Hiroshima 3/24/12

Beautiful tree in someone's yard as we bike toward the downtown Iwakuni train station. Early sakura (cherry) or probably ume (plum)?


Waiting for a freight train on our shortcut to downtown.


Flowers shop near the station.


If they're still open when we return, I may get some to take home for the week. So fragrant and fresh!


Stan - like many other Japanese - dozing on the local train to Hiroshima. It's about a 50 min ride.


That's Miyajima Island and their famous oyster beds out in the sea.


Houses that back up to the train tracks with the sea beyond.


Approaching Hiroshima City & crossing a river.


Old & newer cars at the streetcar station outside Hiroshima Station.


On the streetcar, a lady holds a huge bouquet - wrapped in pink paper - of what looks like blooming ume (plum), maybe?


Looking out the front of our car. I love how these streetcars run down the center of this very wide street. How efficient and convenient! And only 150 yen per ride.


Walking inside Hondori Street covered shopping street. I like that cute backpack in front of us! So - is it Chip or Dale?


Seated in the window of Andersen's having our lunch. Looks like construction has begun on the empty lot across from us on the corner. Wonder what it will be? I kinda like the way it's open right now . . .


Planters hold white daisies outside our window near the benches.


Stan's coffee - a leaf, maybe?


Yum! My lunch set includes a salad, sandwich, cup of hot corn soup, and even small creme brulee, and of course, my coffee.


And my coffee has a heart . . . awwwww.


My sandwich is yummy with small ebi (shrimp) and asparagus with spicy mayo - something new on the menu. Stan had roast beef with horseradish sauce. He said it was delicious. We have NEVER been disappointed here . . .


Wine department at Andersen's.


Wow! An Easter tree! I didn't expect that . . .


A bunny sitting in a yoga position. Click to enlarge - he even has a belly button! Kawaii! (cute!)


And a bouquet of flowers tied with ribbon.


Oh look at the beautiful African violets. They always remind me of Sue's mom - Mama Fossett.


Look at the pretty variegated pink & white.


Fresh flowers in an interesting blue & white china flower stand that's usually upstairs in the gift shop on the 3rd floor. Isn't it cute?


Fresh flower shop inside Andersen's. I love looking at them, but some of the flowers make my throat burn so I have to walk fast through here. . . :o/


Oh, look up at the skylight way above me!


Sign advertising today's bread specials . . .


Here are some bears . . .


. . . a flock of birds/ducks?


And cats and books with pencils.


Lots of pastries for tomorrow's breakfast! My favorites are the maple cinnamon rolls on the back right with the swirl. They're light & flaky and not TOO sweet.


Ha ha ha! Little boy kicking a toy soldier in the bakery department. Boys just think differently from girls, don't they?


Baker pulling something out of the oven.


Yum! Little pizzas? It smells SOOO good in here.


One of the checkout counters in Andersen's bakery.


Fresh-baked breads just waiting to go home with you . . .


And Stan checking out with our choices at another checkout area. It's really tough to decide, but we like to buy our bread for the week here.


On our way out, we pass the glassed-in area that gives everyone a peek into the dough preparation area.


Look at that HUGE vat of dough with corn kernels in it. We decided to stop & watch for a while.


The dough is dumped out onto the flour-dusted wood counter.


Then the baker grabs a section and begins to weigh it on this scale.


Gold weights were added for the desired amount, and the dough was adjusted to the proper weight. I thought it was interesting that this old-fashioned scale was used - probably done this way for hundreds of years . . .


We finally left and walked back into the shopping street. I LOVE these cute socks!


Look at this crowd in a posh children's store!


Oh what a cute outfit!


And look at the cute shoes! The faces are the shoe's tongue!


And look at the cute backpack!


And another cute one!


The young parents were really excited about these hip children's clothes. Do they have kids' clothes like this in America? Certainly not when MY kids were young . . .


Kawaii!


Now we've walked up to a very large department store - Sogo, and we're in the toy department. I love the tree painted on the ceiling & around this display! We found out here that there will be a total solar eclipse May 20/21 - yay! And they were selling the special viewers to use that protect your eyes. We definitely will plan to see that! Here's a really cool website, so you can find out when it will happen where YOU are: CLICK HERE


So toys are available for children to play with in the play area of the toy department. Think this helps sell them? Yep. What a great idea!


Cute pants in the boy's department. The red part is the lining of the pocket, of course!


And the matching shirt . . .


I was buying baby clothes for our newest granddaughter Annabelle, who is expected in May (YAY!), so this sign - "Made in Japan" - is what I'm looking for! Japanese clothes are more expensive, but SOOOO much better quality. I just don't know how Japanese parents can afford to dress their children so cute here though . . .


I went to the restroom, and looked down from a window to the street below. Deodeo is Stan's favorite electronics store.


In Sogo, there is a bus station where you can buy tickets - just like at the train station - and Stan really wanted to return home by "highway bus" which we've never done before. OK . . . Outside the buses are organized by tracks just like the trains. Of course they are . . . But I still can't figure out how we went to the 4th floor & when we went outside, we were on street level!


This sign shows how to stand in line and end up on the correct bus at the track where you're waiting. Buses run pretty often to many areas.


Oh - there's the bus to Iwakuni! It takes about the same amount of time as the local train, but we had to wait nearly an hour because we had just missed the bus when we bought our tickets. Trains run every 10-15 minutes. Oh, well . . .


The sun is starting to set as we cross a river leaving Hiroshima.


Entering a tunnel in our highway bus.


Inside the bus - very clean and nice with large windows, but the seats were VERY small - definitely NOT made for our larger American "backsides" - so it was a bit claustrophobic for me. But all the seats were full, so Stan couldn't move to another seat until we got all the way back to Iwakuni.


The bus went straight to Iwakuni, but then began making stops every few blocks. Very convenient if you live near a bus stop because it goes to downtown Hiroshima without having to change from the train station to the streetcar station, like when you ride the train. Our bus stopped at the Kintai Bridge, before its final destination at the downtown train station.


We were just about the last ones on the bus by the time it arrived at the last stop and I really couldn't wait to get off! Just another experience in Japan, so an adventure!


Pretty streetlights on Highway 2.


Since the bus let us off across the street, we decided to stop at Monte Beer for dinner & a drink. Kampai (cheers!) Stan!


We shared a seafood salad and salmon carpaccio - oops guess we ate it too fast!


And Stan was still hungry, so he ordered this sausage & sauerkraut dinner. *burp*

Then, we got our bikes and enjoyed a cool evening ride home. There were a couple of VERY bright stars that intrigued me. When I arrived home, I Googled and found out THIS interesting info. Take a look outside & see if you can find them - fabulous!
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