The Sapporo beer museum, named not only after the city but also after the beer label, is located in the old factory. We passed the modern brewery on the way from the airport to the hotel.
Our first day in Sapporo is a do-it-yourself day in. Carol finds a brochure for snowshoeing a sculpture garden and the Sapporo Arts Center.
We take a taxi the 15km out of town into the hills and forest to the place. After paying for the expensive taxi ride, we arrive and discover the modest rental fee for the snowshoes is "cash only"! After significant groveling, CJ manages to get them to waive the fee. Said groveling is conducted using the translation apps on CJ's phone and the attendant's phone since she didn't speak English and we don't speak Japanese.
Between a video and written instructions, securing the snowshoes to our feet was complicated. It did not help that our less flexible aging bodies made getting into the snowshoes virtually impossible.
The same nice lady who negotiated our fee waiver arrives to save the day and installs the snowshoes on each of our feet.
We head out on the trek. Seeing the course map for the first time, CJ understands why they were a bit worried we could not complete the trek in five hours. This expensive foray out of Sapporo and into the foothills turns from a walk through a snow-covered sculpture garden into a photo op.
We attempt to return to Sapporo. Three attempts does not get us an Uber driver. There is a bus we can take to the subway station. We have seen the bus return three times. It is not returning. Again using a translation app, Carol finds a young couple who go to the office and get the staff to call us a taxi.
We are off to the Sapporo Beer Museum. The route takes us along the river and under a good part of the city. By the time we arrive at the museum, we are overdue for lunch. It is snowing heavily.
The flight from Sydney to Haneda follows a straight as an arrow line. There is nothing in Australia we must avoid. The aircraft is not over PNG long enough to cause a diversion and after PNG there is nothing but Pacific Ocean water until wheels down in Japan.
For the record, ANA service is good. The Boeing 787-900 Dreamliner is every bit as good as the Airbus A-350. The ANA pod leaves a lot to be desired. The food is not very good. The Gruner Veltliner was outstanding, the French syrah from Provence not very good, and the sake was quite tasty.
The best part of the flight was discovering a Japanese toilet on the plane. There was one in the lounge but not on the ancient Boeing 777-200 that flew us to Sapporo. ANA ground service was excellent throughout with wheelchair service a Godsend on all legs.
We departed Adelaide at 35C and landed in Sapporo to 3C. On the transfer from the airport, it began snowing.
It was with great anticipation and appreciation that we accepted our Japanese travel agents offer to shuttle us to the airport in a swank Mercedes.
It was with high anxiety when we called him to report Qantas, those dirty rat bastards, cancelled our 1255 flight that was supposed to get us comfortably into the international terminal and lounge by 3p and offered us a flight with zero chance of making our connection to ANA.
CJ was in the process of booking a 2pm Virgin Australia flight when it disappeared. A call to Virgin confirmed the last seats had been sold.
We booked a flight that gave us 2.5 hours to retrieve luggage, transfer to the international terminal, check-in and get to the gate. Minor but manageable anxiety.
Halfway to Sydney storms in the Sydney area put us in an aloft hold that lasted nearly an hour. High anxiety returns. After landing, we're told lightning strikes have disrupted all ground services (baggage loading/unloading, aircraft servicing, refueling). Planes are backed up all over the airport's tarmac waiting for gates to clear. The ground hold eats another 45 minutes of our transfer time.
The miracles of good ANA service begin. CJ receives a call on his apple watch. It is ANA wondering if he is still intending to fly to Japan on this day. He relates the debacle that is air travel to Sydney on this day. ANA indicates they have a slight delay and "will keep in touch." We consider the call amazing service on the part of ANA!
As the aircraft begins moving to the gate, CJ receives his second call from ANA. They inform him they have an updated time they are closing out the flight. The chance of making it off the plane, collecting baggage, and transferring to the international terminal in time are slim.
We give it the old college try. We are on the bus nearing the international terminal when ANA calls again. They are holding the check-in counter open for us now that they know we are near.
CJ rushes ahead and begins checking in our luggage and getting our boarding passes as Carol struggles cane in hand and sans chaise roulon (wheelchair) to get to the counter. CJ sends the wheelchair attendant to fetch her.
We've made it.
CJ is out of breath, dehydrated, and soaking wet from sweat. Arriving at the gate we must wait another 20 minutes for the gate to open. We're escorted down the jetway where we wait AGAIN. During this twenty-minute wait, we watch as members of the cleaning crew exit the aircraft. There must have been twenty or thirty of them carrying trash bags, vacuums, and other cleaning products and utensils. Why couldn't they have factored this into their check-in counter closing time?
We get out late but at least we're on our way to Japan, even if CJ is soaking wet and can't seem to stop the sweating.
