I should be continu Next stories, sure I am. If apples are your thing, you should probably go there right now. At the Hirosaki city Apple Park you can see about 1,000 trees, from 60 different varieties, before samepling apple curry in the cafe and taking your pick from a selection of over 700 apple-related souvenirs. I discovered surfing the Net that the heaviest apple in recorded history(1,848kg) was grown and picked by Chisato Iwasaki at his apple farm in Hirosaki on Oct. 24,2005. I also take in the park, the castle, and a district of old samurai houses where I glimpse beautifully topiarized gardens behind high wooden walls Realizing I'm actually wrestlingb with the temptation to busy a stuffed apple mascot, a sort of elf in a little green hat, I decide it's time to move on . The rairway doesn't run into the mountains, so I acquire a little siilver Mazda and it's tricky finding my way. Major locations are signposted in roman characters. Others, such as secluded inns hot pools, are not. This stories are conntinued tommrow---