Hokkaido Trip: Day 3 in Sapporo

After a day and a half of skiing and two nights in Niseko, we took another bus to Sapporo to check out the world famous Snow Festival. We had heard good things about the festival and were excited to check it out!

We arrived in Sapporo shortly after noon. The bus ride from Niseko to Sapporo is about 2.5 hours. We were hungry for lunch and headed to 'Ramen Alley' on our map of town. We wandered in to a tiny basement level road that was full of tiny little shops. We stopped in one that had seafood ramen on the menu because that was what Glenn wanted to order. I ordered the corn ramen and neither of them disappointed! This guy knew what he was doing! I think, ramen is to the Japanese what chicken noodle soup is to Americans. Yummy, warm, comfort food.

After lunch, we headed to Odori Park where the snow sculpture were located. We made an entire loop up and down both sides of the park and checked out each snow sculpture. Some were small and some were down right massive. I think the sign for this Chinese temple said that they used over 4000 tons of snow. It was a recreation of the Temple of Heaven in Beijiing.

This guy's name is Relaxikuma or relaxi-bear.

Sapporo has a tower very similar to the Tokyo tower, just colder.

This sculpture was by far the most impressive. It's hard to tell how big it is, but I'd say it was at least 3 stories high and an entire city block wide.

We bared the cold for several hours and then hopped in a cab to get to the Sapporo Beer Factory. There specialty is their beer, of course, and lamb that you grill yourself. It was 100 minutes of all you can eat and drink good times. I think we got our moneys worth. :)

There was also some entertainment. I think he was drunker than we were though.

Despite putting our jackets and bags in plastic bags when we arrived, everything still smelled like lamb for several days. We couldn't re-wear those clothes!

With several beers in us to keep us warm, we headed to the Susukino site where the ice sculptures were located.

It was neat to be at the festival on the first day because many of the snow and ice sculptures were still being completed. At this site, many of the sculptors were out there all night with chainsaws.

Bathroom and chu-hi break at Lawsons:

Good times and good friends!