At Tomomi's place Day 3 ~ Ise & Toba Bay

This day we went to Ise by train (Kintestsu Line). It took us about one and half an hour from Sakurai. It's very near to Nagoya. Ise Shrine is very popular Shinto shrine because it is the sanctuary of the goddess Amaterasu (goddess of sun and soul). It is sorounded by a beautiful park. You have to wash yourself before entering the holy grounds. In front of the shrine everyone praise for good fortune^^

Unfortunately we only could see the shrine from afar and it isn't possible to enter. Just the emperor is allowed to enter the shrine. It wasn't even allowed to take a picture from afar. That was quite disappointing >.<

behind this gate starts the shrine

Tomomi and me in front of the park gate

Afterwards we went a little shopping on Okageyokoshou - an old street where you can buy souvenirs from Ise. Ise is very popular for Aka fuku mochi (mochi sorounded by anko) and for Matcha aka fuku gori. So we ate this specialities for lunch and it was really good *_*

okageyokoshou

Matcha aka fuku gori & aka fuku mochi with green tea

Tomomi bought some souvenirs for her family but I found nothing I wanted to spend money.

Finally she suggested to take the bus to Toba Bay because she likes the sea and wanted to take a boat trip there. I liked the idea so we visited Toba Bay. We had perfect timing because the bus arrived at once and when we got to Toba Bay Terminal the ferry was about to depart in five minutes^^

The boat drove to Iruka Island (dolphin Island). There we watched a dolphin and a seal show. It was amazing and I haven't seen such shows for years now.

the dolphins Hinata & Kairi

To get to the seal show we had to take a lift. It was bit scary because it was just a seat floating over the ground^^;

At the top of the Island we had also a good view over the sea and the sorounding Islands.

view over the sea

the bay where the next boat arrives

the lift

Finally started the seal show. The seal was also named Hinata and she was really cute and funny. She was always looking to the fish box and clapping for herself XD The show was pretty amazing and we had much fun.

Hinata and her keeper

Then we returned to the bay and took the next boat back to the coast. But the boat didn't take the direct raot but drove around the Island. It was a comfortable cruise and we had a nice view arround the area.

But afterwards we were glad to take the train back home. It was a long day but really fun^^

 

 

 

Ise Shrine
Okageyokoshou
Toba Bay
Iruka Island (Dolphin Island)