The day started off with a partly cloudy day with no rain and temperatures around 60 degrees Fahrenheit. As usual, the first thing I did every morning was to open the drapes and go out onto the balcony. If you have one, use it. I am not going to lie; I really like having the balcony room even though it does cost a little bit more. But it is well worth it.
My booked excursion for the day was the “Urban Exploration of Hakodate” (city tour). During the waiting period for our tour group to arrive at the main theater, I ran into my two new friends from Vancouver, Canada. They were Derek and Marie. Like the day before, we were led off the gangway and loaded into our perspective tour buses. The first stop for the tour was the Hakodate Fish Market. It was a series of open-air markets selling the latest catches of fish, octopus, squid and shellfish, along with the usual souvenir shops for the tourists. It was interesting to see, and I bought some souvenirs to remember my trip.
After getting amble time to see the various shops, we loaded back on the bus to the next stop, Goryokaku tower. This tower is 350 feet (107 meters) high and has an observation platform that overlooks the cherry blossoms and Goryokaku Park. Goryokaku is a star shaped fort. From the observation deck you can see Mount Hakodate, Tsugaru Strait and the Yokotsu mountain range. As you can see from the pictures, it has quite a view. After taking the elevator to the observation deck and then back down, Derek, Marie and I decided to explore the grounds inside the fort, walking through all the cherry blossom groves. Even though it started lightly sprinkling, the views were awesome from above and the walk through the cherry blossom trees was spectacular.
The tour’s last stop was at the Hakodate Meijikan indoor shopping mall. We perused through various stores and decided that we would go find somewhere to eat. Originally, we found a small ramen place but made the decision to press on for somewhere else. We found a great restaurant, Genghis Khan Meimei-Tei. This restaurant has the grill in the middle of the table and the server brings out the uncooked food for us to cook. With a little help from Google Translate we were able to order, and I got to a little practice of my very limited Japanese. The meal was outstanding. If you find yourself in Hakodate, I would definitely recommend this restaurant.
Once back at the ship, I stopped at my usual Schooner Bar for a couple of drinks as I waited for my dinner time at the main dining hall. This was our last port until we cross the Pacific and stop in Seattle.
