Learning from yesterday, we got up a bit later today. It was a cold and snowy day, with fresh snowfall landing on our heads as soon as we left the hotel. Our hotel was only a few short minutes (less than a 50m walk) from the subway entrance, which is where we headed. A trip to Otaru and Yoichi was on the cards for today.
The train to Otaru left fairly regularly and was a normal city train. The snow was falling thicker as the train wound away from Sapporo and toward the ocean. Soon, the ocean was at our side as the train traveled towards Otaru on snow-covered tracks. We could see seagulls diving into the ocean in search of small fish and I wondered how they could stand the cold. The water did not look inviting, with a wall of snow covering any possible beach.
Soon we had arrived at Otaru. Our goal was the Nikka Whiskey distillery at Yoichi, but to get there we had to change trains at Otaru. The train from Otaru to Yoichi was not regular during Winter-time, and came every few hours. We had about an hour to the next train, so took a walk down to the canals at Otaru. The snow was even thicker and fell heavily as we walked. In no time at all, our faces were stinging from the cold wind that drove the snow down.
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| Snowfall in Otaru |
The canal area was somewhat traditional and was very picturesque. The snow piled on every surface that I could see like a thick, soft pillow.
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| Otaru Canal |
We headed back to the train station to board the train to Yoichi. The Nikka whiskey Distillery was a few minutes walk straight down from the station. We planned to catch the train back in 2 hours time, which was the next train back. Entrance was free, including free whiskey tastings.
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| Nikka Distillery |
The tours that ran were all in Japanese, so we picked up an English brochure and did a self-guide tour through the distillery grounds. The grounds in themselves were beautiful to see, with thick snow piled up against the buildings, enough to make some areas inaccessible. The story of the distillery was interesting even to myself, a non-drinker. We wandered so slowly, that by the time we reached the free whiskey tasting we had only half an hour left until the train back.
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| High snow piled up between buildings at Nikka Distillery |
Because it took us so long, we ran out of time to have any lunch and had to leg it back to the train station. There was a few minutes stopover in Otaru (about 10 minutes) which was just enough time to get some pringle-style chips from a convenience store to tide us over until we got into Sapporo and could get some real food. We arrived in Sapporo Station at 4pm with growling stomachs and found a restaurant in the train station to eat a quick meal at. Having not had anything besides the chips since breakfast at 9am that morning, and having been shivering in the cold, we were absolutely starving and so grateful for a hot meal.
With lunch done, we took the subway back to Nakajima Koen and walked around the park itself for a while. I attempted to make my first ever snowman, but got bored very quickly and gave up after five minutes had created nothing more than a small bump on the ground. I did enjoy making a snow angel. I was surprised with the fine powder-like quality of the snow which meant that it was easy to brush off after creating my snow angel. It felt like icing sugar rubbing through my fingers.
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| Nakajima Koen at night |
As another snow-first, I ended the day by falling flat on my back as we headed back towards the hotel. I was mildly embarrassed until a Japanese businessman skidded on the same patch of sidewalk I had, nearly toppling over but managing to bounce back off his briefcase.
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| Bikes at Nakajima Koen |
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| Building a Snowman |
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