Today we arrived in Hakodate, Japan, ready for another full day out – and by “ready,” I mean upright and dressed. Functional enough. Alan was feeling sort of okay enough to go, so he did.
We began with a visit to the famous Morning Market, where vendors proudly displayed salmon roe, scallops, crab, sea urchin, and enough seafood to make the ocean feel underrepresented. Restaurants and food stalls were already busy serving bowls of donburi topped with fresh uni and other delicacies.
It was, however, much too early for me to be making life decisions involving sea urchin.
Alan agreed, so we both respectfully admired the seafood from a safe and not-so-hungry distance.
Next stop was the Trappistine Convent, the first women’s Catholic monastery in Japan, founded in 1898 by French nuns. Set on peaceful grounds outside the city, it still houses contemplative nuns who live a quiet life of prayer and work. The convent is known for its beautiful gardens, serene atmosphere, and products made by the sisters, including cookies and butter candy. I picked up some coconut cookies and a pretty card with a long-tailed tit painted on the front – good inspiration for my watercolor painting. The convent was calm, lovely, and the sort of place that makes you instinctively lower your voice.
From there we visited the restored Kanemori Red Brick Warehouse District. Originally built in 1909, these handsome brick warehouses now house shops, cafés, restaurants, and the Hakodate Beer Hall. Very charming area. I, however, was on a mission: find a kimono-style robe.
I raced through shops with determination and purpose.
I found many tempting things.
I found no robe.
The hunt will have to continue when I return to Japan in November.
Lunch was at a hotel restaurant and was surprisingly elegant: salad, bread and butter, chilled corn soup, a nicely cooked flank steak with a small potato, and dessert – a pudding made from fresh local milk. Simple, delicious, and proof that lunch can still be civilized while traveling by bus.
Then came an aerial tram ride to the summit of Mt. Hakodate. The views from the top were impressive, with the city spread below between two bays and mountains beyond. You can see why Hakodate is famous for this panorama. After taking it all in, we rejoined our faithful bus, which had driven up the mountain to collect us. Efficient and slightly magical.
Next was the day’s highlight: our final major stop at Goryokaku Tower, overlooking the historic star-shaped Fort Goryokaku. Built in the final years of the Edo period, it was Japan’s first Western-style citadel and is now a public park, museum site, and home to hundreds of cherry trees.
And this is where things got interesting.
Kathy – yes, my excellent travel accomplice from yesterday – was on this excursion too. While waiting for the elevator to the top of the town we saw all those cherry trees in full glorious bloom! We chatted about this, made a plan and went to the top of the tower with the group like proper tourists, took the required photos, admired the star-shaped layout… and then we did what any sensible photographers would do.
We bolted.
Down the elevator, out the door, and into the fort grounds we went, racing among the blossoms with cameras in hand. While much of the group remained above, admiring the view from on high, Kathy and I were already inside the fort, happily snapping photos under clouds of pink petals.
This time, we were ahead of the game.
Then it was back to the ship, tired, happy, kimono-less, and carrying far too many cherry blossom photos (is there even such a thing as too many of those?). A successful day by any reasonable standard.