We arrived in Hiroshima Friday about 3 pm. We freshened up and went right out. It was overcast the first day but I knew it wouldn't last. The forecast was great for the trip.
We did not make it a block out of the hotel before we hear, "Hello, hello, hello." We all looked up and saw this group of school kids waving to us with giant smiles. So cute! I asked for a photograph because I never wanted to forget that moment. They cheerfully agreed and we got a great shot.
This was a great start to an amazing trip.
Bill noticed the bike rental station. I have been reading about them in various cities around the world. Folks can rent a bike from anywhere, rent for the day, month etc and return it to any automated station. Neat. A great learning tool for the kids too.
A shot of the large intersection near the hotel. We were on our way to a huge covered shopping area.
Patrick wanted to stop at a small museum and look at an exhibition he noticed from the bus as we came in from the airport. Bill readily agreed. I looked at Caroline and said, "Yeah, because a museum is always way better than shopping..." I have to admit I am not much of a museum person. Which is odd because I love history so much. I just prefer to be out on the streets. Bill, however, likes museums.
So, I thought if Patrick wants to go to a museum, don't be anything but enthusiastic.
It turned out to be great. It was a small exhibition, maybe 40 paintings. The exhibit was about the persecution of the believers of a spiritual discipline called Fulon Gong in China. Fulon Gong emphasizes "truth, compassion, and forebearance." Never heard of it but we learned a lot. The kids especially. They kept asking, "people are really tortured for this?"
The exhibit explained Fulon Gong. Here, the painting depicts the creation of all humankind
We went on to the shopping area. We never have a problem locating Patrick. See what I mean?
We ended up at a Indian restaurant because we can all eat curry. Nowadays, curry is like American food to us. We are so used to it that it is like many would go to McDonald's. It is out break from Japanese food.
The kids went back to the hotel so Bill and I went on a walk. He was anxious to see the Peace Memorial. The memorial is actually the remnants of the only thing left standing after the atomic bomb blast.
More on that later...
Here is the walkway. The sun was setting and it was very beautiful.
Bill always takes pictures of flowers for his mother. We saw huge roses.
Here is the Peace Memorial, also known as the A-bomb dome. Again, more on that later.
We saw a Tapas Restaurant/bar on the way to the dome. Homemade Sangria and tapas. So we stopped in. I would show pictures but I couldn't one of me that did not look like a mug shot.
Here is some street shots of the area. It was a beautiful night.
Beautiful night and a great walk home.
No comments:
Post a Comment