Hiroshima: Day1

First, a little side note: You may have noticed that I am severely slacking on the blog these days. My life has been so hectic since the 1st of August that I have barely been able to breathe. I'm not complaining, though, because every second of August has been amazing so far! I'm heading out of town to the EC until the end of Aug so you probably won't see any posts from me until September... I'll have a lot of catching up to do!!

A friend and I left for Hiroshima on the night of the 1st aboard an overnight bus and were there for 3 days.

First Stop: Hiroshima Castle

Next Stop: Okonomi-mura (village of okonomiyaki)

Okonomiyaki is a pancake with veggies like dish. I feel like the Osaka style seems to be the standard, but my heart (and stomach) truly lies with the Hiroshima style. The main difference is that the Hiroshima style has noodles in it. It's also made by layering the veggies and other ingredients on top of a layer of a flour-and-water mixture whereas the Osaka style mixes all of the ingredients together before cooking on a flat pan.

Third Stop: Peace Park

As I'm sure all of you know, the atomic bomb was dropped on both Hiroshima and Nagasaki during WWII. Many people think that this building below is at the epicenter, but trust me. If a bomb exploded right above this, it wouldn't stand a chance. There's a little marker indicating the epicenter a little ways away, but I can't say that I've gone to see it. This is the only building to survive the bomb. Thus, it became known as the A-bomb dome.

It's a little hard to see in this picture, but I feel like most people have the same one of just the dome up close. These roses are from around the world, showing support to Hiroshima victims.

Some of the many paper cranes that are hung up in the area, folded with wishes of peace and goodwill.

Inside the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, there are many exhibits, including a replica of the A-bomb dome, covered in letters from Hiroshima Governors to areas where nuclear testing is taking place, pleading them to stop.

And here's an example of what happened to... i think bricks (they are so distorted, i can't really tell), and glass bottles. The really scary thing is that I overheard a guide explaining that the nuclear weapons that are out there in the world today are estimated to be about 3,000 times stronger than that of the bomb that was dropped in Hiroshima.

On a lighter note, here's what I had for dinner- obviously ramen!

It was called "onomichi ramen." The ramen in Onomichi is supposed to be very good, but this one (found in hiroshima station) was disappointing. The gyoza were good, though!