Otaru and Sapporo

Another day in another place.

 Konichawa

We were up very early this morning and standing out on the Promenade Deck watching as Otaru came into view.

Mme is excited and nostalgic about visiting Otaru. She first came here in 1972 (such a long time ago - she is very, very old) to see the Winter Olympics which were held in Sapporo, Japan.  Mme and five other Australian people stayed in a ryokan  in Otaru and took the train each day to Sapporo and then to an Olympic event.  It was a very important time for Japan, it was our very first Winter Olympics.

Today I travelled around  in the Capacious Black Bag, it is very dark and cramped but I could hear every word people say.  It is a long walk to the JR Station, along the way we walked past the steam clock, I could hear it whistle.

The Otaru Steam Clock - you cannot hear the sound in a photo but you can see the steam.

I could also hear the words Mme used when she found there was no one at the ticket office and she had to buy a train ticket at one of those (Sailor Words) vending machines.  We were on the train for less than one hour and I had one quick look out the window. There was snow on the mountains and many trees and many, many buildings.  Mme showed me the overpass she walked on one day in 1972 when a landslide blocked the train line and she had to take the bus to Otaru.  It was quite an adventure and I will ask her to tell me the big story one day when we are home in Australia.

The sun was shining in Sapporo and the very high building was just near the train station.  Mme spoke to some people from Our Ship and we walked about to find the door to the very high building. First we found the back door and then we found the elevator.

And then we found the restaurant and the man in charge of the restaurant showed  us to our very own table where we could look out the window towards the mountains and then down a long, long way to the streets below.

This is the view from our table.  Mme says there is a ski jump in the distance.  Can you see it?

And now we have a view of one of the very big streets in Sapporo.  And we are still sitting at the very same table!

Another new experience today for this little Japanese dog.  It was very exciting. The restaurant in the very high building is a revolving restaurant.  It turns very slowly in a circle.  I could not see it move at all at first but I kept watching another very high building outside and in the time Mme eats her meal it moves to a different place in the window.

How does this happen?

This is the hotel with the revolving restaurant - look up. It is the round section at the very top.

We could not spend any time looking about Sapporo as we had to be back on Our Ship by 5.30 pm or we would be left behind.  Mme had a plan if we were too late for the ship, but today she did not want to put it into practice.

Before we left Otaru railway station Mme took a photo.  She says it looks the same as it did in 1972. Is this possible?

On the way to Our Ship from the JR Station in Otaru, we walked down to the canal, greeted a pair of school-girls, Mme took a photo of an old man sketching alongside the canal and we walked over the very long, orange bridge and back to the dockside.  It was a long, long way.

The old man sketching along side the canal.  The seagull on the wall is watching him very, very closely.

The very long, orange bridge

Tomono Kawamura, Japanese concert pianist, is playing in the Frans Hals Lounge tonight.  I hinted to Mme that I would like to listen to her music but Mme told me we must have an early night as there is another full day of sight seeing in Hakodate tomorrow.

 I was very disappointed to miss the concert. My disappointment has made me not-so-very excited about visiting the port of Hakodate tomorrow.

Mme tells me to cheer up.  Missing the concert, she says, is not the end of the world.

The end of the world.  How terrible.  I won't sleep at all tonight, I need to be very ready to face such a terrible catastrophe.

I am very, very worried.