This morning I intended to use the bath after breakfast and before we started traveling to Hiroshima.
I walked the fifteen minutes to the bath only to find they don’t open until 2:00.
I assumed the bath would
Be open in the morning. I assumed incorrectly.
By the time I got back to the hotel, I might as well have jumped in the bath with my clothes on. I was drenched with sweat.
I showered back at the hotel and now we are traveling to Hiroshima. I wish the luxurious, air conditioned train ride were longer. It is only an hour.
We loved Osaka but are keen to travel again.
Hiroshima
We made it to Hiroshima and our hotel. I agreed to go to pizza tonight because our next two nights after tonight are going to be traditional kaiseki meals.
I asked Owen to go to the lobby and ask the hotel clerk to make us a reservation. I’m glad that I did, because they had only one space available this evening at 6:00.
I don’t really understand fancy pizza places but we enjoyed our meal that was prepared and presented with great care.
Peace Park
I told Owen that we would enjoy a nice evening stroll through the park and save the “heavy stuff” for tomorrow. I wasn’t anticipating how impactful the Peace Park would be.
We made our way toward the Genbaku Dome and came across the Children’s Monument along the way.
There were children praying there and we did the same. The tone was set for the rest of the evening. The park is beautiful, important, and serious. Tonight would be more than a stroll through the park.
Genbaku Dome
The Genbaku Dome was one of the only structures left “standing” after the blast at ground zero. It has been left as a reminder of the devastation. Seeing it brought immediate nausea and tears.
We worked our way from the dome over the the Peace Park. It was a lovely and quiet evening. By this time, we were quite somber.
It is incomprehensible than the beautiful city of Hiroshima was entirely rebuilt after 1945.
The park is a quiet place filled with staggering memorials. There are places where once proud temples were reduced to a stone block or two.
We were stunned to discover a lovely grass knoll and then to read that is the burial mound of the ashes of over 10,000 people who had died instantly in just this area.
We made a prayer for peace at the Fountain of Prayer and then called it an evening.
On our way out of the park, we came across a statue of a woman trying to shield her children.
It was not exactly the type of evening walk that I had in mind, but it is one of the most significant experiences I have ever had.