Avg pace = 8:29/mi
Total distance = 5.15 mi
Elapsed running time = 43:42
Avg heartrate = 126 bpm (Coospo)
Relative Effort = 12
Got back and had to hustle to eat breakfast, grab a shower, pack up and clean up before we left a little after 8:00. We walked to an underground tram stop and took it to a JR train station, just missed our tight connection when I put in the wrong card at the entrance gate. No big worry, another train came in about 15 minutes, and this one took us to a ferry landing to go to Miyajima, a touristy island with lots of shops, a famous shrine, and a temple. There were also some other attractions. We dropped our luggage in a locker at the train station. The ferry ride over was nice, but I was put off by the heavy tourist focus along the streets. There were also deer wandering around begging for food, initially fun but not for very long. Thankfully, they didn't bother me her us. We walked up to this pretty cool large torii gate out in the water (Ann got a small expensive coffee at a hotel). Tried to see the pagoda, but it was covered for restoration. I wasn't interested in going through the Hokokujinja Shinto Shrine, thankfully Ann wasn't either. We kept walking through the shopping area, eventually got to the Buddhist Daigan-ji Temple. I was hesitant about climbing the steps and committing to walking through it, but Ann said we had time to kill, so we went up. There were some very cool statues of deities, many with red caps (one with a Mexican sombrero). We kept walking up and eventually came upon a group of Buddhist monks performing the Hocho Shiki ceremony, a ritualistic preparation of a fish to be served to the kami, or Buddhist spirits. Was completely unplanned and fascinating in the roles and movements of the participants, particularly the guy who ritually cut up the fish without once touching it with his hands (he used long chopsticks and a sharp knife). This little event made the entire ferry trip worthwhile for me. We walked around the theme grounds a little more after that before heading back down. On the way back, we also found a way to get onto the beach, which allowed us to get closer to the large torii gate and take some pics. Apparently, this gate and its associated shrine can look like they are floating on the water when the tide is particularly high. We weren't close to that point, which is what allowed us to walk out on the sand. Then it was a leisurely walk back to the ferry landing and then back to the train station, with plenty of time before the train arrived to take us to Hiroshima Station. All went smoothly, and we had enough time to get a bite to eat before boarding the Shinkansen back to Shin Osaka Station. Train ride went smoothly, and we arrived in Osaka around rush hour, which made for some crowded subway rides to get to the neighborhood where our AirBnB was. We made it without issue, and the walk from the subway station to the place was a mercifully short one, although we had some trouble interpreting the directions about how to locate the flat itself. When we did find it, there was additional difficulty in figuring out how to open the lockbox where the key was, but we figured it out as well. Ann wasn't hungry but was tired from the long day, so I headed out to find some food for dinner and breakfast for the following day. It was drizzling and cold, but there were two stores nearby. In the first one, I had a difficult time finding anything that was vegetarian and relatively easy to prepare, quite frustrating. And they didn't have any baked goods. So I ended up going to the second store, right next door, and getting some stuff. Back to the AirBnB, where I made up some more stir fry and had that for dinner before settling down to go to sleep.
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