日本行 - 松島&華乃湯

松島 Matsushima -

吃完旅館豐富的早餐，我們老老小小一行人便直奔火車站趕車，往下一站出發。雖然有火車可以從仙台直達松島，但我們卻選擇搭到本塩釜站，再坐船到松島。相信我，多走這一步是值得的！！

 

After our big breakfast, the whole gang rushed to the train station heading to our next destination. Although there is a train that goes straight from Sendai to Matsushima, we chose to get off at Hon-Shiogama and take a boat for the rest of the way. Trust me, there is a reason for that!!

  

這是我第一次跟小小孩長途旅行，是說帶小孩上路真的要把路程時間乘三倍，因為他們真得很容易分心，得連哄帶騙的才會往對的方向走，要一直想點子哄他們還真是蠻辛苦的....。

This is my first time traveling with little kids, and I learned that you really need to triple the traveling time because they are so easily distracted by other things while walking. We had to come up with all kinds of ideas to keep them on track, and THAT was hard work!!!!

 

 

 

我們就是搭這個丸文松島汽船公司的芭蕉丸到松島的。到松島的景觀船不算少，但這艘芭蕉丸到底有甚麼特別之處呢？那就是可以在船上欣賞松島美景之餘還一邊享受蚵仔大餐！！但要享受這頓大餐是有季節限制的，只有12月到3月底之間才有喔~~ 是說我和山姆大叔看到這一桌的陣仗一整個傻眼，不久前吃的早餐都還沒消化完，是要怎麼把這些全都吃下去？！一整個也太豐富了吧！！難怪大哥一直叮嚀我們早餐不要吃太多....。但新鮮的蚵仔真是好吃哪！！不論是生的、炸的、還是煮的，味道都超鮮美~~他們用料也超級實在的，你看那一鍋火鍋裡蚵仔有夠多吧 ！！

 

Marubun Matsushima Kisen Co. was the boat company that we chose to take. So what was so special about this one? Well, this is a Oyster Pot cruise!!!! You can eat freshly prepared oyster delicacy while sailing through beautiful Matsushima Bay~~ Both Sam and I were so shocked when we see this table full of food. Our breakfast not even digested yet, how could we possibly finish all this food?! No wonder Ken warned us not to eat too much at breakfast…. But fresh oysters were totally worth the risk of bloated, they are extremely delicious!!!!!! This company does not cut back on their ingredient, either!! Just look at how much oysters they put in that hot pot!!!

  

 

菜色再豐盛也不要忘記抬頭看看窗外的景色。松島其實是松島灣沿岸以及松島灣上260個大小島嶼組成的島嶼群總稱。行船在其中看著這些盤根錯節的老松和崢嶸的島嶼別有一番詩意，難怪會是日本三景之一。我拍的照片很難抓到那種行徑島嶼間的感覺，還是得親自體驗才能明瞭。海灣中還時時可見一堆竹竿密佈，那就是蚵仔和海帶的養殖區。我們的午餐就是直接從這些養殖區來的~~有夠鮮吧！！

 

We did not forget about the scenery outside the window while gobbling down the food. Matsushima is actually formed by more then 260 islands in Matsushima Bay. All these little islands are covered with twisted pines and odd shape rocks, creating a very interesting scenery. No wonder Matsushima is well known as one of the Three Views of Japan. My photos did not do this place justice, you really have to experience it to know its beauty. While sailing through the bay, we could see areas that had tons of sticks sticking out of the water. Those were oyster and kelp farms. Our lunch came directly from these farms~~ It couldn't be fresher then that!!

  

 

上岸之後的第一件事是做甚麼呢？陪小朋友餵鴨子....。他們這樣就可以玩的很開心，其實也是蠻容易娛樂的...。

 

First thing we did after landing – feed the ducks!! Sometimes kids are quite easy to entertain….

  

 

松島真的是個很有特色的地方，沿著奧之細道走有相當多的古蹟風光，可以逛一整天都沒問題。我們因為時間不多只沿著海岸走了一小段，途中經過這座原建於西元807年，但於1604年被伊達政宗所改建的五大堂，整棟木造建築因風吹日曬而泛白，更增添了它的古意。五大堂外樑的浮雕刻的是十二生肖，整棟建築雖然一點漆也沒上卻更突顯出它雕工的精細，嚴然就是一座藝術品呢！！

 

Japanese Poet Matsuo Basho highly praised Matsushima in his famous work "The Narrow Road to the Deep North", which now became a popular tourist route for visitors. This route is filled with beautiful landscape and ancient monuments. People can easily spend a whole day or two here in Matsushima. Due to our limited timeframe, we only walked along the shore while we were there.  We passed this small temple – Godaido, which was originally constructed in 807, but was rebuilt by Date Masamune in 1604. This wood structure was beautifully constructed and its exterior was decorated by small carvings of the twelve animals of the lunar calendar. I felt like the whole building is a master piece itself!!!

    

 

再往前走一點就是福浦島，需要買票才能過橋上島。這福浦橋的票一整個走漫畫風，也許是因為看到這票根加上周遭的風景，竟讓我想起田村由美的漫畫BASARA。這套漫畫的畫風很亂不習慣的人會看得很辛苦，但它吸引我的地方是女主角在日本各地流浪時遇到的人。其實我對日本很多的地名都是從這套漫畫中認識的呢！！感覺上松島正是其中一段故事場景會發生的地方啊~~ 言歸正傳，從福浦橋上可以望見松島港口的景色，以及海灣中大大小小的島嶼。島上當然不乏當地著名的黑松及紅松，配上四周的美景詩意極了~~ 這些文化遺產受創，真得很讓人心疼。

 

A bit further down the road was Fukuura Island, a ticket is required to cross the bridge. The comic image on the ticket reminded me of a Japanese comic I read a long time ago called BASARA, which was about a girl traveling all over Japan looking for allies fighting against the Red King. I actually learned most of Japan’s cities from this comic, and Matsushima felt just the place that this kind of stories would take place!!  Now back to Fukuura Island, it was covered with Black Pine and Red Pine like most of the islands there, and there were paths crisscrossing through out the island. Some spots offered beautiful views of the bay, but I felt like the bridge itself had the most character. It’s heartbreaking for me to think that these cultural heritage are damaged or wiped out now…..

     

回程沒有蚵仔可吃了所以我們便乖乖的從松島海岸站坐火車回仙台。
No more oysters to eat on the way back so we took the train from Matsushima-Kaigan station this time around.
 

這一晚住的可是位於仙台市外郊秋保溫泉區的高級溫泉旅館 - 華乃湯！！這真是一間超大的溫泉旅館，光是建築物就有四棟，在 check in 後櫃台小姐還會帶我們走一圈介紹所有的設施，到最後若沒有她帶我們回來我想我會迷路吧....。飯店裡的溫泉不只有室內以及露天風呂，沒記錯的話大大小小一共有四種不同的湯可泡，夏天在園區裡還有足湯和那種有溜滑梯的戶外風呂。我們只待一個晚上要是四種溫泉都要泡到的話可能會洗掉一層皮吧... 沒全部體驗到實在太可惜了！！！我想我是在這裡愛上露天風呂的，在冰冷的夜晚中一個人泡在熱呼呼的溫泉裡面對溪水樹林看星星，有甚麼好不愛的呢？！我們因為匆匆忙忙趕車趕路沒能好好照一張全景，各位就霧裡看花湊合著吧！！

 

That night we stayed at the very luxury Hotel Hananoyu located outside of Sendai. This is one big hot spring hotel, it has four buildings, and if the front desk lady didn’t lead us back after showing us around the property, I would never be able to find my way back. This hotel not only has indoor and outdoor hot spring pools, there are a total of four hot spring areas. There’s also a foot bath and a outdoor waterslide area which operates during summer. We only stayed for one night and couldn’t experience all the different hot springs, but the ones I did go, I totally love it!! What’s not to love sitting in the hot spring under the star in a cold night looking out to the forest? I didn’t get a chance to take a good photo of this place so the following two will have to do…. Please visit their website for beautiful photos of this place.

 

 

我們住的房間也真是大的驚人了，一打開門我只看見前面三塊榻榻米這麼大的空間以為這就是全部了，錯！！那只是玄關而已！！向右一看讓我不禁驚呼連連，這簡直就是個小公寓吧！！這麼大的房間只有我們兩個睡感覺實在很奢侈耶！！不要以為風呂設施這麼好的地方房間的廁所就比較簡陋，這房間的廁所比我現在家裡的還大，也可以直接在房裡泡湯，只是真的會留在房間裡泡湯的人應該很少吧...。第一次穿浴衣，剛開始還搞半天不知怎麼穿，感覺很新鮮~~

 

The rooms we got at Hotel Hananoyu were also very impressive. When I first walked in the door, I thought the area in front of me was the whole room, then I realized it was only the entrance!! The whole room was like a small apartment, even the bathroom was bigger then the one in our apartment!!! This was also my first time trying on a yukata, it took me a while to figure out how to wear it correctly. That was a very interesting experience~~~

  

 

晚餐當然就是吃懷石料理囉~~ 這是我第一次正式體驗懷石料理說，內容之豐富完全超出我想像，本以為只是眼前這些菜吃完就了事了，沒想到我好不容易吃完一道就又上一道，害我又是飽到不行。是說懷石料理不只是用嘴巴在嚐，眼前所看到的也挺賞心悅目的。每一小碟菜所用的盤碗、排列的方法都極講究，又再次體驗到日本人對於細節的重視。小朋友也有自己的餐點，那飯糰看起來也挺可口的~~

 

Of course we had to have Kaiseki-ryori as dinner!!! Because I’ve never had a full Kaiseki-ryori experience, it was totally beyond my imagination. At first I thought the what they had put in front of us was the whole meal, boy I was so wrong. Just as I finished a dish, it would be replaced by another and another!!! Kaiseki-ryori not only was delicious, every dish was also beautiful to look at. Once again we could see Japanese’s attention to details in these dishes!!! Kids have their own meal, too~~ That onigiri sure looks delicious!!!!

 

前一天吃的都還沒消化完就又要吃早餐了~~ 那早餐又是超豐富的buffet，這次學乖了，雖然東西看起來都好吃，自己很節制的只拿了一些些。吃吃喝喝之旅還沒結束，看到這裡有沒有覺得自己已經胖了三磅了？！

I haven’t even finish digesting the food from the previous day and its breakfast time again!! That breakfast was another amazing buffet but this time I learned my lesson and only picked a few things. The trip was not over yet but I already felt like I’ve gained three pounds!!!!!

 

~未完待續~
~To be continued~