sunday morning we took the shinkansen to hiroshima, but then immediately jumped on another train + ferry ride to the island of miyajima, where the famous floating itsukushima shrine. we were lucky enough to arrive at high tide when the ground beneath it is completely submerged like you see in all the pictures. when we left several hours later, it was low tide and you could actually walk right up to it. from there, we took the island's ropeway up to mt. misen, then hiked to the peak. the views were breathtaking. after we got back to the foot of the mountain, we grabbed some quick eats (grilled skewered meats, grilled oysters, grilled squid on a stick!) and headed back to hiroshima. there, we checked out the a-bomb dome and peace memorial park. it's a pretty stark and devastating reminder of the past. i can't imagine living there, either as a japanese or american. we munched on some hiroshima-style okonomiyaki (your basic okonomiyaki but with noodles cooked into it!), then back in kyoto, we had dinner at nippon omen. despite how tasty it was, i was unable to tell the difference between omen and udon.
monday we day-tripped it to nara, the old capital of japan. it felt like a pretty small town, where the main attractions are the todai-ji temple and its massive buddha inside, and the "tame" deer who wander the city and will bow to you for food (at least that's what we were told; however, when i pulled out the crackers we'd bought to feed them i was basically attacked/chased by a small herd of deer - i did eventually get one to bow). we did quite a bit of walking around nara before heading back to kyoto. despite all the tasty foods we've been having, we haven't had sushi since our first day in japan when we went to tsukigi fish market, so we decided to do the cheesy/touristy, yet delicious and affordable option of conveyor belt sushi! so delicious. so cheap. so happpyyyyy!
anyhow. tuesday is our last day in kyoto. wednesday we go head back to tokyo, and thursday we head back to los angeles. can't believe this crazy trip is near its end!
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