After we went through the beer museum, we saw that they were having a buffet (including beer) later that night, with crab!!!! So, after signing up for that, we went to this park. It's called Maruyama Koen and is a symbol of Sapporo. According to sightseeing pamphlet, this park features a virgin forest. I'm not exactly sure what that means.
The park was gorgeous! There was untouched snow everywhere. It was so bright! If it hadn't been so early in the day and we had much more to see and do, I would have made me some snow angels, or a snowman. But, it was so beautiful untouched.
Next, we went on a gondola ride up the side of Mt. Moiwa. It was just after sunset so as we rose up the side of the mountain, we were able to see an amazing view of the city, with the lights on. It was SOOOO cold, but I'm so glad we found it.
The city just went on and on. According to the recording as you ride up the elevator for TV tower, Sapporo is the fifth largest city in Japan.
After our trip up the mountain in the gondola, we made our way back to the Sapporo Beer Factory for a delicious meal of crab legs and sushi. We drank as much beer as we could stomach with our bellies already to max capacity.
Next, thanks to a referral from someone we met on the couchsurfing website, we found this random bar tucked away near the famous entertainment and restaurant area of Susukino. The owner is a 30 year transplant from California. (He's lived in Japan for 30 years, the transplant description is his own). Do you remember when I collected beer caps for so long back in college? This is something I would have liked to have done with all the caps... It was really cool.
The guy has over 300 different beers in his bar from all over the world. More importantly, he had all kinds of beer from OREGON!!!! Mostly Rogue brewery, but it was like a small piece of home tucked away in the streets of Hokkaido. I can confidently say that going to that bar was a favorite of all of us. We spent hours there.
Keep in mind that we started drinking when we went to the beer factory the first time, early in the afternoon. Then had our short break as we went up the mountain, to go back to the factory for dinner and more beer, to finishing it off with a cool guy from California, drinking microbrews.
The bar was covered in cans and bottles of different beers from years and years ago. Phred is definitely a packrat!!! But, it looked great in there.
Jeremy loved the Olympia wall hanging. His dad is a big fan of Oly... So, we had to take a few pictures to show Wade back home.
We had a great time!!!!
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