Hakodate, Hokkaido, Japan

#hakodate #hakkiodo #japan #hollandamericacruise #Goryokakutower #goryokakupark #starcastle​

Arriving in this town, the ship moored just across from the local fish market, and after walking through this we went to the  converted warehouses containing a range of craft and food stalls. Walking through this more modern area was interesting but we felt that exploring further was a better option. There was a full range of ice creams available although we saved this for a later time where we visited the 'second best ice cream shop' in the town. They even sold it in a bread roll.
Passing by a vending machine, we noticed this drink and although we were feeling thirsty, we didn't fancy seeing what this drink was.

As well as being famous for it's ice creams, Hakodote is also known for it's steep streets which we soon had to climb to see more of the town. Arriving up the hill, we encountered a lovely park with an  imposing building where several school groups were also wandering around, possibly as part of a project.

As we climbed further we reached the aerial ropeway gondola which took us to the top of the  334m-high Mount Hakodate. From here we had superb views of the town and surrounding area. In the distance we could see the harbour and even our boat in the dock.  As we looked over, I noticed this group pointing out the boat and decided it would be good subject matter for my next iPad memory sketch of the holiday.

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Feeling more adventurous and having a lot of time left before we had to return to the ship, we descended from the mountain and decided to take our first tram ride out to the nearby Goryokaku park. Getting on the tram was easy but it wasn't until we had gone a few stops that we realised we should have collected a ticket from the machine on the way in. Fortunately, no one noticed and having collected a ticket (a couple of stops later)we sheepishly got off at the end having only paid for the last part of the journey.
Following google maps, we arrived near the park and decided to pay to go to the top of the nearby Goryokaku tower where we could have an aerial view of the park and the famous star designed castle remains.

This was well worth it and gave us a feel for the layout of the park and remains, before descending and walking to the entrance.

It was a pleasant walk around the park where we enjoyed the open spaces although we could see that the springtime cherry blossoms would prolificate here and unfortunately the Autumn leaves had only just started to appear.
Walking back to catch the tram, we remembered to get the ticket on entry and this journey helped our confidence on using public transport. A busy but fulfilling day.