Valentine's Day

Valentine’s Trip - Hiroshima

2/11-2/13

My first Valentine’s day trip and despite being slightly unprepared, it all ended in the positive. We decided to leave Friday morning for Hiroshima since Friday was a holiday and we didn’t want to pay to stay three nights in Hiroshima (hotels are expensive!). So Thursday night we made fudge with K and Friday morning we decided to go for a run before leaving for the city. A nice brisk 10K in the morning would normally be a great way to begin a holiday but since I am out of shape as all hell and A has just begun running, it proved more of a challenge than I had planned. Regardless, we were off to Hiroshima by noon and arrived in the city sometime around 3.

Hiroshima castle

We started our trip with a visit to Hiroshima castle, after enjoying some okonomiyaki (fried Japanese egg pancake), which despite the guidebook calling it a ‘big waste of time’ was quite informative and beautiful. A even got to dress up like a samurai including heavy, iron plated helmet and all! I was very impressed with the katana exhibit that was featured on the fourth floor and had no idea Japanese samurai swords were so thick. The movies always make them out to be super light and strong but in reality, while probably stronger than I previously thought, they are also thicker. Some of them actually were about as thick as my pinky finger! Regardless, we were able to see some beautiful and informative exhibits and enjoy some traditional culture.

Went to the hotel shortly after visiting the castle to relax and finally put our bags down. We explored a bit of the downtown shopping district looking for a clothing store A was determined to find and on the way found a Mexican restaurant. I was so happy and we of course had to eat there. The family who runs the business turns out to have lived in New Mexico a decade or so and although their English was touch and go, the food was great.

Downtown

The next morning we woke up to snow but decided to continue on to Miyajima regardless. Having nothing but our tennis shoes and down jackets we bought an umbrella on the way and caught the train then ferried out to the island. If you haven’t made it out to Miyajima yet, I highly recommend it. This was my second time but my first in the cold. Hell, it’s my first time in the cold ever - but that’s a story for another day. I was determined to climb the mountain though, since last time I only climbed down it and I remember it being beautiful. Well, I guess with my limited mountain experience combined with my lack of snow experience I can’t be blamed too much for the decision but we did in fact climb the mountain. There were times on the 2 hour climb when we had to trudge through literally waist deep snow to find the stairs carved into the side of cliffs and the like but we made it without killing ourselves or each other. And we saw some amazing views along the way. I would say we could have done the trip in half the time if we hadn’t been stopping every hundred feet for pictures. It is also worthy to note that we were pretty much the only people climbing the mountain that day. Besides the man who passed ahead of us, and the couple behind us (all very far from our actual location) ours were the only footsteps to taint the snow.

Snowy mountain tops

When we got to the top, however, it was all worth it. The view was spectacular! Hiroshima itself is a group of islands lumped into the mouth of a bay/river and you got a 360 view of the entire formation being as Mt. Misen is the highest mountain around and we were at the very top. If only the weather had been better!!

Clam festival!

We didn’t have much time to observe as our view was quickly obstructed by a rescue helicopter because an old woman had fallen and injured herself on the icy climb up to the viewing deck. Taking everyone else’s lead we were instructed to continue straight down to the lift for the ride down the mountain because the sun was moving down low and the snow had melted into ice all along the path turning our winter wonderland into an icy fortress. Sliding more so than walking, we trekked down the path made into an ice rink by all the people who had used it earlier, until we made it to the lift.  The time was 5:02PM. We had heard a series of announcements as our group of 5 made our way down the cliff face but between the echo and the helicopter we couldn’t understand the message. The old man who met us at the entrance re-itterated what he had been saying - that the last lift would run at 5. Lucky for me and A, the three Japanese people who had followed behind us convinced the sour old man to take us down the mountain - the winds had picked up severely and we were terribly afraid of the slippery path and the darkening sky. He obliged and we made it down the mountain and back to town safe, albeit weary, to catch the setting sun on the island. We boarded the ferry as darkness set in and with a few shaky photos from the boat, said our farewells to Miyajima. A truly magical, or more possibly lucky, experience - at least in the sense that we didn’t meet any number of possible terrible accidents.

Busy despite the snow

Isn't it beautiful?!

Itsukushima shrine

Snow everywhere!

Sunset

Buddhist shrine

The bay

Some stairs we had to walk up

Mountaintop view

After eating some dinner we picked up on the way home we passed the night without incident and woke the next morning to clear skies and beautiful weather. We subsequently wasted all of it in the various atomic bomb museums and historical sites in the city then returned home. A nice weekend overall, if a little taxing and I certainly learned a lot - like don’t climb mountains without boots and certainly not in the snow! But, don’t take it from me, I still say you should try everything once and have no regrets! Well, hopefully I will pump out a few more entries soon and LOVE!