We spent a few days staying in the largest city in Hokkaido before we caught our plane back to the UK. Sapporo was famous for Sapporo lager beer – tried and thoroughly tested by us and found to be very good. The city hosted the Winter Olympics in 1972.
We enjoyed our stay in Sapporo, the streets were wide and tree lined and getting around the city was easy by trams, buses and underground trains as well as on foot. Tony said the cleanliness and orderliness of the place reminded him of Singapore.
During the winter months the city was under several metres of snow and there were huge subterranean shopping malls connected by underground walkways so business could continue when sub zero temperatures brought the city to a standstill.
The food halls were extensive and in front of each counter stood a salesperson with a tray of tasting samples. I tried several different types of tasty morsels not quite knowing what I was eating, but it all tasted good. I bought a bottle of sake (rice wine) but not before I had sampled a tot of several different types – and this was at 10 am.
We watched a large group of people sitting on the pavement removing petals from bunches of flowers; I was told they were making a carpet of petals.
We returned later that evening to admire their handiwork. The smell of the petals was almost overpowering in the warm night air.
