From Kyoto to beyond

Nick and I first headed down to Kyoto for some temples and culture. We found plenty of both! Check out the videos of the dancing geisha, our modern capsule hotel, and some great pictures...

At Gion Corner we found some cultural dancing

We stayed at a really modern capsule hotel called "9 hours". Watch the video below!

And a couple days later, we went to Hiroshima. It was really interesting getting a tour of the A-bomb dome and the Peace Memorial Park. 

Here's me in the bomb shelter of the rest house. It managed to save one person out of the crowds of people bunkered in here.

Some of the locals want to tear this down because it might be dangerous. But a majority want to keep these ruins for a reminder of the pursuit of peace. That seems to be a very evident topic anywhere, peace from war. This building was the target for the bomb, but it ended up hitting the bridge right next to it.

From there we made a day trip to Meijima, you might recognize it from the "sacred" deer to the torii gate standing in water.

oh so precious

and super tame, but make sure to keep your maps and papers away from their mouths. they may look cute but they're not afraid to get really close.

We also made it to the local zoo on the island in time to watch the sea lion show. I'm such a sucker for kid activities. 

Nick was mesmerized by the giant spider crabs. Seriously, their legs were the length of my arm. And apparently they're only found here around Japan.

pretty cool looking octopus

and this is an entirely natural photo, i didn't change the coloring at all. isn't that amazing! how God made color so brilliant is beyond me.

...the jellies... (who here thought of "Finding Nemo"?)

and the ferry back to hiroshima

And just to leave you with a smile, here's some English I found in a convenience store. It's amazing to me that they don't have people check things like this. And believe me, I've seen much worse examples but this one is the cutest so far.