Stepping up to a church, shrine & garden

Nearly every stop today involved climbing many sets of stairs and our legs felt it at the end of the day.

First stop was the Twenty-Six Martyrs Monument, dedicated to 26 missionaries and Christians executed here in the 16th century, when missionary activities were prohibited. They became saints in the 20th century. The style of the museum and church reminded me of Gaudi style in Spain (Barcelona - Sagrada familia) with its mosaics and free flowing architecture. The stories about the hidden Christians was really interesting.

Next stop is the city’s major Shinto shrine, Suwa Shrine, that sits atop a hill overlooking Nagasaki. There are 277 stone steps leading up the mountain to the shrine complex. When we arrived a young couple had just got married and we basically gatecrashed their wedding. They seemed very happy and probably gave them an extra memory on their special day. Not sure if the etiquette was correct though.

Also at the shrine were s small children dressed in traditional clothes. At ages 3 and 7 for girls and 5 for boys, they are presented to the shrine but I haven't got the full understanding of this yet - will have to google it. What I do know though is they are just so cute.

After a lovely lunch beside the harbour, we visited Glover Garden. This open air museum has six Western-style buildings from all over the city that were relocated here – grand mansions that were once home to Nagasaki’s foreign residents, such as European diplomats and foreign traders. Fortunately many of the steps were replaced with escalators and travelators. The buildings were magnificent as were the views over the harbour.

Nagasaki is a very pretty city - it's our last night here - off to Hiroshima in the morning.Read more