Sunday March 18th

10am
We don't have Internet in Hiroshima so the crack berry addict in me is feeling a little deprived. Marty is probably worse off than me though, haha! 

Yesterday we caught a early train from Kyoto to Hiroshima. Had to transfer in Okayama, but made it here in good time. We are staying at this funny european-inspired hotel called thr Hiroshima Grand Intelligence Hotel, the lobby is oozing with grandeur - suits of armor guarding the front doors, marble columns, (fake) fireplaces, (fake) European tapestries, lush carpets, old gilded furniture... Beethoven and Mozart playing over the speaker system. They even use old-fashioned keys instead of keycards! It is kind of funny, but it is clean, the beds are comfy and it is very close to the train station!

First stop when we arrived was Miyajima. It is quite a hike to get there from the city centre so we took a cab (about 30mins). Funny story, when i got in the car I found a wallet on the floor. I tried to tell the driver that I found it but he waved me off and (I thought) pointed me to put it in the seat back pocket, so I did. Then a little while later he asked me to see it, so I showed it to him and he waved me off again, so I put it back in the pocket on his headrest. So then I find out that he is giving us 10% off our fare because of this ID card I showed him. I tried explaining it wasn't mine again, but it was lost in translation. Fast forward to the next morning, I find out he came back to our hotel while we were out for dinner thinking I left MY wallet in the car. When Hiroko-san told him it wasn't ours and that we found it, I think he then thought I tried to scam him into giving me the 10% off for having a disability. I kinda thought it was evident that I wasn't an 80year old Japanese man? Anyhow, it made for a funny story and we saved a couple hundred yen.

Back to Miyajima... the ferry ride was quick, only about 10-15 mins. It was rainy and cool in the morning but by the time we got to the island it was sunny and warm, so we were a little overdressed. Wandered through the main temple and took 100 pics of the wild deer that live on the island. What funny little creatures they are. They are polite, but persistent, and will eat virtually anything they can reach, their favourite apparently being paper. We watched them eat quite a few pamphlets and brochures, most of which they plucked out of the hands or pockets of unsuspecting tourists.

The temples on the island are spread out up the mountainside a little, so wee were told it would take us a good 4hrs to do the whole "course". We opted for a few good photo ops of the famous floating torii and spent the rest of the beautiful afternoon wandering along the busy backstreets. Hiroko-San bought a few goodies off the street vendors so we tried roasted sweet potatoes, roasted chestnuts, and special maple-shaped manju, then I bought one of the deep fried bacon-wrapped satsuma sticks. Oishiiii. And I was still full from the delicious unagi-don bento we had for lunch. Good thing we burned off most of those calories trekking up and down the hills all day.

We had planned to take the streetcar back to the genbaku domu, a-bomb memorial, but by the time we got there it was past 6 and it was closed. Instead we went home, crashed for an hour, then bought dinner from the department store across the street and wandered through the store looking at all the crazy stuff they had there. It's no wonder Japanese people go so nutso shopping in Hawaii, most of the stuff in the big dept stores is very expensive. 

This morning we're up early for breakfast then plan to go back to the peace memorial museum and a-bomb memorial before we catch our train to Nagasaki. 

By this point many of you may have seen my Maiko photo on Facebook (or from my mom, who almost operates her own social media network). Pretty cool, huh? That is definitely my favourite thing I've done so far. (does this link work?)
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10100227133700249&l=853070c1bb



Update from Nagasaki, 9:30pm
We're at our hotel in Nagasaki now, have had a very long day. Visited the A-bomb museum in Hiroshima this morning, then caught the shinkansen to Hakata (Fukuoka) where we transferred to the Kyushu express to Nagasaki. I slept most of the way, as usual, because the latter part of the journey was twisty turny and when the alternative was motion sickness, I'll take the nap instead. Did a whirlwind tour of Nagasaki when we got here, will have to update you on that later because I'm asleep in my chair right now. Posted a few pics on FB, still can't figure out how to attach pics from my iPad.

Lots of love from Nagasaki,
Kris xo