eating Hiroshima

Yesterday I did alot of exploring around Hiroshima. Alex has leant me one of his bikes so I can ride around while he is at work. At first I was scared to leave the apartment incase I could not find my way back! But after a litte bit of riding I started to get my bearings. I made a little map with some landmarks so I could remember where things were: for instance the river, school at the end of the street, bridges, service station etc... I did lots of riding around the rivers and worked out that if I follow the bend around the river I can get to Hiroshima Dome and from there can get to the main shopping area. I rode into the city and got a rice ball and juice for lunch and did some drawing at Peace park. It was a really beautiful day to be out in the park! The green grass and flowers around the rivers make it look alot like spring; very pretty scenery. I rode from about midday until 6pm and then when Alex came home from work he cooked some dinner. We had some plum wine after dinner and went for a night ride around the rivers and then the night life district!
Today Alex and I had some Octopus balls for lunch/breakfast for me. I cant remember the Japanese name for them but they were really yummy. They had a piece of octopus in the middle and some sort of batter around the outsde... crispy on the outside but gooey inside.
Then Alex suggested I might go to Miyajimi Island today for a look around. I did not realise it was so close. It was about a half an hour train trip from where Alex lives and then a short ferry ride across (both fares covered on my JR pass... so no extra cost!) It was a really beautiful warm day for the beach and the ferry ride to the Island was really pretty over looking the mountains and there was a cool breeze! The island had alot of piney forest but the side I was on not really sandy beaches... The island is famous for its water temple/shrine that is built over the sea, with its main big red gate way out in the ocean. The island apparently (from what Alex has told me) is supposed to be the island of gods and is very sacred etc... and that there are no cemeteries or hospitals on it because they are impure and such. Also there are heaps of wild deer running around on the island and they are really friendly and will let you pat them if you want to. They just hang around and walk around with the people. I walked around alot looking at shrines and the sea and drawing and trying little snacks and walking through the park etc... For lunch I had oysters grilled in their shell (oysters are the islands specialty and I noticed a big Oyster farm on the boat ride over). I got 3 from a stall and the chef cooked them fresh and cracked them open and I had them with lemon and a beer. It was a very relaxing day :)
Unfortunately my camera ran out of battery so there are not as many photos as there should be.