Good Bye Yamamizuki, Hello Hiroshima

Breakfast at Yamamizuki

After a good nights sleep we woke up headed back downstairs to the Yamamizuki private dining room for breakfast. We were excited because if breakfast was anything like dinner, we were in for a treat! We were not disappointed as breakfast was also a tasty multi course affair!

Drive to Kumamoto

Sadly it was time to go and say good bye to Yamamizuki. We had a couple hour drive ahead of us and needed to catch a train in Kumamoto bound for Hiroshima, our next stop.

It was a beautiful drive through out of the mountains and into the valley below. I really enjoyed driving during this part of the trip. Its a great way to see the country and gain an appreciation that most likely wouldn’t get in the big cities or speeding by on the bullet train. Though you do have to be a little careful, given we had to take a few detours with the way Google directions took us. In fact we vetoed a few suspect paths it had suggested along the way. All part of this memorable portion of the trip!

Shinkansen to Hiroshima

After returning our car and heading into the train station, I was ready for the next part of our trip. In fact, I was really excited to be riding the Shinkansen (bullet train)! Like many, I’ve always been fascinated by all manner of travel and trains were no different. We picked up our tickets and headed into the station. We had a little time to kill so we stopped of at a small udon shop inside the station and grabbed an early lunch.

After lunch I was ready to get this show on the road (or tracks!). We hung out in the main area of the station for a little while before finally going to the platform to board the train! The train was pretty cool looking and super fast. I was like a kid in a candy store watching the scenery whiz by as we travelled at high speeds. Before we knew it we had crossed out of Kyushu and into the Chugoku region of Japan, arriving in Hiroshima.

Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and Memorial Museum

We arrived in Hiroshima in the late afternoon. I really wanted to visit the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum but by the time we had checked into our airBNB we only had an hour or so left. So we quickly headed straight for the museum. When we got to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park (Where the museum is located), the sun was setting and I was starting to get torn by whether or not to stop and take photos or beeline it for the museum. Thankfully I was able to snap a few before going into the museum.

Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum

Unfortunately, the main museum was under renovations and we only had a smaller building to explore. I believe this is reflected in the small entrance fee. I’m not sure what the main museum would have been like, but the time I spent in this subset of the museum was valuable already. I found that the museum does a very good job of presenting as much information as possible. This included the development of nuclear weapons, Japan’s entry into World War II, Hiroshima before and after the bomb, the nuclear arms race and a great deal of other information. Of note is an emphasis on Hiroshima after the bomb, the rebuilding process and the effort to remove nuclear weapons from the world today.

Near the end of the museum, the exhibits started to get a little heavier. There were stories of individuals that were caught in the blast. Or stories from survivors looking for loved ones. There was a large collection of people’s belongings, including clothing, jewelry and other everyday items. To me this part was quite saddening to witness the aftermath of such a tragedy. It left me with a great appreciation for the destructive power of some of the weapons the world has, but also a great respect for the what Hiroshima has become and its  quest to remove these terrible weapons.

Unfortunately, we had run out of time and the museum was closing. We exited and started to stroll Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. The park is BEAUTIFUL, and I really enjoyed snapping a few photos in the short time we spent here.

Hiroshima at Night

One cool coincidence was that a friend of ours from Canada was also travelling through Hiroshima on the same day, so we had plans to meet up with her for dinner. In doing so we ended up walking through some of Hiroshima’s streets and my appreciation for the city continued to grow!

Okonomimura

We wanted to try Okonomiyaki and headed to a building that was full of Okonomiyaki shops called Okonomimura.  This place had floors full of different stalls, so we weren’t actually sure which one to go to. We ended up just sitting at one that had enough room for the 4 of us. Looking back now I believe the one we went to was called Sarashina. I ordered one with everything and it was pretty tasty. I will say though that while it was cool to “eat off the hot grill”. It made it hard to really appreciate because it was so hot, it was difficult to enjoy fully. So if I were to make a recommendation, I’d suggest getting it on a plate. It may not be as “cool” but you may be able to appreciate the flavor a bit more.

We ended up walking a bit more around Hiroshima, but we were all pretty tired by then and decided to head back to our AirBNB for some well deserved rest. I could tell that FunkyCat and Salmonella were pooped. But the time I was out of the shower, these two were already done. I’m still amazed FunkyCat can sleep with phone in hand!

We were going to get up early tomorrow and meet back up with Gimpy and her Hubby! We planned to meet up and visit MiyaJima!