Hello again! Day 13 in Japan and still going everywhere possible without giving the poor parents a coronary!
They did take a well earned rest day yesterday while Jeff and I braved the Sunday bus & train schedules to go and visit our friends. We had a lovely visit, but gosh…. travel time was about 6 hours and we were a little bit ruined by the time we staggered in home!
Also apologies for the lack of replies to comments. I clearly haven’t gotten the total hang of this tablet system and my replies ‘fail to send’. So in the interests of less tanties on my part, I will wait until I am home to reply properly to you all who have had a chance to write something to me… I do appreciate and enjoy your comments.
Anyway – Hiroshima. This was what my Dad has been hanging out for. Not so much the city, but the train ride there via the Shinkansen (sometimes called the Bullet Train)
Zipping along the country at 300km/hr is pretty awesome and they are a smooth and comfortable ride. We have now all activated our JR passes which were well worth purchasing for the trips we are taking.
We went into the museum at the Peace Park to read and learn a bit more of the sobering history. Afterwards we enjoyed a stroll through the park itself.
The children’s memorial… a young girl Sadoko (I need to check her name again) contracted leukemia after the fallout of the bomb and started to fold origami cranes in the belief she would be cured if she reached a certain amount. She sadly died like many others, but then other children carried on her folding legacy and a memorial was made.
School children from all over add their cranes to the memorial.
We all rang the peace bell before walking back past the dome and catching the bus back to go and see another beautiful garden before getting back on our speedy train back to Kyoto
This was an absolutely delightful garden buried in the heart of the city… many little paths, big pond, beautiful koi and numerous quaint bridges.
I could sit by one of these ponds and take koi photos all day… looking forward to getting home to play with the images from my camera!
There were a lot of fabulous tea houses scattered about the gardens as well!
Anyway, reckon its my bedtime again!
I hope you have all started the week fabulously!
Cheers
Another hidden gem I missed. So many reasons to return. Hiroshima peace memorial gardens are so worth the visit. We saw a school ceremony presenting cranes. Enjoy the rest if it. Your dad needs to stand ona platform where a Shinkansen expresses through. Speed was amazing
Hi!! You probably need to go back then! lol Would have been very cool to see that ceremony.
Dad didn’t get to see it but we were on a platform as one of the shinkansens raced through! wow!
Beautiful gardens and ponds. Everything looks so peaceful and serene. Choked up reading about the cranes. Glad you are having such a good time and seeing so much! Any photos of your meals? Curious what food you are enjoying!
The Japanese gardens are just wonderful… the feeling of peace among a huge city is amazing.
oh – food!! mmmmm we ate a lot. time for an extended bout of hiking methinks! haha
Love seeing the beautiful photos. I lived in Northern Japan for a year and also Okinawa and I miss it a lot. Hope to go for a visit soon, but hope it hasn’t changed too much 🙂
Hi Laura.. sorry for the late reply. Isn’t it great living in Japan? So different and its no wonder you miss it. Its hard to see changes, but thats how things go I guess. Its still a great fun country to travel through so I hope you get back soon!