Sendai in pictures

When one of my co-workers asked me a few weeks ago if I'd like to go on the office trip to Sendai, I said, "Sure! Sign me up!"

I'd heard that Sendai is a beautiful city to visit during the Christmas season because of all the lights. I wasn't disappointed because it was most definitely gorgeous...

Christmas lights + snow = magical.

Yuka, my "date" for the romantic stroll in the big city.

Futamata-san, the planner/leader of the Sendai trip.

Standing under the trees, looking up.

These days Santa drives a red pickup truck instead of a sleigh. Who knew?

Big Christmas tree in the middle of the outlet mall.

In addition to admiring lights and doing some window shopping, we did some sightseeing on Saturday and Sunday.

Our first stop was the Matsushima islands, a half an hour outside of Sendai. We went to a museum about a famous samurai from Sendai -- Masamune...

...who bared an uncanny resemblance to Nate. ;)

While in Matsushima, we crossed a very long bridge to Fukuura Island...

Yuka and Sachi, friends from the Board of Education office.

I couldn't help but sing, "Walking through a winter wonderland..."

We visited temples and shrines...

You draw a fortune, and if your fortune is bad, you tie it to the fence. If it's good, you get to keep it.

Incense.

This cute little boy couldn't take his eyes off of the dancing dragon. :)

We went to a nice overlook of the city, where there was a statue of Masamune, the samurai.

Sendai is the biggest city in northern Japan, and is about a five-hour drive from Kuji -- about halfway to Tokyo.

The last thing we did before heading back to Kuji was eat lunch -- a Sendai special...

...cow tongue. Tasty, but a little chewy.

It was a nice little weekend trip, and I'm glad I went. Tomorrow night, I'm leaving for a tropical weather trip, and I'm excited!

See you in a few weeks...

Have a Merry Christmas!!