Today was morning in Hiroshima, evening in Tokyo, and we started this day with a run around Peace Memorial Park, and saw the Atomic Bomb Dome, which was impactful to say the least.
At this point, it was brunch time - and we are making the rounds of Eggs'N Things restaurants - we visited one in Osaka and now, one in Hiroshima.
When we were done, we went back to our apartment (which was not impressive, people - smelled like fish since it was on top of a seafood restaurant, which was not ideal), and got there right at 11am (check out time), and luckily, were packed up because the cleaning lady was trying to get into our apartment RIGHT AT 11AM! She was awkward, we were awkward, and we ran out of there, bags in hand.
We headed to the Hiroshima station where we got some snacks for our 4+ hour Shinkansen (and were reminded of home).
The train stations here have it DOWN-food everywhere, and the best part was that there was some kind of game/training/something for their professional baseball team: Hiroshima Toyo Carp. People were all decked out - reminded us of a Red Sox game where everyone is rallying. For food for our trip, Dave found some handmade gyoza, which are supposed to be eaten warm (he believes), but were delicious nonetheless while Tsana bought some watermelon - we are two different people. And then we found this...and did not buy it.
The train ride went smoothly and we arrived back in Tokyo at around 5pm. For our last hotel we decided to splurge a bit and are staying at the Tokyo Station Hotel. When the (last) Shinkansen arrived, we just went upstairs - lovely! We threw our stuff into the duplex-of-a-hotel-room (two floors!) and then headed back out to have dinner in Shimokitazawa, but not before Dave tested the hotel room's doorbell system.
We made reservations and farm-to-table kind of place called Rainbow cafe. It was a tapas style place and so we shared mushrooms (which were so good, we ordered a second helping), mashed potatoes, pickles, bruschetta (not what you'd think of - just garlic bread with truffles on it), and garlic bread and Dave got some Japanese steak. It didn't take long for us to realize that we were too old to be in this neighborhood (they are known for vintage clothes - read: Goodwill - and angsty record stores), so we grabbed tarts, dodged the rain (again), and headed home. Hilarious restaurant in the hip neighborhood...
Tomorrow on the agenda: Teamlabs Planet, last ramen (like our last meal), cooking store street in Tokyo, pottery-finding, and the final sushi.