cultural and Natural Heritage List. I find it somewhat embarrassing to say this, but I didn’t even know the name of the place. I thought, to be honest, it might be the name of a sake or something like that when my friend told me about it. I got excited as Mt. Fuji grew larger before our eyes as we approached our destination.
湧池を覗いた瞬間、その透明度に心底驚きました。恐らく深さ３ｍ以上はあるかと思われる水底がすぐそこにあるかのように鮮明に見えます。ゆうゆうと泳ぐ鯉の大きさにも圧倒されます。湧水に手を触れられる場所もありました。思ったより温かいです。水温は12，3度ということで、夏にはきっと冷たく感じるのでしょう。
The moment I looked down into the pond called Wakuike, I was so amazed by its transparency. I could see the bottom of the pond clearly as if it were quite shallow, but it may have been over three meters deep. I was also surprised by the size of the carp swimming leisurely. There was a spot where you can feel the spring water. It was warmer than I expected. The water temperature seemed to be about twelve or thirteen degrees Celsius, so it would feel quite cool in summer.
一通り池を巡った後、草餅を買いました。お店の人に勧められてトッピングした辛みそのようなものがやたらと美味しくて、夢中で頬張りました。見上げると富士山です。足を延ばして付近を散策し、昔から変わらないであろう風景を楽しみました。葉を落とした樹々と枯野に、九州とは違う冬を感じました。
忍野八海を出発して次に向かった先は、河口湖です。続きは次回で。
We bought rice cakes called kusamochi after we went around almost all the ponds. A salesgirl recommended us toppings on them which looked like a kind of spicy miso, and we found it really delicious so we relished them. I had a good view of Mt. Fuji when I looked up. We walked a little further around the area enjoying the scenery which must have been unchanged through out time. The wintry scene, where the leaves had all fallen from the trees and the fields were perfectly desolate, is totally different from that of Kyushu.
We left there and set out for the next destination, which is a lake called Kawaguchiko. To be continued.
turkeyrice.hateblo.jp
