Shuri Castle

Today we went to Shuri Castle Park. We got somewhat lost on the way but that's pretty normal around here. Even the Japanese people get lost, so you can't follow them around either, which is what we did.
The castle has been around for hundreds of years and is now a tourist attraction. It was a huge fortress. It reminded me a little bit of being back in Scotland and seeing the castle in Edinburgh.



It is more of a museum than anything, but has wonderful views of each side of the island. It's somewhat strange to look out and see the South China Sea on the west side and the Pacific Ocean to the east.



We had to take off our shoes to go into the castle which is Japanese tradition, but it's something we Americans don't always remember to do. Many of the guides spoke very little English and it was a challenge to understand what they were saying. By now, I'm pretty good at guessing, but Dad was clueless most of the time. It was somewhat amusing. Luckily, the Japanese are very friendly. We did have a lady come out and talk to us to show us around. I think she saw the lost look on our faces and came to our rescue. She made the kids these little boats out of paper. I've had a couple of Japanese people make us origami figures. They're so cool.



We got to see the throne room and many other interesting artifacts. It totally looked like the movie 'The Last Samurai' with Tom Cruise. It was neat. We had a great time.