我们在四月底买了车，正好赶上五月黄金周可以自驾游。第一次出行不想走太远，就在我们住的茨城县内转了转，游玩了两个景点，一个叫国营常陆海滨公园，另一个叫偕乐园。来回才150公里左右。  在海滨公园里印象最深的是漫山的蓝紫花，远看真的如波涛起伏的海面一样。

We bought a car at the end of April, just in time for driving around in the Golden Week. We did not plan to go very far for this trip. Instead, we only visited two attractions  in Ibaraki Prefecture. One is called Hitachi Seaside Park, and the other is called Kairakuen. It was only 150 kilometers for the round trip.  The most impressive thing in the seaside park was those small purple and blueish flowers over the mountains. They really looked like sea waves from a distance. 

近看这些小花还是很漂亮的。Looking closely, each of those small flowers were actually very beautiful.

五一黄金周，绝大多数人会休息十天左右，而且日本已经完全放开了对疫情的控制（除了每个人还戴口罩），所以出来玩的人特别多。

It’s May Holiday Golden week. Many people in Japan can take up to 10 days off. Except wearing masks, there is no more restrictions for COVID containment. A lot of people showed up in this place. 

很多游人都是拖家带口扶老携幼一起出行. Many of them travelled with family. 

除了花海，公园里还有大片的草原，可以支帐篷野营。Besides those flowers, there is also a massive grassland. 

还有大片的油菜花和各种颜色的郁金香。 … and many different colors of flowers. 

下午去了偕乐园，号称日本三大名园之一。 We visited Kairakuen in the afternoon. It is one of the three famous gardens in Japan along with Kenrokuen in Kanazawa and Korakuen in Okayama. In July 1842, the 9th feudal lord of the Mito domain, Tokugawa Nariaki, opened the park as a resting place for the people of the territory.

上图是一只雄鹰飞过的瞬间，阳光刚好穿透乌云。That was the moment an eagle flied by while the sunshine just penetrated the dark clouds.

偕乐园中的亭阁可以步入参观，里面的格局没有什么特别之处，主要是从屋内或檐下望出去的风景很怡人。

We were allowed to tour the ancient building’s inside. What impressed us the most was the fantastic view looking out from it. 

偕乐园包括一个大湖，有点儿颐和园昆明湖的样子。There was also a big lake, which reminded us of Beijing Summer Palace’s Kunming Lake.