Friday, January 7, 2011

Hiroshima and Miyajima

After New Years, I had a few days free before I needed to head back to Takayama, so I decided to make a few stops along the way back to town. Jenny joined me for part of the journey!

The first stop was Hiroshima. Despite its tragic past, Hiroshima today is a vibrant city. Here's a pic from the Hiroshima Peace Park.

One particularly interesting display in the Peace Park is the origami crane memorial, which is comprised of thousands of paper cranes.

The 'A-Bomb Dome' is one of the city's most famous landmarks, and a somber reminder of Hiroshima's past. It was directly under the blast, so amazingly the walls weren't blown out and the dome still stands.
The local specialty in Hiroshima is a regional take on Okonomiyaki, which is a type of pancake with a bunch of other ingredients mixed in. This one is topped with Oysters.

Hiroshima had a pretty fun lighting display for the holidays, we made it on the last day it was up! It lined the city's main boulevard.



The ferry ride to Miyajima! Miyajima is considered one of Japan's 3 most scenic views!
The specialty of Miyajima is Oysters. We got a few from a street vendor!

The iconic 'floating tori gate' is one of the main highlights of Miyajima. It's pretty spectacular, it is about a hundred feet or so from the main shrine complex on shore.

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