Now that I'm back, it's time to start uploading more pictures from the trip.
This is Segovia! 🧐 Must see: the aqueduct
🥩 Must eat: roasted pork w crispy skin
Bilbao
Bilbao ticking off all my boxes:
🎨 Art - I can't believe I finally got to see a whole exhibition by Yayoi Kusama, including some pieces she painted as a teenager
🏙️ Architecture - it was hard not to take photos of each and every building
🥣 Food - no photos cause I was too excited 😂
Day 15: Whiskey and crab. For our last day in Japan we traveled to Nikka distillery located about 1.5h away from Sapporo. Nikka makes superb whiskey and delicious apple brandy🍷, and their grounds are a pleasure to wander around. After we came back to Sapporo we had a seafood bowl at the Nijo market 🥣 and then walked around Odori park peeking at ice sculptures being built for the Snow Festival. We finished the evening with some wonderful crab 🦀 Now it is time to come back to Vancouver 🛫
Day 14: Eating around Sapporo. After relaxing soaks in Noboribetsu we made it to Sapporo. Hokkaido is famous for ramen, dairy, seafood and Genghis Khan (a lamb bbq dish). Yeaterday we ate 3/4 of those things. We also visited Ishiya chocolate factory to see how famous Shiroi Kohibito are made. A delicious trip so far 😛
Day 13: Bears in Noboribetsu. We made it to Hokkaido! Our first stop was Noboribetsu, a town famous for onsen and bears. Currently the bear park has about 15 bears for visitors to see, and they are all beauties 🐻. We had a great time feeding them salmon and observing them in all their glory. Afterwards we walked back to Takimotokan onsen for an amazing kaiseki dinner (I'm only showing pictures of some favorite dishes). The day was concluded by some thorough soaking in hot springs♨️. Tomorrow we go to Sapporo 🍺
Day 12: Craft beers in Yokohama. For our last day in Tokyo we went to a craft beer festival! Japanese craft beer scene has changed quite a but since the last time we visited. My favorite was a Lime Gose, and close second was a Melon saison 🍻 #craftbeer #japanbeer #brewerscup #Japan2020
Day 11: Emperor's palace and beyond. We started the day by exploring the grounds of imperial palace🏯. Although we couldn't go inside any of the buildings (it is an active palace after all...), we learned a lot about the history of the palace and also about Emperor's way of life. Afterwards we got ramen for lunch and headed for Tokyo's parasitologocal museum. While it was not the first time seeing all the worms for me, Adam seemed a bit rattled at some exhibits 🙃 we then got back to Shibuya, and processed to impress Japanese people with our capacity to eat and drink at a shabu-shabu restaurant 🥣🍻 Tomorrow is our last day in Tokyo.
Day 10: Harajuku fun. Today we took it easy and explored Harajuku neighborhood for the day. We ate gyoza, tried on local fashion, snacked with filled crepes and drank craft beer. Dinner was ramen from Afuri, place highly recommended by David Cheng (Momofuku). This ramen features yuzu broth which makes is very bright and fresh in flavor 🍋. #harajukufashion #harajuku #Japan2020 #afuriramen
Day 9: Sensory explorations. We started the day at Tsukiji market by having some delicious fish and grabbing a local coffee ☕. Funny how this morning felt a lot like Vancouver- rainy and cold, but coffee made it way better. We then headed to Ginza and had a fantastic experience in Shiseido Parlor Art Gallery. The exhibition connected scents to memories: there were 8 scents present, and once we chose a particular memory that a scent envoked, we could eat it! Unfortunately we were not allowed to take any photos 😅 After that we made a trip back to Odaiba for teamLab Borderless, an innovative visual art museum that feels a bit like a maze. We wandered around the Borderless World for over 4 hours and had an absolute blast. To top it all off, we were lucky enough to get tickets to a MUCC show in Tokyo. It was amazing to see the band in their "natural habitat" 🤩 Adam and I also made a friend at a concert and proceeded to a local izakaya for some drinks and snacks🍡🍢. #teamlabborderless #mucc #Japan2020 #tsukijifishmarket
