Hakodate Days

1st of June

I wake up around 7AM, I look once again at my map ahead, I still have some time, so I go down the long underground malls looking for a small present with the town name to give to the hotel receptionist.

I have only done it once before with M in our Osaka hotel, but forgot to do it again, from this point I started doing it more often. I find a box of cheesecakes next to Sapporo Tower, come back around 10AM, hand it over and say thank you to this surprising stay, even though the city was cold for me, the spa at the top warmed me in more than one way.

At the Sapporo Station I remember the queue of people lining up for a sandwich vending machine,  I have now become one of those. I choose carefully a pork cutlet sandwich and head to the trains. I also grab a bento box with salmon as the journey is long.

It's not a Shinkansen but still the fastest train you can get. 3 hours of zig zag around Hokkaido beaches.

The station I arrive around 2pm isn't actually the closest one to main hakodate stations, but a good one to lead to the fort, and my hotel.

I decide not to bother with buses and grab a taxi.

Hotel, top floor, fantastic view of the tower, and the fort in front of me, moutains surround me, and the streets below seem to be 2 or 3 floors max. Strange to find such a tall hotel in this area.

I decide to head straight to the fort to see what the main fuss is about, at first I thought in the middle there was a temple, but it was actually a government style office building,

Wisteria is still blooming, amongst other flowers and fill this fort with a bit more joy , as the tourists from buses gather around to take one or another picture. A lot of dog walkers also enjoy their strolls, as I still have time to kill, I decide to see the sea.

I go in a straight line from the fort towards the southern tip of Hokkaido, it's an industrial area mostly of fisheries, no restaurants in sights, some big shops, it reminds me of some fishing areas around Portugal. I see no beach in sight and nothing to make me worthwhile stay longer. I head back to hotel and begin the working day.

Sky gets more interesting closer to sunset as I enjoy my view.

Late dinner around 9pm, Ramen downstairs is still open, I enjoy a bowl and head to sleep with the beautiful view of the lit up tower.

2nd of June

I wake up around 8 and decide to head to the main part of town, the main markets and touristy attractions. I still have time to do a bit of my daily routines of Japanese, duolingo, wanikani and sometimes listening the pimsleur lessons I have downloaded.

I take the tram and arrive at the main market. I know there's squids, crabs adn most importantly melon to try. I go for the a slice of that, and head towards the rest of touristy areas.

From the docks you can see the streets built for/by foreingers, a lot of houses in european style, some used to be embassies.

An orthodox church surprises me in the middle, next to it even a russian food place.

I find myself in front of a common sight in most towns, a cable car that goes up the observatory, not sure if this view is called 100 thousand dollars view, but probably something like that.  Upon some closer inspection I remind myself, that the map Hokkaido in Hitman uses the same exact trolley and the moutain/view is taken from here.

I proceed to the next set of attractions, a kids theme park, with a small zoo, all free to enter, I enjoy some silly animals, like peacocks, bunnies and Tanuki, always fun for a more casual picture. The temple around this area, overlooking the mountain observatory with the lush greenery makes it perfect for my photography.

I head back on the tram towards the main market area to grab a late burger, a weird America style restaurant with clowns and country music, called Pierrot, anyway, the burger was more than enough and I need to head back to work.

The night picks up with a bit more rain and the pictures I take look even better of the tower in front of me.

As I'm only here for two nights, I once again need to pack and get ready for Aomori.