We finally got off the ship and headed to Peace Memorial Park. This is located at the epicenter of the atomic bomb explosion that occurred in 1945. It is now a complex of buildings and monuments to commemorate this earth shattering event. It is dedicated to the promotion of world peace.
Central to the park is the only remaining city building damaged in the blast. It was the Industrail Promotion Hall but is now known as the Atomic Bomb Dome and has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
A view of the Atomic Bomb Dome from across the river. Most of the home in the area at the time of the bombing were made of wood and burned completely down.
As you walk further into the park you come across this mound. This describes the mound.
And this is the mound.
There are monuments all along the park.
This explains the monument below.
Children will buy these paper cranes and they hang them by the statue.
The top of the statue close up. It is the young girl holding a crane. It was believed that if you make 1000 paper cranes, your dreams will come true. She made more than 1000 cranes but still lost her life to Leukemia.
Another view of the statue.
The building in the background is the Peace Memorial Museum. It feats exhibits at the graphically portray the horrible effects of the bomb on the city and its citizens.
This is an eternal flame that will go out when there is world peace.
This is the peace arch. When you stand and look through the arch you can see the Atomic Bomb Dome in the distance. And the flame is between the two.
Inside the museum is a model of Hiroshima before the bombing. The blueish building in the upper left if now the Atomic Bomb Dome.
And this is a model of Hiroshima after the bombing.
As we were waiting for the bus, we found these young people doing double dutch rope jumping. The boy in the purple shirt is quite good. In fact, they are are quite good. They compete in world competitions.
As they jump they change places and never miss a beat.
Our next stop was to the Shukkeien Garden. This is a typical Japanese Garden. We were probably two or three weeks early. Only some of the tress were blooming.
The garden contains lots of these stone bridges.
And no railings so one had to be sure of foot while crossing the bridges. A nice view of my rear.
So Bob had me pose for this picture. The weather turned out to be beautiful. We had worn our coats but left them on the bus.
Some of the visitors to the Garden wore traditional Japanese wear.
We do not know what this is for but it is at the port.
After the tour we returned to the ship for lunch.
They had the special party for the T,P,G members. Ray and Frank did skits that were funny. And we tried to learn how to make a paper crane. Not very easy.
Up to Observation Lounge for a cocktail and then they had a special dinner for the Grand Travelers. This was to be an Asian Dinner. When we got to La Veranda, we were the last ones there. We were on time but most folks get there early. The dinner was not that good but we did get to meet some of the other Grand Travelers. Met Nancy and Dick from Minn. They spend 6 months on the ship. They say it is less expensive than a condo in AZ. Get on in November and off in June.
Back to the suite and bed.
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