Day 1 Nagasaki
Made my way to Nagasaki after a 2 hour train ride on which I got to observe the Japanese people some more and look at stunning views.
Whilst I was walking to the hostel I started to realize that I was surrounded by mountains. I soon discovered, that also meant that there are a lot of hills here. One of which I had to get up to, to get to the hostel, a steep hill might I add. More of that fun exercise I've missed so much...
After seeing my amazing room, another great bed and some privacy. Even though it is a hostel dorm bed, it's closed of from the others. I set out to visit The Atomic Bomb Museum and Peace Park. The Museum was very impressive and moving, wow. It's unimaginable that something like that happened (and so are so many other things still happening today). Seeing pictures and videos of that day and hearing survivors story, it must have been awful to have died that day but also awful to have lived, survived. Losing your family, your home, your health. At that point you wonder, what people worry about sometimes, including me at times. The world can be such a rotten place due to mankind themselves.
I slowly made my way to the exit to visit the Peace Park. I passed through another park first with beautiful statues and a memorial statue. Then the Peace park follows. First thing I saw was the Peace Fountain shaped like to wings of a dove, so the sign said. Beautiful and looking in between the "wings", I also saw the Peace Statue through it. The statue is huge and very serene. The sign said that the hand pointing up was to warn for the atomic bomb, the hand to the side for peace. The leg down for a to-get-into-action position and the other leg in a meditation state. More of the Japanese balance between things. *Added later: I read that the eyes are closed as to pray for the victims.
I walked to the hill next to it, to see the Cathedral until it got a little dark and made my way back to have dinner. I found a Japanese dinging place and had a relaxed dinner. After which I walked back to the hostel, up the hill, took in the views by night and returned to the room to relax the rest of the night.
Day 2 Nagasaki
I really wanted to go to "Battleship Island", little did I know you HAVE to make early reservations for it. The government made special rules for the island and you can only go with a tour group. There are only 3 companies that organize a tour, so I was out of luck, this time.
I decided to walk around the city for a bit and see some of the other hot spots...I ended up walking for about 5-6hours straight..But I did see A LOT, obviously! Dejima (another Dutch related hot spot), Glover garden (beautiful views), Seaside park (with a flee market haha/rommelmarkt met kleedjes enzo), Dejima Wharf and Promenade, Chinatown, Peace museum, The Spectacles Bridge (two arches and therefor looks like spectacles hence the name haha) and all the surrounding bridges and some other 'regular' areas that I passed through.
I noticed that Japanese people NEVER walk in shoes barefoot by the way, always with a pantyhose or socks (visible or not). They don't wear flipflops/slippers, only inside the house or building if applicable.
As you can imagine I was quite beat and hungry since all I had was breakfast, an apple and a snack. Went back to the hostel, hoping to buy a sandwich from the adjoining cafe, which unfortunately is closed on Sundays and Mondays -_-. Luckily I still had my mega apple that I bought a few days ago, MJUM!
I left again around 7 pm, ate something at the station and went on a tour I booked earlier today: Nagasaki by night. It was in the top 3 in 2012 of BEST views by night or something of the WORLD. It takes you 20 minutes to get there at a height of 330 m (same height as the Tokyo Tower) and the views were AMAZING! I have never seen so many lights which weren't Christmas or other decorative lights! It totally made up for me not being able to do the Battleship Island tour.
Last night here, I've got half a day left tomorrow and plan to do as little as possible but we'll see!
Day 3 Nagasaki
As promised, I did as little as possible :), went to the Penguin Aquarium, which was really small...took me about 30 minutes from start to finish...cute but was it worth a 30 minute bus ride?
And that's it for Nagasaki this time. I talked to the hostel staff this morning and one of them, a guy, went to Holland 4 years ago. He told me about the special connection between Nagasaki and Holland and that they only open their hearts to Holland...and China. When he visited Holland, he bought an "Oma fiets" (a type of bike in Holland) and he brought it with him to Nagasaki, leaving his other luggage with the trash. He even showed me the bike. I love hearing stories like these and am falling more and more in love with Japan each day.
Flying to Osaka soon for a night close to the airport to pick up my friend at the airport tomorrow to travel together for the remainder of this holiday! Excited!
Until next time, Sayonara :)!
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