Hiroshima Day Trip to Miyajima

January 22, 2019 by 7 Comments

After my work meeting, I stayed one extra day not just so I wouldn’t have to be getting on and off a plane within 48 hours – I just have always wanted to see the famous red floating Torii gates. This can only be accomplished via a Hiroshima Day Trip to Miyajima Island, where you will find the floating red Japanese gates as part of Itsukushima Shrine. The actual name of the island and shrine are Itsukushima (which translates to island of worship when the whole island was considered holy), but it is often called by “Miyajima” which literally means “shrine island” and is also less consonants.

Hiroshima Day Trip to Miyajima: One of the wild deer on Miyajima Island checking out the famous red Itsukushima Floating Torii Gate Hiroshima Day Trip to Miyajima, view of the famous red Itsukushima Floating Torii Gate from inside the Shrine
One of the wild deer on Miyajima Island checking out the famous red Itsukushima Floating Torii Gate / Me and the gate behind mat at Itsukushima Shrine

It’s totally possible to do a full day trip, but also a half day, as long as you get to Miyajima by 1 or 2 PM I think. I know I bundled my only free day with first visiting the free attractions in Hiroshima per my last post, and then heading here for lunch onward. Warning, this is a long post because I wanted to cover everything about Miyajima in one post instead of over multiple posts as part of your research for a trip.

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Free Things to do in Hiroshima

January 15, 2019 by 10 Comments

If you visit Hiroshima, there are two major free things to do in Hiroshima you should not miss out on. Of all the unique things you should see here, you should visit Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, all of which is free if you do not go inside the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum (which has an entrance fee). You can also enjoy the views of Hiroshima Castle for free. You can even easily do both in the same day – here’s a peek at what you might see from my visit in late November 2018.
Hiroshima Castle, one of the free things to do in Hiroshima if you just walk around the moat and park area to see the castle on the outside, there is only a small fee to enter the inside of Hiroshima Castle itself Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park one of the free things to do in Hiroshima if you just walk around the park and see the various moments there is only a small fee to enter the inside of Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum itself

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How to spend less then 1 day in Iceland

January 8, 2019 by 10 Comments

We flew Icelandair to get to Copenhagen (which I covered what I did in Copenhagen in previous other posts), and when you fly Icelandair they offer the opportunity to have various lengths of full day(s) stopovers to enjoy Iceland rather then just connecting through the airport and not seeing the country. I would have liked to stay longer but we had a friend moving away from PDX that we were already hosting and seeing right before she moved on Sunday, so we only decided to stay Friday night – Saturday afternoon. So this post is our take on how to spend less then 1 day in Iceland.

Flying Icelandair A sight by the baggage claim at Keflavík International Airport

This would just be a sample taste of Iceland that needed to be simple and restful after our week in Copenhagen – so what did we do?

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Holiday Lights from Hiroshima

December 25, 2018 by Leave a Comment

Although in Japan they don’t quite celebrate Christmas like we do – it is more of a romantic holiday then a family holiday since that’s what they do for New Year’s while we tend to focus more on friends and romantic partners for New Year’s – they do have holiday lights. When I was in Hiroshima at the end of December, I took a walk in the evening during my brief stay there to enjoy their free winter illuminations. Now I’m sharing them with you.

Music Garden area of Hiroshima Dreamination, 2018 Music Garden area of Hiroshima Dreamination, 2018

Here is a holiday tree by the mall right next to my hotel in Hiroshima. If you stay in Hiroshima I really liked my hotel, the RIHGA Royal Hotel Hiroshima, thanks to its easy walking distance to Hiroshima Castle, Hiroshima Museum of Art, this mall and the Hiroshima Bus Center (which also had a food court area) were right next door so gave me easy access to two more floors of restaurants besides the 8 within the hotel.
Holiday tree by the mall near my hotel in Hiroshima

Of course the hotel itself had its own Christmas tree too. Notice how both of these trees are so perfectly set up for a photo for… one? One pair of wings, and one chair?
Holiday tree RIHGA Royal Hotel Hiroshima, 2018

Along Peace Boulevard that had parks between the streets Hiroshima had just set up the Hiroshima Dreamination. According to the brochure I found in the hotel lobby, the display includes 1.4 million LED lights
Holiday tree RIHGA Royal Hotel Hiroshima, 2018 Holiday tree RIHGA Royal Hotel Hiroshima, 2018

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Visiting Church of our Savior and Tivoli

December 23, 2018 by Leave a Comment

I tried to pack a lot into my 5 days, 4 nights in Copenhagen. as I’ve been covering in my series of posts. You may know that I usually start with first making a custom Google Map for myself of all the places I want to eat, then picking a place to stay that easily situates myself to those food destinations, I also need to fill my time with things between my meals. Visiting Church of Our Savior and Tivoli were those types of activities where I wanted to get a lot of walking in between meals. I don’t normally go out of my way for a panoramic view of a city, or an amusement park, but I had some time so I put them in my plan as possibilities, and the timing ended up working out.

Visiting Church of Our Savior, also known as Vor Frelsers Kirke, in Copenhagen Visiting Tivoli Amusement park during Halloween decoration time, October 2018

Visiting Church of Our Savior

Visiting Church of Our Savior, also known as Vor Frelsers Kirke, in Copenhagen Visiting Church of Our Savior, also known as Vor Frelsers Kirke, in Copenhagen

Also known as Vor Frelsers Kirke, the Church of Our Savior is located in the Christianshavn neighborhood of Copenhagen, and the other well known attraction/area here is Freetown Christiania, a bohemian counterculture community with its own governing council. Church of Our Savior is one of two locations in Copenhagen known for its panoramic views – the other being The Round Tower.

Church of Our Savior is iconic to Copenhagen for its spire, built in 1752, accessible via series of stairs (some steep enough to be ladders…) inside the tower and then the stairs continue outside as part of the spire itself.  The tower is also known as the “Heavenly Ladder” and Christ is at the top with a victory banner.

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