I went for a 10km bike ride yesterday to Maruyama Koen, it took about 40 minutes at a pleasant pace. The weather was nice and sunny so was able to see the local surroundings along the way, cut through the university and saw many local shops.
I must confess that I miss my car as I enjoy owning a car and driving, but relying on pedal power since moving to Sapporo will hopefully enable me to trim some kilos off (if you know what I mean). Not only keeping fit but it gives me the opportunity to explore the local area a bit more, at least before the heavy snow comes.
Chisa and I visited Maruyama Zoo back in July and did'nt really get a chance to have a look around, besides it was about 30 degrees that day so after an hour on the bike we were just glad to get inside to view the animals.
Getting to the mountain was quite pleasant, Maruyama is a quite area with nice shops and cafes. I would'nt mind living here should we stay in Sapporo for longer perioed. The bike climb up the mountain was quite hard for these old legs, but the scenery reminded me of growing up in Norway. I could see the ski jump but I knew it was miles away. I could feel that I came about 1-2 weeks late as the red and yellow leaves have reduced, but still very nice.
I visited HollmenKollen ski jump back in Norway when I was about 8-10, and could remember it was very old and it kind of reminded of that. Having a closer look yesterday I could really appreciate these guys jumping at such height and speed, I mean I can ski pretty well and fast but there is no way anyone would be able to talk me into even trying ski jump.
After having a look around I left my bike and climbed up the small mountain, the small mountain became big mountain soon as my legs became more and more heavy. After a 10-15 minute climb and catching my breath back, I could see the beautiful view of Sapporo city. It was nice and quiet but I could hear kids and teacher shouting out instructions doing exercises, as I pan over I could see them on the rooftop doing morning exercises. What a view these kids have, they don't even bother playing in the playground with these views.
The trek down the litle mountain was more easier, and so was the bike ride down into Maruyaman Koen (park), just make sure your brakes work. I decided to swing around to the temple and went in for a quick visit, unlike many temples I have been to west of Japan, this is a very small temple.
Other areas of the park are also nice, but due to the recent rain it was quite muddy and it was also getting windy. The weather always changes very fast here, the first signs of dark clouds are coming in so I decided to descend back to Maruyama for some lunch and rest up these old legs before the 10km ride back home.
Other Photos I took around the park....
