A Parade

Last Saturday, we braved the slightly cold weather and the enormous crowds of tourists to take Ela to the National Cherry Blossom Parade. We took the metro down to the center of town, because my walking range has been reduced of late, and managed to find ourselves a pretty good spot near the beginning of the route. When the parade started, we were in the front row. There were lots of the usual parade participants: bands, dance groups, and what not, but there were also a few groups that made the whole thing feel more Japanese. Ela liked the baloons a lot.

Personally, I really liked the Taiko Drummers, who were from Japan.

Of course there was a queen of the parade.

And there was an American drumming group as well.

Ela's very favorite was the horsies that occasionally came through. She lit up whenever they passed by.

By about halfway through the parade, the front row had become the back, as the police caved to the inevitable and let people sit in front of the ropes. Ela was soon not going to be able to see anything, my feet were hurting from standing, and Zack was hungry, so we decided that on hour of parade was enough for us. We got back on the metro to go get a nice lunch out, beating the crowds out of the center of town. I had kind of forgotten how much busier everything is in the spring and summer when the tourists start coming back to town. It's a little exhausting being around so many people who are just passing through. I'm glad we live here full time and can enjoy some of the attractions when no one else is there. Despite the crowds, though, the parade was a lot of fun, and it's always good to get out of the house and see something new.