A Long Day In Hakodate

   What a tiring day! We arrived in the city of Hakodate early in the morning on the north island (Hokkaido) of Japan and did not sail until late in the evening. Since we had a long stay, we decided to explore as much of the city as possible. It was a wonderful visit in the 8 hours that we were ashore. A shuttle dropped us at the main station where the tourist bureau is located. We were looking to get a little more information about the city. What a small world. The person who helped us went to Windsor University in the '80's. It was not the first time we have come across someone from Windsor in a far off place.

Up The Hill

   Our first stop was a very crowded Morning Market. The many shops were selling many different types of sea food – not as extensive as Busan but by the number of sellers a very active area. It struck us at how different this part of the world. We know very little about the riches from the sea and the sea food that is consumed!

   We continued along the waterfront to an area called “ Red Brick Warehouses”, which go back to when Hokodate was first opened to western trade. The building are filled with shops but they all seemed to be selling the same variety of souvenirs. We stopped at a street vendor and bought some fresh fried home made potato chips. They were very thick as they had been hand cut and were served hot! They were delicious and we snacked all day. A perfect “mid morning” snack.

Mt Hakodate View

    Next we headed up the steep slope to the Motomachi district. It was originally settled

Western Church

by the Russians who were trading here. It is a neat well kept area with houses unlike the usual style found in other parts of the city. After all the shires that we have seen we came across an Episcopal, Russian Orthodox and Roman Catholic church. In all 3 churches we had to take off our shoes in order to enter. This area also serves as the base for the Ropeway to the top of Mount Hakodate. The Princess crowds were long gone by the time we went up the mountain for wonderful views of the city. A quick 10 minutes and we were at the top.

Cherry Trees

   Our final destination was Goryokaku Park which is at the other end of the city! We knew that after a short walk from the ropeway we could catch a trolley. Travelling by public transportation in a foreign city is always an adventure. We jumped on the tram but could not figure out how to pay! We took a ticket and stood for the entire ride. When leaving the tram, you pay by the number of stops that you have passed. Fortunately we had enough coins to pay!

     The park is an old “fort” area complete with a moat and some original buildings. Since we are in the north part of Japan, the cherry blossoms are still very visible although they are past their prime. The local festival was a last week. The area had hundreds of trees still in bloom and there were many people were taking pictures as we walked through the park.

At the "Fort"

Another very crowded tram ride (no they did not push us in!) back to the central station and the shuttle back to the ship ended our time ashore.

    We made it back just before the rain started! There was a Japanese show in the theatre with traditional singing. Of course we did not understand any of it! We had been ashore in the city all day and returned happy but quite tired from all the walking. Tomorrow we are in our final port before crossing the north Pacific as we head for Alaska! We are looking forward to the relaxing days at sea.