Next stop Nagasaki

Packed up and ready to go onto our next leg of our holiday, stopping to say goodbye to the friendly bar we had spent a lovely evening in. 

We confidently headed to the train station, living in Sheffield has helped us to navigate tram systems! The Hiroshima three day card was well worth the ten pounds we have spent for both of us.

Travelling on to Nagasaki, I had booked a shinkansen, otherwise known as the bullet train. Some of them reach a speed of 199mph! 

   

it  was really comfortable, with loads of leg room. It was headed to Hakata. When I had booked the ticket I had been confused as to how to book the next part of the trip to Nagasaki, so had decided to just ask at the station before we set off. Advice given, we felt more confident, but this was short lived!

Suprisingly, Pete didn’t like the shinkansen train, citing it was too smooth, and didn’t feel like a proper train ride. It was very smooth, very fast, not like a normal train ride, lnadscapes and towns were a blur.

When we got to Hakata, we got on a train, that was departing at the time we had been told. However, , literallywith seconds to spare, I said we needed to get off straightaway, as it didn’t feel right. That was a lucky call, as otherwise we would have ended up in Osaka!

Garnering more information, we were given the right information and got on the right train, about an hour later.

    

Before our train arrived, this train arrived and lots of people had gathered to take a photograph of it. It looked like something from the Orient Express inside.

So far we have stayed in small flats, all of which have been very good. But for Nagasaki I felt it would be good to stay somewhere next to the station, what better than the JR train company hotel, which was next to the station.

I felt very giddy with the ‘luxury’ of it all! Lots of add ons, that make the stay very special. I had forgotten that I had also booked the breakfast as well. That was defintiely a nice surprise. 

In the lobby they had paper sheets for guest to make paper cranes out of, which they will then take to  the Nagasaki 80th memorial service. Pete made a few. In Nagasaki, paper cranes are a symbol fo peace, associated with the story of Sadako Sasaki, the young  girl who had survived the bombing of Hiroshima, but who died of leukemia ten years later. She folded many paper cranes, believingit would grant her the wish of recovery. In Hiroshima, she was the impetus for the Childrens Peace Monument, and the symbol of the crane remains one for peace but also a reminder of the devastating impact of war. 

 Having had a break we went out to meet Max, who we knew from Sheffield. Before our previous trip to Japan, Max had attempted to teach me Japanese, I was a complete lost cause! I have remained resolutely gesticulating and miming, to make myself understood since then. Max teaches in the local university, so his walking tour was very much appreciated, as he able to point out areas of interest and put a context to things. 

After a very comfortable sleep, we were very excited for our breakfast experience, It didn’t disappoint, although we flummoxed the waitress but not wanting meat. Lovely to have such a mixture for breakfast, miso soup, fruit, caramel puddings, etc!