Sara-"Spring vacation" in Tochigi and Saitama

From March 27-30th Patrick and I went to Tochigi and Saitama prefecture to see two friends. First we went to Tochigi to visit our friend Jura who is studying at a university there. Then Jura joined us to visit our friend Risa in Saitama. There, we walked up a mountain, but only a little way up because I had injured my foot earlier. Then we walked around the Tokyo area. We had dinner in Shibuya, and looked at the cherry blossoms. The following day we said goodbye to Jura and then Risa, Patrick and I went to the World’s only Parasite Museum. It was interestingly disgusting. We had a really great time and the Shinkansen one way was 13,000 yen from Tokyo station to Morioka.
Here are a few pictures from our trip. The fist is Patrick (green jacket) and Jura (red jacket) going up to see a Shrine while in Utsunimiya city (Tochigi). The next is an Izakaya (bar/restaurant) that we went to. We went to the one on the right that has たこ which is Octopus in Japanese. The next pictures are of cherry blossoms and a view from the mountain that we walked up while around the Tokyo area.