Earlyish start and a quick taxi down to the station. We’re getting pretty good at this and even have time for a drink and a bit of a relax before we have to get the train. Now used as we are to English station cafes it comes as a bit of a shock to have a waitress service in a very nice setting.
On the train for a short 45min trip to Himeji, now this is on the way to Hiroshima but we are getting off luggage and all to go look at a castle. 🥴 It’s clear that lots and lots of people do this as we are met by a guy who shows us how to rent a locker for our luggage so at least we don’t need to drag that around with us. Now we have just over 4 hours here so we take a leisurely stroll up the main road to the castle. Now we have been advised that we are not really fit enough to climb to the top of the castle and given that it’s still flipping hot we content ourselves with a quick look around the bottom.
As you can see its a pretty imposing structure and as you get closer and closer you get a better idea of the enormous size of the building.
The whole site is surrounded with a very impressive moat with a lovely wooden bridge to the main gateway.
Unlike so many places we have been this does not seen to crowded but time is against us and its VERY steep inside so our exploring is quite limited. We grab a cab back to the station and head into a massive department store which is directly connected to the station. 2 basements, 6 floors and much much bigger than Harrods. We make our way to the 6 floor where there are a choice of restaurants as opposed to cafes as we want to get something substantial so we don’t necessarily need to go out to eat this evening. Despite nobody speaking english we manage to get what we want for lunch.
Now the department store seems to be an attraction for older Japanese and you see them meeting for lunch or just resting from the heat outside in one of the rest areas which have comfy seats. As we have a little time to kill we to have a little doze before heading back to the station. Now it turns out while we’ve been munching and dozing a tropical storm has come down and it is raining in biblical proportions.
So much in fact that our train is just one of many to be cancelled. A quick chat with one of the stations staff (don’t you just love Google translate) elicits that if we get a local train to Odawaya we should then be able to get a Shinkansen to Hiroshima. Because we are not on our proper train we have no seat allocations so its to the unreserved carriages where we manage to get a couple of seats in standard class. At Odawaya it is just a seething mass of humanity try to get on any train they can with people crammed in every space. Nope not doing that. The next train arrives and we head for the Green Cars (first class) and get two very nice seats thank you. We arrive at Hiroshima and wonder of wonders the hotel is attached to the station. It’s a bit late and we’re not really hungry so we decide just to have a beer and some nibbles in the bar. Well I might have guessed something was up when we walked into a very posh, very empty bar.
Two small beers some crisps and some nuts 22 quid and it’s happy hour!!!!
Suitably fleeced we head back to the room and blog. Hiroshima tomorrow weather permitting.
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