Yangmingshan

On our first Sunday together in Taipei we visited Yangmingshan National Park. We heard the cherry blossoms and lilies were blooming this time of year and being a sucker for flowers and anything green I was not about to miss out.

Plus I was really anxious to get outside the city and see the countryside.

I'll be honest we were completely confused at the park and could make almost no sense of the signs and bus system. We sorta got the hang of it eventually. For the most part we wandered around and enjoyed the day, focusing on the cherry blossoms as our big "to do".

I love this tree house.

We did find the cherry blossom gardens. I suspect we probably got there a week or two early considering you're viewing photo of bare branches. There were some blooming of course, but when we came upon the garden in this photo Nils and I both had to laugh a little remembering our urgency that morning.

I love all the food vendors in Taipei. It is unlike any place I've every been. In cities like Chicago and New York you see food vendors, but it's nothing like Taipei. Yangmingshan was our first time trying one of these Taiwanese sausages. I think Nils has had one every weekend since. You're supposed to bite in the sausage and then chase it with a piece of raw garlic. Not sure I'm ready to start chasing my food with raw garlic just yet, though.

Scallion pancake is one of my favorite street foods. And in case you're wondering; yes, it is delicious.

After we had fulfilled our appetite for cherry blossoms (or bare branches) we headed to Zhuzihu, a small mountain town within Yangmingshun. This was definitely the highlight of the trip for me. I have never been a huge lily fan (okay maybe for like one prom season), but seeing them in the field like this shifted my opinion.

Lily fields everywhere and cherry blossoms on the hillside. Lovely.

There were people out in the field picking their own flowers and it reminded me of the time my grandmother took me to pick strawberries.

I'm a total sucker for nurseries and green houses and they were everywhere in Zhuzihu. There are no words for how much I enjoy looking at plants, especially ones I don't get to see very often. (fun Emmy fact #1)

We stumbled across the neatest little restaurant off the main road. We hesitated at first, unsure if it was even a restaurant, but then I heard the clinking of silverware. I can hear silverware clinking from a mile away. (fun Emmy fact #2)

The woman apologized and explained that this was the only table they had available. It looked perfect to me. I don't think I want to meet the person who isn't happy with this table. Loser!

Lunch was delicious. It was my first time trying to break apart a whole fish with chopsticks. A near impossible feat if you ask me, although I have improved a little since. The waitress told me I held chopsticks perfectly. Oh yea!

There were a lot of things we didn't have time for at Yangmingshun, like seeing a live Volcano and hiking all the trails, but I'm not complaining. Our lunch spot alone made it worth my tired feet.