Hiroshima

Dear Matthew and Toby

The next city we explored was Hiroshima. I knew this was likely to be an emotion-filled few days, especially with the potential questions you could ask Matt, so had been mentally preparing myself for months. Anyway we arrived in the afternoon and headed to our hotel. We had decided that given we would only be spending three nights in Hiroshima that we would splurge and get an amazing hotel with views out over Hiroshima Castle and the rest of the city. As you can see from the photos below, it didn't disappoint.

On the first night I wanted to try the local specialty of okominyaki, so we headed to a local restaurant in the shopping centre attached to the hotel which made this dish in front of us. It's sort of like a pancake filled with cabbage, meat or seafood. It was great to try out and watch the chef make it.

The next day we headed to Miyajima Island, which is a train and ferry ride out from the city centre. The island is famous its giant torii gate, which is meant to be the door between the physical and spiritual world. We were lucky to witness the gate at high tide when it appeared to be floating on water and at low tide when we got to walk through it. For lunch on the island we had local oysters two ways, which were the nicest oysters I've ever eaten. We also walked around the shrines, gardens and markets on the island. Your dad tried the beer from the brewery and we encountered plenty of deer like we had back in Nara.

The following day we took in the sites of Hiroshima city, starting first with the A-Bomb dome, which was the building left most in tact following the atomic bomb as the bomb exploded almost directly above it. Matt, like we predicted, you asked plenty of questions and we had to find a balance between explain history (it's important that you know what happened) and reassuring you that 'the bomb' isn't coming again. We had to tell you that many children had died, but that countries are working together peacefully to ensure that never happens again. We had made paper cranes together the night before and left them at the Children's Peace Monument, which was built to remember the children who died, including Sadako (I had read her story as a kid and it has stayed with me ever since). We visited the Peace Park and the Hiroshima  Peace Memorial Museum. It was great to learn all the history and reflect on how far the country (and world) has come since the bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but very overwhelming to see all the photos and artefacts.

In the afternoon we decided to do a few lighter things and visited a children's indoor playgound where you both played for hours. The staff loved seeing two blonde/brown haired boys running around and had fun playing with you both (as did your dad and I). Afterwards we visited a children's museum (which was a bit old and outdated unfortunately) and then headed to Hiroshima Castle. We had a lovely time exploring the castle and Matt you got to feed the carpe in the moat as well as dress up as a samurai warrior! You were so cute!!

We finished the day with KFC back at the hotel enjoying the gorgeous view at night. The next day we were off to our final city, Osaka!

Love you boys,

Mum xxx