Sapporo Snow and Ice Festival: Day 3

On the final day of our Sapporo trip, we decided started our day in search of some more action figures.  On our walk through part of the city, the boys stopped to play in the snow.

Figured what better way to enjoy Sapporo than to build our own snowman!

We might not be winning any awards this year, but it was fun and made people passing by smile!

On the way to the train station (there was a rumor of a great toy store there), these girls loved our 6'6" Stitch.  This is photographic proof of Brandon's success in helping international relations between our countries by making young and old alike smile.

We got to the train station, just as a mini blizzard hit.

We decided it was probably a good time to stay inside a bit and get some lunch.  We found a nice little restaurant on the sixth floor.  The boys were happy to warm up with some Sapporo Beer boots.

Chris had half-n-half, while Brandon had dark. 

After thawing out, and with our bellies happily full, we headed back to the Festival.  (It's at this point that I'd like to add in this English link to the Sapporo Snow Festival site that I just found.  It has some great information and photos on it, including the answer to Auntie A's questions regarding how they make the really big snow sculptures.)

We arrived back at the festival just in time to watch some of the snowboarding event.

They weren't doing too many exciting tricks while we were there, but it was interesting to see them snowboard down a man-made slope in the middle of the park, nonetheless.

And just in case you were wondering what they do when those mini-blizzards come through and deposit several inches of snow o top of their beautiful snow sculptures?

They snow-blow them, of course!

Next to the people snow blowing the snow steps (yes, I did find it ironic), there was fun to be had for the kiddos on a tiny train!

They also had a slide made out of blocks of ice, but I didn't get a pic of that.

Further down the park, we walked by the sculptors from various countries working on their carvings.  The transformation from the night before to today was impressive.

And my favorite:

Next stop in our day was to find the Ferris wheel on top of a building that Chris had seen the first day.  Our search led us here:

The building below the ferris wheel had floor after floor of interesting sights.  One floor was devoted to some sort of anime event.  That's where we found the singing and dancing anime character that Brandon put in his Day 1.5 post.

On another floor there was a bowling alley and arcade lounge.

It was pretty groovy.

Finally, we made it to the top and found the Ferris wheel!

We were definitely grateful for the enclosed cars, as it was a bit chilly to ride any other type of Ferris wheel.

And oh, what a view!

So fun to be able to see the city and the mountains!  And we got to watch as another snow storm blew in!

Loved our Ferris wheel ride!  We'd definitely recommend it to anyone visiting Sapporo!

And speaking of other things we'd recommend, I think we found our new favorite Italian restaurant!  It came highly recommended from Chris, and it now has our full endorsement as well.  Do not leave Sapporo without eating here.  In fact, it was so good, that we might recommend visiting Sapporo simply for the restaurant! 

Cheese Cheese is a very Italian restaurant with a fun, very cheesy atmosphere.  Our only caution is to bring a very hearty appetite, as the set portions are very, very generous!

The whole wait-staff called out a cheerful greeting when we entered, and we were quickly set at a bar facing the open kitchen.  The wall next to us had a beautiful display of Italian cookbooks that I admired.

And yes, that is a prosciutto carver to the bottom right.

I'd like to say I took pictures of every course of the set Brandon and I ordered, but to be honest, we were so enjoying the atmosphere (and watching all the cooking in front of us) that I didn't get everything. 

Try to imagine being served a semi-scrambled egg in a tiny dish as an appetizer.  Then, watch as our waitress (and chef) spin a bowl full of scrumptious greens on the counter while drizzling in a lovely light Caesar dressing, topping it off with your choice of grated goat or cow cheese. 

Then comes the amazing cheese fondue!  A wonderful assortment plate of dipping options.  And the hot cheese is spectacular!

Next, a giant brick-oven baked margherita pizza is set in front of you.  (Thankfully Brandon was REALLY hungry.)  

Just when you thought you couldn't eat another bite, they bring out a giant Parmesan cheese wheel.  This wheel has a bit of the center hollowed out to form a bowl.  They scrape the sides a bit to create fresh-grated Parmesan, and then they put hot noodles directly in the cheese wheel to make what they call, "Cheese Cheese Cheese Pasta."  Seriously!

After it is sufficiently cheese-cheese-cheesy, they serve it to you on a very hot plate.

This really was their crowning achievement for me!  I loved every bite!

Then, I realized, there was still dessert to be eaten.  Pineapple drizzled with syrup, two slices of Japanese cheese cake (and folks, we're talking cheesy cheese cake, not Cheese Cake Factory cheesecake) and raspberry sorbet.  So yummy!

So, overall, we had an absolutely wonderful trip to Sapporo!  We got to enjoy the glorious snow, found some awesome action figures to add to our collection, and the food was outstanding!  When can we go back - all that talk about Cheese Cheese made me hungry!  :)