Weather: rainy and humid 19°C, high 26°C
Accommodation: Hotel Sunroute Hiroshima.
As predicted, it was a rainy day. We relaxed in our room for a bit, then headed off to the Starbucks nearby in our raincoats.
We had breakfast, then walked a short distance to a covered arcade street Hon Dori. We spent lots of time looking through shops – like tutu anna, the sock shop that seems to play no other music than ABBA.
We went into Parco and spend time looking in homewares shops, then found they had an all foam indoor playground! Eskil was thrilled, and we had fun playing. Eskil especially enjoyed playing with one boy who would suddenly surprise me with random English words (yes, I was in the playground with them). We spent over 1 1/2 hours letting Eskil play here.
One of our goals for the day was to find Hiroshima style okonomiyaki, and we did! In Hiroshima the ingredients are layered rather than mixed, and there are noodles incorporated as well. On top there are bonito shavings, which wiggle and wave as the heat and steam move through them – and which brought out the only English word our server seemed to know, MONSTER.
Afterwards we had more coffee at Starbucks (and Eskil had a chocolate donut) because on a rainy day why not?! The cashier was exceptionally nice. Really, everyone in Hiroshima is just lovely.
Walking through the Hon Dori arcade afterwards, Eskil enjoyed watching a ‘bubble busker’, i.e. a foreigner who was blowing bubbles to make money. Not being very coordinated, I slipped on the soapy pavement. A lady who was watching the busker with us gave Eskil some sweets. Not for any reason – just because old people in Japan in general are kind and in Hiroshima they’re even nicer. Really.
Back at the hotel, we had a nap. Hooray! We always want to have one but don’t often succeed. Then we ventured out and had dinner at a lovely noodle restaurant on Heiwa Odori. We had some nice tempura on top of udon, which Scott really wanted after the great meal we’d had in Kanazawa. It was good, but not as fabulous as the restaurant in Kanazawa. Eskil had kaga-age, which was quickly becoming a favourite.
More photos can be viewed at https://www.flickr.com/photos/cragg-ohlsson/archives/date-taken/2015/10/01/.