For my last day in Sapporo I decided to
visit the ski jump from the 72 winter games. Having skiied the slalom
course the day before it only seemed appropriate. The instructions to
get there were a little pretty clear other than the "get off the bus and walk 10 minutes" (see above). I made my way to the
bus station alright and found the platform but as to where to go once I exited the bus was still a mystery. Just follow the squiggly line.
While I was figuring things out I found
this nice little bakery that made these delicious pastries with fried
chicken in them. Chick-Fil-A needs to take some notes from these gals who ran the bus station bakery.
After eating I ended up finding a picture guide in
broken English that laid out the directions to take once you have exited the bus. Even with the pictures it was a bit confusing.
I took a picture of the directions and hopped on the bus.
As I exited at the stop I realized I didn't have much help as the photos on the guide were taken during the spring
and everything was now covered in snow.
I made a few educated guesses and
followed a path that looked promising. My shoes were soaked by this
point.
While I was walking down the path a
Japanese couple rushed towards me and were very interested to talk to
me (they had a thing for porcelain skin I guess). They
ended up following me for the majority of my time at the jump and we conversed back and forth in English and Japanese. They
were rather nice and even more enthusiastic about just about everything. Our
conversation stayed pretty basic as my Japanese has suffered through the years.
When I finally rounded the corner the
ski lift was staring right down at me. It was much larger than I had
anticipated. I suppose that is how the skiers stay in the air for so
long.
As the ski lift ascended the hill, the magnitude of
the jump increased ten fold. It was quite a sight at the top.
I decided to give the jump a go. My new friends were nice enough to capture the moment.
They had some very educational exhibits.
Unbeknownst to me, a blizzard rolled in while I was in the museum. The walk back was not fun.
Getting back to town was fairly easy. Since it was my last day I
thought I would try and find this stupid government building for the
last time. Some way, some how, I finally stumbled upon it.
I have no idea how I continually missed
this thing, Its huge! A little pissed off at myself for being so stupid, I finally went inside
and it was rather enjoyable. I actually learned a few things I had no
idea about concerning some disputed northern islands between Japan and Russia. Would see again.
The kicker to this all was they sold bear
and seal meat in the gift shop! I really wanted to buy it but I did
some research and found out US customs wouldn't be too happy with my souvenir. So I had to leave my delicious feast in the country in which it
came.
For my last meal I did a lot of research and found a dish that Sapporo is famous for, which is soup curry. I then did way more research on the subject than a normal person would do and chose my winner based off of a proprietary matrix of data elements. The restaurant was a mile and a half from my hotel so I decided to walk. This was a poor decision as the temperature was the lowest it had been since I arrived in town.
Oh man was this delicious. I don’t
quite remember what I ordered but I did add cheese and okra. It was one of the
better dishes I have had in Japan.
I stumbled home with a stomach full of
hot liquid and jumped under my mountain of covers once I got home. To my surprise
NFL was on the TV. I am constantly surprised at how many countries
show American pro football, I would think foreign fans would hate it.
Especially since they were forced to watch the Bengals an the
Chargers.
There were no real winners here.
