Enough depression
Nov. 22nd, 2002 08:53 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shirenomadAfter a Saturday morning of getting ourselves depressed, we needed a mood boost. Sara wanted to swing by the city art museum first, which was small but quaint, and had a decent spread of (mostly French) paintings... along with a special exhibit devoted to some Dali wannabe. Eh. I could have taken or left that one.
Off to the real "other sight of Hiroshima" -- Miyajima. Out on the coast at the end of the streetcar lines are a couple of ferries that will take you to this pleasant little islandand tourist trap a short distance away. It's got a couple hotels, if you want to spend the night there, plenty of shopping near the docks, and lots of scenery and wildlife. Including some of the tamest deer you've ever seen. They're native to the island, but over the years have grown so accustomed to the human presence that they'll let you walk right up to them and pet them. Or they'll walk right up to you to see if you've got any food. (One thought Courtney's map looked tasty, yanked it out of her pocket, and started chewing on it thoughtfully. Wish I'd gotten a picture of that one...)
Anyway, the island also has a few shrines and temples from when it was some sort of monk retreat, plus the Otorii Gate, which sits on the beach and gets surrounded by water every time the tide comes in. And there's an aquarium off to one side of the island, and a monkey park at the top of the central mountain (ropeway services available). We saw neither, because they were both closed and the trails were closing due to approaching nightfall by the time we were halfway to the ropeway station. If I ever come back to Hiroshima, I think I'll need to devote an entire day to just the island. But at least I got some great photos of the fall leaves.
Toured the city a bit, just to check out the shopping opportunities (for those who weren't short on cash by now) and find where there might be food. Not much to report on that, although David spent ten minutes at a Japanese Starbucks waiting for a decaf coffee (it's on the menu, but such an uncommon request in Japan that they rarely have any ready).
And that's it. Sunday morning was spent packing, we left for the station about 9, and after a long ride home arrived back at Yamuramachi Station around 10 hours later. Total expenditure: 7000 yen room and board, about 5000 for food, and about 6000 for museum fees, streetcar and ferry transportation, and miscellaneous expenses. (And 32,000 yen in train fare. >_< But other than that, not bad.)
Off to the real "other sight of Hiroshima" -- Miyajima. Out on the coast at the end of the streetcar lines are a couple of ferries that will take you to this pleasant little island
Anyway, the island also has a few shrines and temples from when it was some sort of monk retreat, plus the Otorii Gate, which sits on the beach and gets surrounded by water every time the tide comes in. And there's an aquarium off to one side of the island, and a monkey park at the top of the central mountain (ropeway services available). We saw neither, because they were both closed and the trails were closing due to approaching nightfall by the time we were halfway to the ropeway station. If I ever come back to Hiroshima, I think I'll need to devote an entire day to just the island. But at least I got some great photos of the fall leaves.
Toured the city a bit, just to check out the shopping opportunities (for those who weren't short on cash by now) and find where there might be food. Not much to report on that, although David spent ten minutes at a Japanese Starbucks waiting for a decaf coffee (it's on the menu, but such an uncommon request in Japan that they rarely have any ready).
And that's it. Sunday morning was spent packing, we left for the station about 9, and after a long ride home arrived back at Yamuramachi Station around 10 hours later. Total expenditure: 7000 yen room and board, about 5000 for food, and about 6000 for museum fees, streetcar and ferry transportation, and miscellaneous expenses. (And 32,000 yen in train fare. >_< But other than that, not bad.)
