Day 6 started early. We needed to get to Haneda Airport for our domestic flight up to the north island of Hokkaido. With our bags packed and our extra-warm coats we boarded the bus to head out to the coldest place in Japan, at the coldest time of the year. Checking in and boarding our flight was easy, and the short flight up went by fast. Once arrived at the Chitose Airport, all that was left was a bus ride into Sapporo and we'd be moments away from the exciting 59th Annual Sapporo Snow Festival!
Once outside, I was ecstatic to see almost cloudless blue skies. The weather today was going to be AWESOME for the Snow Festival, and while cold, it wasn't unbearable - even for a Californian like me (and a large portion of the group). While we rode the bus into the main city of Sapporo, we browsed through the free pamphlets and catalogs that listed great places to eat and cool info on Sapporo and the Snow Festival. Once we arrived at the hotel, we checked in, threw our things in our rooms, and promptly assembled in the hotel lobby to walk out to Odori Park to check out the main event.
As soon as we walked out the hotel doors - WHOOSH! The coldest wind chill I've ever felt. What was perfect clear skies only 30 minutes before had become practically a blizzard! ...Alright it wasn't quite THAT bad, but it was really windy and snowing a lot. While I love snow, enjoying the Snow Festival in such conditions wasn't quite what I'd had in mind. We got there and strolled around to look at a few sculptures, then walked up towards the big TV Tower (very reminiscent of Tokyo Tower) to grab some snacks.
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Then things miraculously cleared up! Just like that!
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Needless to say, there were some pretty awesome sculptures out there at the Snow Festival. All that walking in the cold had worked up our appetite, though, and we had set our sights on the Sapporo Beer Garden for all-you-can-eat lamb and all-you-can-drink Sapporo beer. We secured a table in the back that let us really get loose and chill out to great food and great company. Somewhere near the end of our meal, the Sapporo Beer Garden Bear appeared!! After we got over the initial confusion of why there was someone with a bear costume walking around, we took a pic with him (her??).
Wanting to get a few more moments at the Snow Festival before the night-time lights and things shut down at 10:00pm, we hopped into taxis and shot back over to the park where the festival was being held. We looked at the TV tower and saw that we had mere seconds to run through the festival to get some last-minute photos of the sculptures at night. After running a little ways (on dangerously slippery ground, no less!) we realized it was futile. We turned around to see the TV Tower completely shut down, beaming a bold 10:01 at us to rub it in.
Not to be done in by time, we remembered that right next to our hotel was the Susukino Ice Festival (itself an extension of the Snow Festival), so we headed back down the lively lit streets of Sapporo city.
We got there and sculptures were still well-lit, letting us extend our experience for just a little longer into the night. Some of these sculptures were almost TOO intricate - to the point that being surrounded by other ice sculptures made it difficult to discern exactly what the sculptures were supposed to be. The simpler ones turned out to be the most stunning. Check out the pics below!
And so, after taking in the entire festival, and running around full of delicious lamb, we said goodnight to the city of Sapporo.
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| Day 6
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| Sapporo Snow Festival
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