Google maps lied to me

It was still early morning when they started getting restless. We decided to go to the park.

My new apartment has a huge park and trail area right next to it. We have gone there many times and I’m really for something new. We set out to find a new park. Our adventure begins.

The nearby main road runs north and south. South is Shinjuku. I have been that way a few times already. I started riding north, towards Ikebukuro as I haven’t been that way much.

We road on for about 3 kilometers. The girls got excited by cranes, children playing baseball, and streetcars (one car trains?). The street sign started saying 南〇〇池袋, and my daughters were getting near their limit, so I made the executive decision that it was far enough.

We stopped at a convenience store and bought some onigiri and bento for lunch. I pulled up Google maps and started riding for the closest ‘green area’ on the map.

We arrived but there was a big wall around the ‘park’ so I moved on to the next ‘green area’.

This one was a park but there was some kind of festival and many MANY people there. Next ‘green area’.

This one was also surrounded by a wall! But I could see over a little and I saw a cemetery. I realized my mistake. Not all ‘green areas’ on Google maps are parks. They might be cemeteries too!

I didn’t see anymore nearby parks on the map so I started back in the direction of home. I was sure I could find something on the way back.

I rode. I looked. I didn’t find anything.

In the end, I rode 30 minutes to Ikebukuro to buy lunch at a convenience store, just to eat it at the park just next to my apartment.

But it wasn’t a waste of time at all. It was a nice bike ride exploration of our new home. Plus I learn an important lesson about the ‘green areas’ on Google maps.