osaka...miyajima...hiroshima...kyoto...paato ichi (part 1)

Day 2 was a busy day.  After breakfast on the 32nd floor of the hotel (beautiful view of Universal Studios and the city), we headed out to the train station to catch the shinkansen (bullet train) to Hiroshima.

We had reserved seats in the "green car" and the kids loved it because they were able to turn the seats around to face each other.

The 2+ hour train ride literally flew by and we were soon in Hiroshima. 


 When we arrived at the Hiroshima station we immediately boarded buses to go to catch the ferry to Miyajima island.  Our tour guide on the bus was named "Jasmine" and she was pretty funny.  She told us that the Kamehameha Children's Chorus, who were also in Japan following a similar tour schedule, had performed in Hiroshima the day before and news of their performance had made the front page of the local newspaper.




We rode the Matsudai ferry to Miyajima, which is owned by the Matsumoto family, distant relatives of my mom.  They also own a coffee shop and souvenir shop.  My Aunty Dot had called to let them know we were coming so these two ladies, Kyoko-san and Nobuko-san, were waiting for us.  My mom's grandmother and Nobuko-san's mother-in-law were sisters (I think).  Darrell, my sister Jan and I met them 20 years ago when we first visited Miyajima.  I'll post a pic later, but they look amazingly the same as they did then.

We had a whirlwind tour of the island with our guide Jasmine, since we only had about an hour before we had to board the ferry back to Hiroshima.  It's so peaceful there, it would be great to visit again and take our time to see everything.  Well, I think we did see almost everything of note but had to move through so fast I didn't absorb anything.  We didn't even have time to shop at all;  boo, didn't even get a rice paddle, which is something they are known for.  We rushed through the alley that had all the manju and souvenir shops and restaurants and they were all so tempting!  Barely had time to use the "toire" (toilet) and get a drink (it was so hot) before we had to board the ferry.  In fact I had stopped by to see the Matsumotos one last time on the way back to the pier because Kyoko-san was waiting outside the shop to catch me to give us some momiji manju (red bean paste, cream and chocolate filling) to enjoy.  I wound up having to literally RUN to the pier to meet the rest of the group! 

Darrell had stayed back from the tour and bought a box of momiji manju (not the good one that I got from the Matsumotos though) so we had something to share with our boys since we didn't even get to shop once we got back to the Hiroshima side.  He did have to wrestle the package away from a deer who grabbed onto the manju box while hel was sitting on a bench waiting for us!

Tsuzuku...to be continued...