Thrown For A Loople.

I've taken the ループルバス仙台 (Sendai Loople) bus a few times (as noted here & here for example) and though convenient, I always manage to avoid getting my money's worth. Twice we missed a bus by a few seconds and the last one we missed was the last one to catch. Apparently a catch to catching the bus is that after 3:30, every second bus goes directly to the station only, so you can't disembark along the way. this contradicts the "Hop on, hop off" policy as advertised. Ah well, so we walked a few kliks to the Mediatheque from the Art Museum. Good exercise.





Okay then, where did I go. I didn't make it to the Bansuisodo or the Zuihoden Mausoleum but almost every single passenger got off there. Definitely on a tour. We did get off at stop 5, Sendai City Museum. I had some interest in seeing the exhibit of Korean Art but Hisako was not. So we just snapped a few photos of the surrounding area, a weird statue and I picked up a couple of photo holders at the Gift Shop for Mother's Day presents.




















This sculpture is named
昨日・今日・明日 (kino/kyo/ashita = Yesterday/Today/Tomorrow) and it looks like 3 Postmen climbing a rock.
















A couple of monuments and a big tree. The lighter one is a war memorial including some ancient kanji that even my learned friend couldn't decipher. The darker one is a tribute to the horses fallen in battle...which just reeks of awesomeness. The tree is just a tree.















These are the card holders I picked up. The floral ones are going to ma, the wave I'm keeping for myself. We missed a bus so we popped across the road and lingered in the International Centre's library.












We next went to the Site of Sendai Castle (pictures of which can be seen at the link up top) for lunch. Take a look at these two pictures of our meal. Can you tell the difference? One is made of wax.






















Very yummy 牛タン (gyutan = cow + tongue, a Sendai speciality) and even better, it was on sale! Only ￥1600 for all this! Below are some pieces of decor.
















Following are several pics around the Castle-less Castle:

































Stop #7 was the Botanical Gardens, but I'll save that for tomorrow.