It was still raining when I woke up. The forecast said it would clear up in the afternoon so I decided to wait it out. My cousin offered to take me to Matsuyama Castle so once the rain stopped we went. The castle is pretty impressive. It is situated on top of a large hill overlooking the city. The parts that were damaged over the years have been completely reconstructed to its original form. You can walk up the steep hill, take the ropeway, or a lift chair to the top. My cousin’s husband and I took the lift chair while my cousin and her daughter took the ropeway. It was a nice ride with cherry blossoms all over the hill. The cherry blossoms here were in full bloom as well and many people were around to take in the scenery.
Inside the castle, they have various exhibits and historical stuff on display. As beautiful as the castles are, they were built for one thing mainly...defense. It is pretty interesting stuff to read about how the castles were built with defensive purposes. They had some samurai armour I wanted to try on in one room but some guy was hogging it so I moved one. You can climb all the way to the top via narrow steep stairs. The inside isn't all modernized like Osaka Castle so you get a real feel for the castle.
Afterwards, we went to an okonomiyaki shop and grubbed…so delicious. Once the weather cleared up, I once again said farewell to the family and continued onto my next stop Imabari. This is the start of the Shimanamikaido Cycling Road that connects Shikoku to Honshu island. I think most people start from the opposite side, but it doesn’t really matter. The ride to Imabari was fairly quick, I rode with a good pace and arrived just as it was getting dark. The business hotel I found was a bit pricier than the other one’s I’ve stayed at but they let me keep the bicycle inside and it’s close to the start of the course so I decided to stay. I ran out of clean cloth so I had to do the laundry at the hotel. Once again, I’m starting to worry about my budgeting. For dinner I walked around the hotel but didn’t find anything I liked so once again I hit the conbini and bought a bento to eat inside the hotel. Out of boredom I also boiled the kuri nuts I picked up a few days ago in Yamaguchi area. Only one of the kuri nuts was good to eat...it was delicious!