After four gorgeous days at Moon Beach in Okinawa, swimming in the ocean and lounging in the pool, we spent our last couple of days in the capital, Naha. A snorkelling excursion we’d booked a few weeks ago was cancelled due to high winds 😔 so we spent the morning walking around Naha instead.
We hit a few stores we’d heard about, found a beautiful vegan place for lunch, and then ventured over to Fukushuen Park, which was built to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the inauguration of the Naha City administration and the 10th year of the establishment of the sister city relationship between Naha and Fuzhou, China.
It’s a large garden nestled in among the residential and commercial buildings of Naha, and it’s so pretty. It’s filled with little structures with names like, “Pavilion of Spring”, and “Soaring Rainbow Bridge” and has lovely fish swimming in several ponds throughout the complex.
The highlight is a waterfall we could climb, with a pavilion at the tippy top where we spent a few minutes resting and cooling off in the breeze. We were even able to walk behind the waterfall, gazing out at the bridge arching in front of it and the fish swimming in the pool below.
Later, we walked through a residential green space on our way to dinner at an Indian restaurant close to our hotel. Along the way, we ran into several cats lounging in the heat and marvelled at how quiet and serene the little park is in the middle of this bustling city. It was one of the first times we walked slowly, leisurely, with no agenda other than to enjoy the moment.
After dinner we had the opportunity to retrace our steps through the park, this time under a starry night sky, and it was even more lovely, the lights from the lampposts a little misty in all the humidity, the cats even more adorable, and the air even sweeter. One of our best evenings yet.
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