On Saturday, we moved from Kobe to Hiroshima, making one stop along the way - but what a stop! So, the post starts with sunrise from our balcony in Kobe and ends with Kaiseki dinner at our hotel in Hiroshima, and everything in-between is Himeji Castle (where we climbed all the way to the top of the Main Keep) and its gardens.
Himeji Castle is regarded as the finest surviving example of prototypical Japanese castle architecture. It was founded as a hilltop fort in 1333, converted into a castle and rebuilt several times, and got its present appearance in the early sixteen hundreds. It survived the WWII bombings and the 1995 earthquake. Pretty impressive!
Inside the castle - climbing to the top of the Main Keep. There are 6 levels - so lots of steps... also, lots of people.
There is a little Shinto shrine on the top floor, and here are some of the views from above.
Once outside, we went to the gardens, walked through some of the secondary structures, and ended with a tea ceremony on castle grounds (well, maybe not exactly a ceremony, but we did have some tea). We also saw a woman in national dress playing traditional music on some kind of string instrument.
By the end of the day, we arrived in Hiroshima and checked into out hotel, located strategically next to the Miyajima Island ferry.
We will take this ferry tomorrow morning.
> Day 11
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