From there, we took the street tram to Miyajima, the floating shrine. It is listed as one of Japan's top three scenic locations (Matsushima is another one). The day started out beautiful. Miyajima is the name for the island, and Itsukushima is the shrine. It is best known for the floating tori gate, which stands out in the middle of the water. To get there, taking the ferry is required.
Nikki and I spent over four hours on the island. There are a lot of deer around, and for a while we just sat and watched them try to get food away from other tourists. It was pretty funny. Some of the deer were pretty determined and would follow people around. They would also sneak up on people. They tried with Nikki and I a couple times, but quickly recognized that they would receive nothing from us and moved on.
The shrine and tori gate were beautiful to see. Along one of the paths, we came to a sea of cherry blossoms. It was peaceful and gorgeous. We probably could have stayed there all day.
When we first arrived, the tide was in, so the tori gate and shrine both looked like they were floating. As we were leaving, the tide had washed out. It was interesting to see them under both circumstances.
From Miyajima, we headed back toward our hostel, stopping at the Atomic dome. Since the tram was packed, we had to stand for quite a while before arriving, so we took the opportunity to sit for a bit. It was really fascinating and sad to see the remains of the building.
We wandered around peace park for a bit before deciding to head back to the hotel room. There, we read for a bit before getting dinner and watching another movie. It was a lovely day, and I definitely want to go back to Hiroshima (and Kyoto!!!) in the future.
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