With your local insider as your choice GPS, guidebook, and Google, you’ll get to grips with central Hiroshima – an energetic hub of friendly locals, pristine parks, tightly-packed sake bars, and plenty of Okonomiyaki (savory pancake) restaurants serving Hiroshima’s “soul food”. Shop for souvenirs and survey the city from Orizuru Tower, then, at the north end of an island formed by two rivers – Ota and Motoyasu – see the Peace Memorial Park, where survivors of the attack are eager to share their stories. Between these two distinct sides of Hiroshima, you’ll learn to see the city through a local lens, appreciating both present-day Hiroshima’s thriving cosmopolitan community and the extreme difficulties its people have overcome to get here.