A Trip to the Suburbs for Early-Summer Flower Viewing

With “flower viewing” in the title, you may be wondering just where in the suburbs one could go to see flowers.

That’s probably what you’re thinking.

Of course, the flowers are not cherry blossoms—it’s the hydrangeas that are in full bloom at this time of year!

Hydrangeas bloom in abundance outside ordinary homes, so there is really no need to go out of one’s way to see them, but this time I simply felt like taking a train, so off I went.

I took the familiar Seibu Line local train and enjoyed a leisurely 30-minute ride.

After getting off at the station, I walked a little through the suburbs and enjoyed the colorful hydrangeas.

Hydrangeas come in so many varieties and colors, don’t they?

Pink, blue, purple, and white.

Big, full clusters and delicate lacecap hydrangeas.

Whenever I see white ones, they make me crave that Mont Blanc Chantilly, but this year I resisted for the sake of my health.

But at a shop I stopped by on the way home, I just couldn’t hold back my desires and treated myself to a little luxury.

It was still breakfast time, so I chose my favorite, eggs Benedict, from the breakfast menu.

And for dessert, a fluffy pancake made with plenty of meringue, too!

There’s no denying I went over my calorie limit, but I suppose it’s all right since I didn’t triple the whipped-cream topping…

On the way home, I did “Baba walking” (a term used by Waseda University students for walking from Takadanobaba Station to Waseda University; Yahata Sushi is at almost the same distance from the station as the university, so I often do it), and I easily reached 10,000 steps just in the morning, so that’s good enough, right? (Sweat!)

What a refreshing day it was.

*The photo of the shop’s menu was so adorable that I couldn’t help taking a picture of it. 😄