flora amalie's (still) untitled blog: 23/4, Miyajima continued

So, Miyajima isn't just Mount Misen, although it's definitely the most memorable of my experiences there.

So to continue where i left off, or somewhere in the general area...

As we were walking down the mountain, we started to realize that we'd taken the wrong path down.

There was a temple we wanted to see, but the path we were on led us straight back to the first ropeway station.

So when we reached the bottom, we kinda had to go back up a little bit to see the Daishō-in, a temple recommended to us by the Ryokan owner. Our legs hated us at this point, but it was still warm and sunny out, and we were still in full-on explorer mode!

The temple was amazing, but also kind of hilarious. I don't think they meant for it to be, but in between gorgeous statues and buildings were little plastic toys and flowers, canned goods for the bosatsus and lots of other things of that nature.

Sometimes Japan is such a fun and weird mixtures of the very serious and pious, and the "look, Hello Kitty is here!"

I don't think i'll ever get tired of that!

We didn't go up this way...

Instead we chose this path, because well, yeah...

"Excuse me, i'd just like to point out that..."

So many gorgeous statues

And there'd be 10 more of these pictures, if Allan hadn't helped me cut some

Daruma and maneki neko

Plastic windmills... love this

Miyajima knitwear, spring/summer '12 collection

Took the stairs down while reenacting a certain scene from "Golden Child"

Hey, whatcha doing up there?

More old houses... weakness

When we walked back to town, the tide was low and we could walk out in front of the Itsukushima Shrine (we had to be careful not to step on snails and tiny crabs, though!)

Back at the Ryokan, we settled into our room

Green tea, of course (it was a little weak for my taste, though)

Night walk after dinner, before going back to take a hot bath together in the family tub

Sleepy town, reminded me of Spirited Away, and i kept waiting for the spirits to arrive and open the shops

From the next morning before our ferry left... one last deer picture

The food at our Ryokan was pretty spectacular and because i'd warned them in advance, all of my many courses were totally vegetarian.

Unfortunately, both me and Allan had some not so great reactions to the food, and by morning, i nearly threw up at the sight of our huge, and probably delicious, Japanese breakfast.

I'm not great at eating in the morning to begin with, so a feast like that at 8.30 was a little too optimistic, but still, i'd hoped to get a bite or two down.

I can't say what it was about the food that had us feeling ill, cause we eat Japanese food all the time, but it wasn't the best way to start the day.

And to make things worse, they'd already removed our futons when we came back to the room, so my plan to lie down and groan for an hour before checking out was ruined!

Allan isn't as sensitive as me, so he was feeling ok in no time, but i had to walk slowly, drink coke and try not to smell any food, so i wouldn't get sick all over the shopping street as we made our way to the ferry.

Being on the boat was something i'd dreaded, cause i get motion sick at just the slightest swell, but the fresh air actually made me feel a little better.

Still, i'd hoped to be feeling great, so i could eat a bunch of local foods in Hiroshima, but sometimes these things don't go as planned.

We did have a good day in Hiroshima anyway, but more about that in my next post (i think? Or maybe it'll be more Miyajima photos... who knows?)

By the way, thanks a bunch for your nice comments on my pictures, it makes me super happy that you like them as much as i do! Really, you have no idea how much that means to me!