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Another early start, my excursion started at 7.00. We drove over the Megami Ohashi Bridge, past the Mitsubishi Shipyard crossed back over the Asahi Ohashi Bridge and went to the Peace Park. There we saw the peace statue, a man with left hand raised to the sky where the bomb came from and his right held out for peace over the world. The park also had a couple of arches with strings of paper cranes (the peace symbol), a fountain with jets in the shape of bird wings and various statues and sculptures donated by different cities and countries around the world. The final things there were the remains of prison walls from a prison obliterated in the blast.
Our next visit was to the Atomic Bomb Museum. This held things like a melted clock, a replica of the Ukami Cathedral front, various pieces of fused items and a replica of 'Fatboy', the bomb that exploded over Nagasaki. After this we walked to the Hypocentre where the bomb had exploded 500 metres above the ground. On the way there we passed a flame which is only lit on the 9th of each month, (the bomb exploded on 9th August).
The final visit was to Glover Gardens, named after a Scotsman who had a had in the beginnings of both Mitsubishi and Kirin Breweries. There we saw his house, some excellent views of Nagasaki and statues to both Puccini and Madame Butterfly. The latter were there because the opera is set in both Nagasaki and Glover Gardens.
After lunch on board, Barbara, Linda, Rob and I went back ashore and just wandered around for a while. I tried to get online, unsuccessfully, for over half an hour. On the dockside at the sailaway there was a youth drumming group. The eldest couldn't have been more than 16, and they were excellent. I won my 5th gold sticker in the evening Individual Quiz and saw the magician Andy James in the theatre.
I really enjoyed my visit to Japan and much preferred Nagasaki to Osaka.
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