Sento Palace for the second time

After my amazing experience with Sento Palace last year, I decided I must go again this autumn. Plan was to make it a fun trip with my other friends as well but the rule was no more than 4 people (friends) in one tour group, so there goes that plan. Turned out that only four of us went at the end, on the same day but at different times, so we could have gone as a group!



When I went last year, it was raining the night before and so it was misty, wet and cold. But the atmosphere suited the gardens very well indeed and gave it that "autumn" feel, with all the wet leaves on the ground and the mist surrounding the brilliant red trees. This time, we were again blessed with good weather of the sunny kind and so I saw Sento gardens in a different light.



As mentioned in the earlier post, I loved the tour guard! He was pleasant, kind and extremely nice to all of us, even to the extent of moving away whenever anyone of us tried to take pictures of the scenery (he was always the last person, so if we tried to take pictures of the scenery behind us, he will inevitably be in it, so he moved away).



We went rather early so most of the maple leaves were still on the trees while the striking yellow leaves of the gingko trees carpeted the mossy grounds. It was beautiful.



The same tree I loved most last year (above) was still as red as ever. It amazes me how red the leaves turned out to be. The colour is just so brilliant, with or without sunlight.



Enjoy the pictures below:

Shugakuin Imperial Villa in Autumn....again

Yes, I admit, I am a bit boring. I go back to the same places each time for autumn. Well, at least I know what to expect and I know I won't be disappointed. Besides, most importantly, Shugakuin Imperial Villa is free to visit. I just had to get my lazy butt onto the bike and cycle to the Imperial Palace office to make an appointment.



I have to say that I have yet to be disappointed with this place. I had been here three times in autumn and all three times were beautiful. Went rather early this time, for the 9.00a.m. tour (yes, I know, I actually woke up early!), hoping to catch the nice morning light for photography. But apparently the sun decided to be super cheerful that day and blasted intense sunshine the whole time.



Hmmm....I don't like the guard that took care of the rear end of the tour group. He was rather rude (well, I was rather slow but still! The Sento Palace guard was super nice and he was doing the exact same job as him!). Since the date we booked was rather early, most of the maple leaves are still on the trees and some were just in the process of turning. I think I had seen Shugakuin Villa in all three stages of autumn now. It pays to visit there every year!



Anyways, I tried to take different pictures - different angles, different subjects, etc. With my new lenses, I had managed to take some "different" pictures, mostly wide angles.



I have more pictures in my Flickr album, so please feel free to take a look.


Next up: Sento Palace in Autumn.