Museums, Factories, and Birthdays

Day two of Sapporo started out bright and early. The hotel we were staying in had free breakfast in the morning. So, we were able to eat our fill. Then we made plans for the day. On the agenda was a trip to the Sapporo beer museum. You see, one of the girls I went with loves beer. And it was her birthday. So, we decided to go to the birthplace of her favorite beer.

I wasn't expecting to spend too much time at the museum. After all, how interesting could a beer museum be? But, we ended up spending at least an hour touring the three floors. The displays were surprisingly interesting. And, there was even a diorama of how to make Sapporo beer. Though, I'm not sure I believe that Sapporo uses magical monkeys to create their product.

 

These models sure were entertaining! We had a good time looking at all of the exhibits on all of the floors. 

 

And, after we were done with the museum it was time for lunch. Sapporo is famous for its grilled meat. And luckily, there was a Bier Garten located next to the museum for us to have lunch at. We order two plates of meat and grilled them at the table on a hot plate shaped like Hokkaido. 

 

After lunch, we decided to go to 'Shiroi Koibito Park'. Now, at first we thought that this was just a chocolate factory. But it turned out to be much more. The first part was a chocolate factory. And, it was really interesting to see the production of the chocolate that the company was famous for. 

 

Then, the park turned into a chocolate lounge. Which was super exciting, because there is nothing more delicious than a cafe that's entire menu is made up of desserts. I ordered a hot chocolate and a piece of chocolate cake. Yum.

 

The cafe was located on the top floor, and had huge windows. So, during our snack, I got to look at the beautiful Sapporo scenery as it was snowing outside. Which made the hot chocolate all that much cozier to drink. 

 

After we were finished eating, things got a little strange. After the cafe was a gramophone hall and an old toy exhibit. We still can't figure out what they were doing at a chocolate factory. Though, I will say that the music playing in the gramophone hall was wonderful. 

Wall of photos in the toy exhibit.

Then, we got back down to the first floor. This is where all the souvenirs were being sold.  And, strangely  this is also were a bunch of odd statues were. Not one to miss an opportunity, I got a picture of Pinocchio. 

 

Once we were finished buying our gifts, it was time to head to dinner. There was an isakaiya recommended to us while we were still in Tokyo and we decided to check it out for our friend's birthday dinner. Now, for those not familiar with the term, isakaiya is type of bar in Japan. But, its specifically a bar to take large groups of people to. And, its known for having really tasty food. Now ours was a little on the fancier side, but we thought it was perfect for a birthday dinner. We order a side of smoked salmon and crab dumplings. The salmon was a little hard to eat, but the dumplings were delicious!

 

And that wrapped up our second day in Sapporo! Next post will be about the snow festival.