びわこゆり園へのバス旅行 ３：ゆり園風景 (Bus Trip to Biwako-yurien: 3. The Scenery of Lily Garden)

　昼食のあと、バスは高島市の「びわこ箱館山ゆり園」へ向った。山麓の駐車場へ着いたのは、午後2時半過ぎだっただろうか。添乗員が、ゆり園観覧後のバスへの集合時間を、われわれが忘れないように、何度も繰り返して言った。「4時10分、4時10分、4時10分、……」と。

　1323メートルの距離を運行しているゴンドラで、標高627メートルの山頂駅まで登ると、地上よりいくらか涼しい。そこから、広いユリの花園の間をゆっくり散策する。ここも午前中は雨が降ったということだったが、到着時には、幸い好天気だった。写真は上から順に、花園の前方に琵琶湖の見える風景、地元高島市特産の扇骨をイメージした花園、白い花だけを植えた花園。（色とりどりの花を大きく撮った写真は明日と明後日に掲載の予定。）

After lunch, our bus went toward "Biwako Hakodateyama Yurien (Lily Garden on Mt. Hakodate by the Lake Biwa)," in the city of Takashima. We arrived at the parking lot at the foot of the mountain a little past 2:30 pm. The trip leader repeatedly told us the time for us to come back to the bus after viewing the Garden, "4:10, 4:10, 4:10, . . ." in order that we did not forget the time.

We took the gondola that ran a distance of 1323 meters to go up to the summit station at 627 meters above sea level, where it was slightly cooler than the ground. From there, we walked slowly between the large flowerbeds of lilies. We heard that it rained there in the morning, but upon our arrival, it was fortunately sunny. The top photo shows the landscape of the Garden with the Lake Biwa beyond; the middle photo, flowerbeds representing the specialty of Takashima, i.e., the ribs of a fan; the bottom photo, the flowerbed of white lilies. (Close-up pictures of lilies of different colors will be posted on the coming days.)