Hiroshima part tre'

Near downtown is Hiroshima Castle. It is an old castle with a couple of moats and a fairly tall keep, although nothing like Osaka or Himeji. Here, the younguns sit in a completely unposed, spontaneous situation ripe for photo taking.

Inside the castle, you can find some genuine Japanese people all dressed up in their everyday wear.



The old buildings, and especially old castles, are quite ornate. Here is a roofline in the castle complex that shows off a stylized version of the carp that Hiroshima claims as its symbol.


The keep, the moat, the goat and his keeper.




The Japanese love their flowers. This beauty was in a pot outside a family home where there was no room between the wall and the road.

From atop the castle keep, you can get a pretty good veiw of the city. Off in the distance, just on the horizon, beyond the saucer shaped sports dome, you can see Mt. Mizen, the highest point of the island Miyajima. You can read more about this beautiful island in a subsequent post, and perhaps even a picture pointing back the other way from the top!

Hiroshima part deux

Hiroshima is a city of bridges. Several small rivers meet at the city, and join the bay or the Ota River. The Ota River Delta is also in Hiroshima, so there is a need for many bridges.






Like many towns, a lot of shopping areas are located in arcades such as the one above. We found both a Subway and a Mr. Donut, both of which beckoned us. The Subway was definitely Japanese, with a menu and taste unlike our American versions. Mr. Donut was Mr. Donut.



As I mentioned in the previous manhole cover post, Hiroshima is proud of its baseball team, the Carp. Here at the Carp Stadium, you can see the directions for the fans. I have it on good authority that the words say something like "Please to run over opposing team fans with bicycle whenever possible".

It was a decent looking and decently sized stadium downtown Hiroshima. Perhaps The Pettus Pie will tell you their story of going to a Carps game one evening together.

At Number 7

Number 7 cartoon in the top ten goes to a series that was only made for ten years: 1930-39. That can only mean Betty Boop!

Made by Fleischer Studios, the same studios as Popeye, Betty made its entire run in black and white, and in her first appearance, she was a poodle! For the first three or four years, the cartoon was considered quite racy, and for adults only, although they wouldn't be considered as such today. But in 1933/34, the movie industry implemented the self-censoring Hays Code, and Betty's dress and character were toned down.





Part of the reason Betty is so great is because of how much the girls enjoyed the VHS versions of her films when they were kids, and how much their parents enjoyed their entertainment. The films were always so musical and happy. The animation was very good for the time, with a lot of thought put into the well-designed backgrounds, and in several episodes, the moving perspective was very well done, such as Betty Boop and the Little King.

You can see several of Betty's episodes at: The Digital Archive

One of our favorite episodes was The Musical Mountaineers .
Hillbillies may still be one the few groups you cans till parody in such a fashion. But, in the end, the episode is more affectionate than harsh stereotype.


Betty also shares something with Ashley Wilkes' family in THIS EPISODE.

Hiroshima Okonomiyaki

Wikipedia says:

"Okonomiyaki (お好み焼き^?) is a Japanese savoury pancake containing a variety of ingredients. The name is derived from the word okonomi, meaning "what you like" or "what you want", and yaki meaning "grilled" or "cooked" (cf. yakitori and yakisoba). Okonomiyaki is mainly associated with Kansai or Hiroshima areas of Japan, but is widely available throughout the country. Toppings and batters tend to vary according to region."

Well, we were in Hiroshima, so here is our tale.

We arrived in the afternoon in Hiroshima, took a short side trip from the Hostel to look at some fabric that Amanda was interested in getting for a special quilt she plans. Amanda and Frances continued to look at fabric, while the rest of us wandered through some back streets and alleys, a fair distance from the main routes. In one alley we encountered an older lady who came out from her shop and smiled at us, and we returned the smile, continuing to explore. After a while, it occurred to us that we should return to the fabric shop and reassemble for dinner. We passed by the lady and her shop, and we realized it was a small cafe. She was a little more assertive this time, and not only smiled, but motioned us inside. Wade and I returned to the fabric shop and retrieved our spousal units while the others waited at the cafe. It was a tiny place that had room for us, with only one or two empty seats left, certainly a "mom and pop shop". The old lady called down for her husband who decended from what apparently was an upstairs apartment.

Since okonomiyaki was the specialty of Hiroshima, and almost the only thing on the menu, we ordered it. The preparation was a ritual that the chef had apparently observed for quite a long time.


The description of "pancake with a variety of ingredients" does not fully describe the concoction.
It had some cabbage-like vegetables, some other vegetables, some shrimp, some egg, some sprouts, some squid, and who knows what else.

Small bottles of beer were not available, so Matt took the lead and the rest of us followed.
The Chef's assistant fried us some noodles. Mmmmmm.

They seemed quite happy to have our business, it probably made their week. While we were there, a Japanese man came in for dinner. He appeared to be a regular customer, and he got his food and ate it before we even came close to finishing ours.




After dinner, outside the cafe, Ashley Wilkes' Daddy demonstrates the common pose among the young Japanese, and looks thoroughly Japanese doing it. Im sure the Kirin had no influence.
It was a very enjoyable evening, with a culinary adventure and followed by a two mile hike back to the hostel.

Eufaula 2010

Ashley Wilkes' Mom and I went to Eufaula. I had never taken her there, so it was a first for her. One of the big attractions of the town is its high concentration of 19th century mansions and old homes. For a small town, it has quite a few.



The nickname is "Bluff City", and I suppose it isn't related to poker, but to the fact that it sits upon a high bluff above the Chattahoochee River.

Ashley Wilkes' Momma and I stepped into an antique shop to see what we could find. I saw several faded prints of these English paintings for sale. Every home had a copy, it seemed. My Big Mama had a copy of them in her Living Room. I'm not sure where they are now. They thought a lot of these copies, as the price was $135 each, "firm"!

Just like Huntsville, Eufaula had a Martin Theater, but theirs was more like the Lyric Theater in Huntsville, just across from the Martin. It was burned out and hollow inside.

The downtown is quite pretty, and on this day, you can see it was very hot. (click on the photo for a bigger view)





The citizens are proud of their Confederate heritage. Apparently in 1865 their mayor scooted out of town just as word of Appomatox arrived to meet the Union Army's march to the sea to let them know of Lee's surrender in order that the town might not be burned to the ground. Then he rushed back to town to make sure all the Confederates knew as well, so that trouble didn't break out and result in the town burning after all. Units from Eufaula apparently had quite a reputation in the Virginia theatre for bravery and ferocity.

The building behind houses a Cajun restaurant that has poor service, but pretty good food. Our lunch cost twice what it ought, but it also had twice as much food as it ought. So, we took the leftovers back to the farm and had another meal of it.




There is just one hospital in Barbour County, and it is in Eufaula. This is how it looks today.

This is what the hospital looked like in 1956 when I drew my first breath.

Ancestors

My beloved grandparents, B. and Ruth. I miss them.