Up nice and early so we could see the Nebuta Matsuri exhibition before going to Hakodate. Checking out was friendly and efficient - and then we waited in the lift queue for ages - the only disadvantage of having reception on the fifth floor. Very impressed with The Richmond Hotel though - very much recommended.

The usual DouTor coffee and sandwiches on the way and then onto the Museum itself. We were a bit concerned about trundling two big suitcases around but no problem at all. On checking our tickets at the first floor entrance the ladies offered to take our cases and said they'd be waiting for us downstairs when we were finished. Nice one! And the exhibition is amazing! The floats are huge and built from scratch every year as the only bit that gets reused is the base platform. Obviously it'd be great to see it all in action in early August but this permanent, annually changing, exhibition is definitely worth seeing at any time if you are in the area. 

There are several full sized models around the museum showing how the floats are constructed. It turns out (we asked the lady who took our photo) that they used to be lit internally by candles which doesn't sound remotely dangerous. I mean, what could possibly go wrong if you are one of 30 people carrying a massive wire (previously bamboo!) frame sculpture covered in paper and full of candles...? At least the lighting now seems to be based on LEDs which seems like a much better proposition.

All in all we spent about 45 minutes in the exhibition since it was early and almost empty. As we were waiting to collect our cases however a massive tour group turned up so if we'd been in after them it would have taken considerably longer I think.

Especially to get your souvenir photo taken...

Once we'd retreived our cases it was a short amble round the corner to the station and the train out to Shin-Aomori. And yes you definitiely can get the train and yes it is as easy as we'd hoped. Ah well, live and learn.

Our Shinkansen (as before, we'd booked tickets which was just as well - no unreserved seating again) arrived not long after we rocked up at the platform so we were quickly blasting northwards up the track towards Hakodate and our first steps onto Hokkaidо̄.

Obviously there are the Tsugaru Straits between Honshū and Hokkaidо̄ so at one point we had to go through the Seikan Tunnel. 34 miles of no photos out the window with 14 miles under the sea! Did I know anything about it? Nope - but thanks to a combination of the Pocket Wi-Fi and the Shinkansen's on-board Wi-Fi I Googled it before we got to Hakodate. Not whilst actually in the tunnel though - it's not magic!

LIke Aomori, you can't go straight into Hakodate on the Shinkansen - you have to change at Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto. Unlike Shin-Aomori though, Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto is the terminus (at least until 2031 and the track is extended to Sapporo) so there were plenty of staff guiding everyone to the standard JR Line trains. Or (in our case) the はこだてライナー(Hakodate Liner) - basically an express train into Hakodate's main station.

About twenty minutes later we were at Hakodate Eki but once outside it wasn't obvious how we should get to our hotel. I knew it wasn't in the centre so walking wasn't an option. I also knew Hakodate had trams so we might be able to get one. But the area in front of the station was really busy and we couldn't see a tram stop. Right then; nothing for it but to ask at Tourist Information inside. We were almost immediately helped by a really helpful member of staff to find the right place to ask but once at the desk there was a bit of confusion (entirely because of my awful Japanese) about where the tram stop actually was.

The 12 year old behind the desk, for the only time at a tourist information desk or in fact anywhere else for that matter, wasn't particularly friendly and for once I eventually copped out into English (which of course he spoke perfectly!) otherwise we'd still be there. I'm more than understanding of people's lack of enthusiasm when approached by a clearly unhinged Scostman babbling incoherantly in their language. But if you work in a Tourist Information Centre? Suck it up Buttercup and put a smile on it at least until they leave. Rant over.

Anyway, sorted it out (fairly) quickly, walked across the main square to the tram stop which it turns out is round the corner and trammed (is that a word?) almost to the door of the MyStays hotel near Goroykaku Park. I was a little bit worried as I wasn't sure what to expect from a MyStays Hotel since we'd never even seen one before let alone stayed in one. It looked ok online but you never know. Turns out its a business hotel with an internal door to the Family Mart conbini next door (like the Asakusa Central last year) and really friendly staff too who booked us in and took care of our cases until check in time which wasn't an hour or so. Not a problem this time though since we hadn't been travelling for almost a day and our feet weren't caning!

Since it was around half past one, a coffee or two in the Mister Donut nearby seemed appropriate. And since they had special Halloween Doughnuts we'll have one of those and an apple doughnut thank you very much. While getting coffee refills I had a brief conversation with the really friendly lady running it about how cold Scotland is (because of the hoodie - another chip off the remaining shards of Tracey's soul), how difficult Japanese is for foreigners (a sentiment backed up enthusiastically by the Korean guy who was working there ) and Melon Soda vs Irn Bru (it's becoming a theme...).

Buzzing from the massive caffeine and sugar hit we power-walked for about 15 minutes to Goryōkaku Park , a 19th Century star shaped fort and where the Battle of Hakodate, one of the final rebellions against the Meiji Restoration, was put down. Guess what? Yep, I looked that up later.

The site is huge and centres on the old magistrate's office and it's all rather impressive. Apparently it's amazing in Cherry Blossom Season but the colours are still pretty in autumn too. It would have been a great place to have a picnic but a) it was a tad cold and b) we didn't have one. 

We mooched around here for quite a bit and then tracked back to the tower next to it to get a good look over the area. After Skytree last year Tracey likes towers now!  You do get a fantastic view over the park and Hakodate itself; definitely worth the ticket price. 

Turned out that we could actually have easily seen our hotel window from the tower since we ended up on the 14th floor and directly facing the tower! However we didn't know that at the time since we hadn't checked in yet. Our hotel is the multi-grey coloured building in the middle of the next photo.

After about an hour of photographing the park and Hakodate from every conceivable angle we had a quick poke about the ground floor displays, learned a bit more of the history of the place and nearly fell over (for the first but not the last time) when we saw the price of melons. I mean, I like a melon as much as the next man (insert Sid James style "Carry On" laugh here) but ¥2450 (£17) each! Er...just...wow!  And I love the implication that you get a discount if you buy a box of 4...which you absolutely don't. I suppose you get a free box, but having spent around £70 I'd expect no less!

Still reeling slightly in shock at the price of a piece of fruit we retraced our steps to the hotel (at a considerably more leisurely pace this time without the caffeine and sugar high) and checked in. More than happy with the room; somewhere between an Apa Hotel and the Richmond Hotel in size and the view was excellent. Especially after we improved it a bit by moving the TV out of the way.

A while later, after the usual bit of unpacking, charging phones and taking probably too many photos of the view as the sun set, we trundled about the local area looking for a restaurant. For really quite a long time. As in Aomori, there was a lot of deciding and then talking ourselves out of several restaurants until we eventually gave up and took a punt on a rather garishly decorated place called Ikatarou that looked lively but turned out to be a bit of a tourist trap. A tad disappointing; not awful, just a little overpriced and unnecessarily noisy and shouty. And we were basically closed into a small booth on our own so the atmosphere was a bit lacking as we couldn't see what all the shouting and noise was about. 

Ah well, can't win them all - and the beer and sake were very welcome. Maybe we should have had the dancing squid (maybe...) and I'm sure it would be better if you were in a big group but it wasn't great for just two people in a small shut-off booth.

As the restaurant wasn't all that great we found ourselves heading back to the hotel a little earlier and a little hungrier than planned. Still, once we'd picked up sake (I can now spot 純米; Junmai at a thousand paces), crisps and snacks from the conbini next to the Hotel there are worse ways to end an evening. And the view from the window helped. 

And so to bed...and in Tracey's case to have a go with the face mask from the Richmond Hotel. There are photos. But I have been promised that if I post them I will have my nether regions forcibly rearranged with a hammer.