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Now is the time when I can’t wait for the rainy season to be over.
By the way, I enjoyed a barbecue with friends the other day.

Usually, people enjoy barbecues in midsummer though, it also seems that the rainy season is good for barbecue because the weather is mostly cloudy, so it’s not too hot.

We had it on the left bank of Itagaki-bashi Bridge over Asuwa River in Fukui City.
There is no washing place, no toilet facility but there is a public toilet facility at the north end of the Itagaki-bashi Bridge.

We didn’t use the city’s equipment such as the tables or the hearths and did the barbecue under the Itagaki-bashi Bridge. Because it was the pathway of winds and comfortable,
we won’t be wet by a sudden rain and are able to avoid the sun if it’s sunny.

We shared food and desserts each one brought and could not stop talking with beer and wine. (H.S)

Making preparations on the table.

It’s beef on the grill’s front and mutton which are a friend’s souvenirs from Hokkaido
on the backside.

The Dutch oven’s heat is strong.

Sparerib and baked potatoes are ready!

Shallow water of Asuwa River

He had several drinks and dozes off.

They are busy talking with each other.

I visit Nara for a music festival for recent years as I wrote about in my previous blog,
and I go to one place each year between the events.
I have visited Kofukuji Temple, Todaiji Temple and Kasuga Taisha Shrine and, this year
I strolled “Naramachi” street, not a shrine or a temple.

“Naramachi” is located on the south side of Nara Park and 15 minutes walk from Kintetsu Nara Station. The area used to be in the precincts of Gangoji Temple Gokurakubo and the extra section of the ancient capital in Nara called Heijokyo.

There are temples that were founded in Nara period, tradesmen’s houses since the late Edo period and modern new shops in Naramachi, so you can enjoy both old and new in the quiet and the somehow familiar area where has a lot of narrow alleys.
Also, in June, cat-lover shopkeepers in Naramachi appeal their affections for cats and display their products which have the motif of cats.

So, if you are a cat lover, why don’t you come to Naramachi in June? (H.S)

The five-story pagoda of Kofukuji Temple can be seen from Sarusawa Pond.

Information board with its back to the bloomy oleanders.

The main shop of Yu Nakagawa (Nakagawa Masashichi Shoten),
which extends across the country such as at GINZA SIX and famous department stores.

There are deers on either side of the shop logo.

There are beautiful tradesmen’s houses with a lattice door like this.

I had “Black curry with black rice and locally grown vegetables” for lunch in Nara at a cafe where I perchance saw, it was pretty good and not that spicy. Black rice is a kind of ancient rice. The cafe grows black rice by themselves.