Mito's Kairakuen during Autumn

Last weekend Angela and I wanted to go see 紅葉(kouyou = autumn colours/maple) at some mountains that were an hour away from our place but then the weather app said that it would rain soon so we decided to go to Mito's Kairakuen(偕楽園) instead. 

I don't think I've ever been here during Autumn. I usually come during Spring to see the Sakuras and I've been here a few times during the Summer. Anyways, we weren't expecting much since to us the Kairakuen is more of a Sakura place and not so much a  kouyou place.

We were delightfully shocked to be greeted at the front gate of the gardens with a row of tall, golden trees. They looked magnificent. The leaves matched my yellow peplum-looking-but-actually-Revel-cut top, which I'd been eager to wear but just haven't found the right time to do so. So stocked!

The above scenery looked so much more awesome because the night before it had been raining so the leaves had fallen and made a gorgeous golden carpet on the ground. Just look at all those beautiful shades of yellow and orange!

My OOTD :)

I took the above picture because it looked like that photo of that place in the ocean where the two different coloured waters meet but don't mix with each other. A beautiful gradient of yellow to orange to burnished browns.

The red leaves on this tree were so eye catching I had to have a photo of it.

There's Angela at one of the look out points in the gardens. From here you can see a good portion of the other side of the gardens, which are huge, and the huge lake in Mito too. Just above Angela's head you can the roof of one of the historical buildings in the garden. I think the entrance fee for that is ￥200.

This looks so Japanese, don't you think? I love it. This part of the garden is near the East Gate, I think. From here you find your way to a bridge that connects this part of the garden with the one across the street from it.  In that garden there's a もみじ谷(maple valley) which is a winding path that has Maple trees hugging it from both sides. At night they light up the place for a more romantic feel.

Entrance to the Kairakuen is free. From Mito station take a bus towards the Kairakuen(bus stop 4). You can buy a day pass for ￥400 which lets you ride the bus for as many times as you like (within certain areas) and they give discounts for the entrance fees of a few places like the Art Museum and such.