27 Hours in Hiroshima

Looking at a monochrome aerial map of Hiroshima, it seemed to me to resemble a piece of rough beef marbled with white veins of fat, rivers winding downwards out to sea like thickening white arteries. A big piece of rare, bloody meat.

Halfway through the Atom Bomb museum, there's a small corridor to lead you to the rest of the building. On the right there is a counter selling Hiroshima souvenirs. I saw a white T-shirt with the words "THE A-BOMB DOME!" emblazoned on it in a playful font.

I bought some okonomiyaki, made with cabbage in Hiroshima, and the local sweet, Momiji manju, a little cake in the shape of a maple leaf, which is Hiroshima's city symbol. Momiji Manju are GORGEOUS, as they contain ANCO, a sweet paste made from little red beans, which is also in my top favourite Japanese cakes...DORIAKI!!! Mmmmmmmmmmmm....

On the first night I found the only Irish bar in Hiroshima, which is the best one I've come across in Japan yet,"Molly Malone's". Apparently, everything was shipped over from Ireland in order to get the decoration right-even the painters came over to finish the murals on the walls. Most importantly, for me, who hasn't had a roast dinner/sausage/pie for almost a year, it had ... BANGERS AND MASH on the menu!!! How could I resist??? I also had a Magner's cider (doesn't hold a candle to Strongbow Super Strength though), and half a Guinness. And I mean half, not three quarters which seems to be the norm here...

Oh yes, Hiroshima was good.