Japanese Pizza

Konichiwa from Hiroshima! We managed to break away from our meetings with the President and the G7 gang by politely explaining to them that we're actually here on vacation. After several hours of intense rabbit negotiations, we headed out for some sightseeing. (PS - more about the history of the area and WWII in a different post. There is a lot to say but I'll save that for another time.)

We spent the day exploring with a local guide:

We spent the morning in Hiroshima and the afternoon on an island across the bay called Miyajima. It is home to two important Shinto shrines and a ton of "wild" deer. I was in complete Heaven, oohing and ahhing over them. They were adorable, just kill me now.

We really enjoyed talking to and visiting with our guide, and - surprise, surprise - we got on the topic of food and how G is, how shall we say, the slightest bit picky. Her eyes lit up and she said, "Oh! Today is lucky for you! We are having Japanese pizza!" G smiled politely and saved the extensive rolling of the eyes until she turned around. He girded his loins and endured, as always. And we had McDonald's for dinner tonight.

It turns out, though, that Japanese pizza is delicious!

It is comprised of the following layers, grilled together in the form of a pizza. From bottom to top, it is:

*a crepe
*seasonings
*cabbage
*soba noodles
*roasted garlic
*fried bits of pork
*fried egg
*cheese
*more seasonings

This isn't the most appetizing picture, but I wanted you to see the inside:

Despite what it looks like, it tasted very fresh and flavorful. I'm a fan! While we were waiting, our guide gave us an origami lesson.

As I said, more reflection upon and information about the city later, but Hiroshima has been a delightful surprise. We came here for the history, but have been so very pleasantly surprised by the beauty and vitality of the city. It has been more fun to walk around here than it was in Tokyo. I don't know what, exactly, we were expecting, but it wasn't this. Things are fun and upbeat and, well, normal.