The Hydrangeas

While most cafes with a view are found on the coast, this time Matt and I headed into the mountains to find lunch with a view. I found a cafe in my book with a name I could not read but a beautiful view and some easily recognizable roads. We sat at one of two tables outside with a menu all in Japanese without pictures resting on the table. The sweet lady who was the owner and chef pointed to two of the three options and motioned that they were not available, so we both ordered the only lunch option left without knowing what it would be. When it arrived it matched the picture in the book just like I hoped - some sort of crepe! I love crepes and have found many crepe cafes on Okinawa, but not like this one. This crepe was filled with a salty seaweed with a side of tofu salad. I ate as much as I could in order to not appear rude, drank my tea, and admired the truly stunning mountain view.

I made a goal to visit all 100 cafes in my book, but I might amend my goal to simply visit most. I am fairly adventurous with my food, but Okinawan flavors are not my favorite. It was difficult trying to eat a dish that I did NOT like, so I might skip a few places that look overly traditional. We stopped elsewhere to grab a desert to fill us up before we headed to our next stop: the Yohena Aijsai Garden.

Aijsai is japanese for hydrangea, and the private garden is owned and tended by Mrs. Uto Yohena, an Okinawan citizen who is 98 years old! She opens the garden to the public for a small fee (around three dollars) while the flowers are in bloom. Since the garden is in the mountains the flowers cover an entire hillside with rough steps leading up and around the garden. Most of the blooms are a shade of blue, but there are white and pink in little groups as well. They were in full bloom when we went, with the clusters of flowers as large as my head! We spent less than an hour walking though the hydrangeas, but we were very impressed with the garden and took as many pictures as the locals around us.