June 20 & 21

Sapporo 


I hadn't done any research on what to see and do in Sapporo, so I was happy to just follow along with some of my favourite people.  Many people had already started to disperse today, but we saw a few sporadically.  Some have left for home (or the next trip), some have changed hotels, and some are at the same hotel for another night or two.  I had to change rooms (from a shared room to a single), so packed up and moved bike box and luggage to store in the lobby for the day.  Then I walked up to the Hokkaido University Botanic Garden.  As far as botanic gardens go, it was underwhelming, but it is associated with the university and apparently primarily serves a scientific and educational purpose.  It was, however, a lovely quiet place for a walk in downtown Sapporo.  It was established in 1886 and preserves a small part of the forest which formerly covered the Ishikari Plain.  In addition, there is an alpine garden, a greenhouse, and a small Ainu (indigenous) museum.  





In Japan it is standard practice to take your shoes off upon entering a building, temple, or certain rooms with a building (even change rooms, as I found out in Tokyo).  So - a sign is necessary when you should leave them on........




Back to the hotel to meet a group heading out for ramen lunch followed by an excursion to Hill of the Buddha.  Off to "Ramen Alley", officially known as Ganso Sapporo Ramen Yokocho, a historic 42-meter narrow street located in the bustling Susukino entertainment district.  There were 7 of us, and we totally filled the small place we chose.  We all had their specialty - Miso Corn Butter Ramen Noodles.  Very tasty!




Then we took a couple of taxis to venture halfway to where we came from yesterday.  To the Hill of the Buddha.  Sheila found out about this and it sounded rather interesting.  I'm pretty sure our taxi driver had never been, as he spent some time in the vicinity (and the cemetery) trying to find it.  AI says... The Hill of the Buddha is a stunning Buddhist shrine designed by the world-famous architect Tadao Ando.  It is located inside the peaceful grounds of the Makomanai Takino Cemetery (over 50,000 graves).

First we visited Easter Island and Stonehenge, though.  There are 33 of these giant (6.5m to 9.5m tall) Easter Island heads along the road, plus some smaller ones off to the side.  And throughout the park there are many more smaller (mostly animal) sculptures.  Just a beautiful and calming place to spend some time.









 














And - we could see Mount Eniwa (at Lake Shikotsu) from here.


The shrine itself features a massive 13.5m-tall stone Buddha statue.  It is built inside an artificial hill covered in lavender plants (in July the hill turns purple with 150,000 blooming lavender plants).   From a distance, only the top of the Buddha's head can be seen peeking out.  To see the whole statue, you walk past a beautiful water garden and then move through a dark, 40m concrete tunnel.  The tunnel leads to a wide open-air hall right at the feet of the giant statue.  Today, there were school orchestra groups performing in that open-air hall.    


Lavender wasn't fully in bloom yet, but some lupines were lovely.







Back to town and out for dinner at a little hole-in-the-wall restaurant with great food.  Then we were in search of a little jazz club, but dinner took too long and only 2 got in.  Downtown Sapporo is a happening place on Friday and Saturday nights!  That was ok with me; it was pretty smoky in there.  A few of us retired to a rooftop patio for drinks and then called it a night.  A lovely way to end...........


Here's a view of last night's rooftop patio from my hotel room.


I had a pretty slow start to the day.  So slow, in fact, that I missed saying farewell to a few folks; oops.  Today was just a stroll around town kind of day.  Visited a few shopping streets, a seafood market, Sapporo Factory shopping area, another big shopping area, and big park that was hosting the Sapporo City COS Satsucos (which I still don't understand, but which made for some pretty interesting people watching).  The grand total of my purchases was a Mont Bell t-shirt.  Back to the hotel to finish boxing up the bike.  Then out for dinner wth Sylvie, my roommate for 6 weeks.  Time to pack up and get luggage organized for tomorrow.


Final thoughts later..............




To be continued with the 21st......

......

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