Road Trip Part 1

Is it really Friday already? This week has just flown by so fast. I had every intention of blogging much earlier in the week, but time just got away from me. 

Before I begin to tell you about the adventures we had with Mike and Maya, I want to mention that yesterday marked one year since we moved to Japan. It's hard to believe a year has already passed, and I'm stoked to be here for another one.

While Mike and Maya visited, we packed a lot into a few days as is our normal style. For starters, we went to Gifu to view cormorant fishing. Gifu is famous for cormorant fishing, which involves using birds to catch sweet trout. Check out the link if you would like a better description.

Here's a picture of all of the cormorant boats lined up on the Nagara River. It was a beautiful sight. We weren't able to eat any of the fish, but it was pretty neat to experience the process.

The next morning, we woke up very early and headed to Hiroshima, which is about a 6-7 hour drive from Nagoya.  While there, we visited Peace Memorial Park where we saw the A-Bomb Dome and toured the museum.

Visiting Hiroshima was very surreal. The city itself was quite beautiful, but it was also a bit haunting. It was interesting to tour the museum and to learn about the devastation that occurred as a result of the atomic bomb being dropped; however, it was also a bit discouraging. Much of the story surrounding the decision to drop the atomic bombs on Japan was omitted making it seem as though the bomb was somewhat randomly dropped there. That whole Pearl Harbor thing didn't come up a lot if you know what I mean. 

After visiting Peace Memorial Park, we visited a section of Hiroshima famous for okonomiyaki. We enjoyed a delicious okonomiyaki dinner as well as fresh oysters. The okonomiyaki in Hiroshima is quite different from the Osaka-style okonomiyaki served in Nagoya.

This photo shows the serious multi-tasking that was taking place. 

After a couple of hours at a local karaoke bar, we decided to hit the hay. The next morning, we took a short drive to Miyajima, which I have now dubbed my favorite place in Japan. 

We took a ferry over to Miyajima, which is famous for the red torii gate pictured above. This photo was taken mid-morning so the tide was still low. A few hours later, the area where we were standing was completely covered with water. 

Miyajima is a beautiful island, and so peaceful. The streets were beautiful with streams running along them, it was mountainous and there was so much greenery. We took a cable car up Mt. Misen, and then we hiked the rest of the way to the top to enjoy a beautiful 360-degree view.

It was well worth the hot and sunny climb to the top. 

And, here we are atop the mountain. 

Next up: Kobe and Gujo Hachiman.