Jinhae Cherry Blossom Festival

It was cherry blossom season recently, so celebration I visited the Jinhae Cherry Blossom Festival. I decided to venture out by myself a Friday before going into work.  It was the first time I had rode a bus to another city by myself, which I thought was way fun!

At Sasang Bus terminal, sitting on the bus alone was one of my favorite parts of the morning.

It was a hour bus ride before arriving in Jinhae and just stepping out of the bus, the streets were quite picturesque. I had no idea where the festival was located so I followed stream of people walking towards a certain direction. Soon enough we were on a street lined with cherry blossoms.  Since it was close to the end of the blooming season and the wind was picking up, petals were swirling through the air as we made our way to the festival grounds. Really magical.

Streets of Jinhae

Petals falling all around me while listening to Alt-J. #nothingbetter

The festival was actually taking place throughout the entire city. There were many different sites to see and performances to watch, including a train station, a navel base, and an outlook point.  Like other fairs I've been to, there were tons of food and craft vendors.

pikachu

I remember what it was like as a kid with cotton candy... and so I bought some.

I was particularly taken by the ceramics.

This massive stick of fried potato!!!

A highlight of the festival was the Yeojwacheon Stream (여좌천), where many go to admire the scenery.  I strolled along side the stream, food vendors, and people taking pictures everywhere. There were big light ornaments in the trees that were probably gorgeous during the evenings.

just me.

Cherry blossoms are now my favorite flower ! How simple and ephemeral they are!

Are they flowers?  But they grow on trees...???

The flowers came left as quickly as they came. 

In fact, my entire street where I live was lined with them. For a while, my favorite time of my day was walking home tired from work and enjoying the cherry blossom trees. There was a particular place where the street lamps lit up the flowers so perfectly against the dark backdrop of the night sky. And for one moment in my day, time would stand still.

And then, without even saying goodbye, it was gone.

Directions to Jinhae

Fron Sasang Station, take Exit 3 to the Bus Terminal.  From the Bus terminal take the next bus to Jinahe (about 1 hour).