Hiroshima
We spent an amazing 36 days in Japan! We did a lot of traveling, and we went back and forth between a lot of locations, cities, and districts. To make things easier to read and write, we have grouped everything in our travels into city locations and not exactly by time. The Japan list of contents so far can be found here!Here is Hiroshima! Our plan in Hiroshima was really to relax and rest our feet, but we spent almost a week there. There was much to see and do.
* Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park
* Takashimaya and Odakyu
* Shukkeien Garden
* Mount Misen and Itsukushima Shrine
Leaving Mount Koyasan required a 5 hour train ride to Hiroshima. It was a welcome 5 hour rest for our feet. Coming into Hiroshima we were exhausted, 7 days of walking, exploring, were behind us but we still had more to do, more to see, more miles to walk, more stairs to climb. Almost a month left in Japan still.
We had booked 5 days in Hiroshima to relax and explore. No real plans other than rest and rebuild. Upon our arrival in Hiroshima we were greeted with overcast weather and rain. Our accomdations were a regular apartment building, one that most locals stay in, and luckily for us it was easy to find.
Our Hiroshima Airbnb pad was one of our cheapest places to stay at in Japan. It was also very small, but a bit larger than our Shibuya accomodations, consisting of a bedroom, a small kitchen, and a very small bathroom.
While our Shibuya pad separated the toilet and the shower, Hiroshima had them both together, which made for very uncomfortable bathroom accommodations. We did know this going in though, and don't have any complaints about the location or the place itself.
Shinto Shrine
As traditional apartments go, we were sans, chairs, Western style beds, and only had a small coffee table to use in the room, and while it was a bit of a hassle this isn't a complaint, but a warning as to what to expect in some locations for those traveling to Japan.
We also had a small balcony with a view of a city cemetery below us.
Our host in Hiroshima left us a Jasmine bud which we have never seen before, and it is basically an enclosed bud that is put into hot water, where it blooms in the water and makes tea. It was very neat to watch and made great tasting tea so we bought a few to bring home.
In 1945 the United States dropped an Atomic bomb on Hiroshima, obliterating everything within a 2 kilometer radius of the bomb site. Ancient shrines, castles, monuments, family, friends, all gone forever. Against great odds the city rebuilt what it could and with it they built the Peace Memorial Park. One of the most prominent structures in the park is the A-bomb dome, formerly known as the Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall. It was one of the few buildings that remained standing after the bomb.
The trees in the Peace Park were in full bloom with pettles covering the ground like snow. A gorgeous sight to behold.
We stumbled upon the Shira Shrine in the evening . It was hard to miss, a small, beautiful, ancient site nestled among towering apartment and industrial buildings.
Our Airbnb hostess recommended us a local sushi place-
Sushi Hitoshi
They served us some of the best squid we have ever had. Like most of the sushi locations in Japan, it was a small private place with a few seats. The staff were very polite and accommodating even though we arrived without any reservations. We were very fortunate to get a seat.
We had booked 5 days in Hiroshima to relax and explore. No real plans other than rest and rebuild. Upon our arrival in Hiroshima we were greeted with overcast weather and rain. Our accomdations were a regular apartment building, one that most locals stay in, and luckily for us it was easy to find.
We also had a small balcony with a view of a city cemetery below us.
They served us some of the best squid we have ever had. Like most of the sushi locations in Japan, it was a small private place with a few seats. The staff were very polite and accommodating even though we arrived without any reservations. We were very fortunate to get a seat.
