Sapporo Snow and Ice Festival: Day 1

On February 5th, we took a long weekend trip up to northern Japan to enjoy the Sapporo Snow & Ice Festival.  While our friends and families back home were wishing for warm weather, we were trading our subtropical island for some glorious snow!

The Naha Airport always has beautiful orchid displays, but we especially enjoyed this eye-catching orchid dress.  Two plane flights later, we were in snow heaven!

Our tour group of 14 (including our favorite sci-fi loving tour guide Chris) piled in taxis and headed over to the Sapporo Beer Garden for dinner.

Everything was picture perfect as we waited for our reservation time.

The candles outside even had pretty ice holders that helped add to the atmosphere.

There was even a beautiful pipe organ wagon that brought back happy memories of the Debence Antique Music World museum in Franklin, PA.

The Sapporo Beer Garden's downstairs is a large open room full of happy people, cooking and eating delicious mutton and drinking Sapporo beer.  Our group split into two tables and immediately joined in on the fun.

We cooked and ate yakiniku-style.  All-you-can-eat strips of mutton, bean sprouts, cabbage, and acorn squash (Japan's pumpkin) were available.  And the sauce was absolutely amazing!

We were all quite styling in our bibs as we ate and drank the night away.  (Brandon was quite taken with the Sapporo Dark and is hoping to find some on Okinawa.  I was quite taken with their Coke.)  It was so nice to share a wonderful meal and great conversation with our table.  We left feeling very, very full.  :) 

A wonderful night with friends, old and new, and a great start to our Sapporo adventure!

---Arielle