Walk to Makomanai

On Tuesday, we decided to take advantage of the spectacular sunny weather and walk to Makomanai along the Toyohira river.

Here we are already pretty close to our destination. In total, it's about 5-6 km I believe to Makomanai from where we live. 

 

There are lots of bridges to pass. 

 

Mt Moiwa looks so small and unimposing from this angle and distance. To think we were so high up the day before! 

 

Some people have super cool yards.

 

Sunny signs of summer:

 

All the spruces are making new growth.

The first wisteria we've seen in bloom.

 

Ah this bridge. Tucked away. :)

 

We picked up some lunch (sushi of course) from a grocery store deli and went in search of an appropriate lunch spot. On our way, we found a blooming little apple tree with some friends who also found lunch. 

Ick.

 

*giggles*

 

 We sat at the end of a playground with views of this park.

Apparently, it was made in honor of the Sapporo winter olympics in 1972. 

I believe.

After dinner, we let Elisabeth go down the slide a few dozen times. 

 

 Then we went to investigate the mock ancient Greek ruins. ;)

Oooh a cherry tree!

 

While taking the pictures, Elisabeth played with my sunglasses, took off her socks (her shoes were long gone at this point), and was generally having a good time.

 The bike parking lot by the Makomanai station. 

The subway parked at the station waiting to leave. 

 

It was pretty empty so I dared to take a quickie snapshot so you can see where we spend our time travelling (when we aren't walking)! 

 

It was another fun day! :)

Mt Moiwa

Last Monday, the weather cleared up and we had a gorgeous day out at the park with my dad. Elisabeth and I took him to see our local playground (where my camera died so this is it for the pictures of that part of the day), then to Seishin riverside park for some cherry blossom appreciation. 

Then when Kevin came home later that afternoon, we packed up our homemade sushi and headed out to Mt Moiwa. We decided to walk there since there wasn't too far on the map. And walking is the best way to see anything when you travel! 

We walked down Kanjo-dori in the direction of the mountain and were soon looking up at the tracks the cable cars go up! (Photo by Kevin)

 

It's about $17 per person to get a round trip up and down the mountain using the cable cars but oh so worth it! Especially if you wisely time it like we did where you see the city during daylight hours, then at sunset and then at night. 

We were rewarded with these views at the top outside the building.

 

Here you can see a bit of the building and the temple. 

 

Prayers.

 

These mountains to the south of us are my favorite view in the city and I want to burn the memory to my brain forever of how beautiful they are.

 

 Here you can see Sapporo Dome and the eastern part of town.

Downtown Sapporo.

We had no idea it was this big! 

 

Here you can see how the Toyohira river cuts through the city. 

That bit of trees on the left under the river is the tail end of Nakajima park that we've been to many times. And that archy bridge is the lookout bit of Horohira bridge which I've blogged about before too.

The last bridge on the right is the one we took pictures from above!

I believe the little "hill" in this picture is Maruyama as in we had our hanami at the base of it a while back.

 

The first chunk of the mountain you go up the rope way. Then you stop at a gift shop and then go up the rest in this cable car trip that's just a couple minutes. Like a roller coaster! :)

 

At the top of the observation deck the views are just breathtaking.

 

They have a "love lock" tradition at the top of the observation deck.

 

And this bell is what lovers are supposed to ring together. I think.

 

 

As we ate our sushi at the top of the observation deck, the sun started to go down. And it started getting MUCH colder. FAST!

Within minutes the sun was gone and the clouds descended. 

The south side of the mountain was the only part that we could see some city lights through. We basically were in the clouds the rest of the time. It was still beautiful even though we didn't get to see the real city lights of Sapporo.

 

It's super hazy and cold in the clouds!

 

Here's a poster of what the views are like on a clear night! Bummer we missed it but oh well! 

On the ride down the mountain we saw a good part of the city lights when we got beneath the clouds, it was GORGEOUS! 

 

This was definitely a highlight of our trip and I am so glad we finally went! :)