Apr 25, 2024: Today was another rainy day, but that didn’t stop us from exploring. Despite the weather, we made our way to the Hakodate Morning Market, conveniently located near our hotel and a must-visit destination. Arriving early, we found the market just waking up, with a calm and peaceful atmosphere. We picked a small restaurant within the market for breakfast and enjoyed a selection of local specialties: a popular sashimi rice bowl, a Japanese-style breakfast set, and some delicious fried pastries. The food was fantastic, although we hesitated to try one of the more adventurous local delicacies—live squid sashimi. Interestingly, the restaurant had phone holders on the tables, perfect for anyone wanting to snap a quick selfie while dining.

After breakfast, we took a train to Onuma National Park, located just outside the city. Known as Japan's smallest national park, it features 126 small islands scattered across its tranquil lake. The park is only a short walk from the train station and is free to enter. Once there, we started our visit with a half-hour boat ride on the lake. Although the guide provided a lot of commentary in Japanese, which we couldn’t understand, we still thoroughly enjoyed the stunning scenery. After returning to the shore, we spent time exploring the park's hiking trails, crossing quaint bridges, and wandering through serene forests, all while taking in the natural beauty surrounding Onuma Lake.

After visiting the park, we took the train back to the city, planning to get off at Goryokaku Station to visit the Western-style Goryokaku Fort. However, after boarding the train, the announcements kept reminding visitors who want to visit Goryokaku to return to the city first, get off at the bus terminal, and then take a bus to Goryokaku. We, who love walking, ignored the advice and got off at Goryokaku Station, only to find it was a lot further than we expected and it took us more than half an hour to walk from the train station to the site. We finally understood why the announcements advised everyone not to get off early. Although we walked a lot more, it gave us a chance to experience the old but clean residential area outside the tourist spots in Japan, where we hardly saw anyone. After the long walking, feeling cold and hungry, we finally saw a conveyor belt sushi restaurant and quickly went in for lunch. It costed us less than twenty dollars for the two of us, a great deal for the quality.

At Goryokaku, the park has about 1,500 cherry blossom trees. It was the cherry blossom peak season, and the scenery was  beautiful and breathtaking. Despite the weather, strolling among the flowers was still enchanting. Photos couldn't capture the feeling. Occasionally, the sky cleared for a few minutes, making the cherry blossoms even more charming under the blue sky and white clouds.

Taking the bus back to the city was said to be easy, but not time-saving. The bus came once an hour, and we waited for half an hour at the station before boarding. After returning to the area near our hotel, we found a restaurant for dinner, continuing with sashimi but also ordering some grilled meat skewers and other hot dishes. Eating delicious sashimi from morning to night in Japan is great, but with the cold weather, our stomachs couldn't handle too much of it.

The cable car ride to the top of Hakodate Mountain offers a panoramic view of the bay area. Yesterday, it was closed due to strong winds. Today it was operating, but after being out in the cold all day, we didn't want to go up the mountain again. Instead, we chose to have a coffee and enjoy the night view from the lounge on the top floor of our hotel.

大沼公园，五稜郭

四月二十五日：今天又是个阴雨天，只能冒雨外出。酒店附近的函馆朝市是必须打卡的地方。在朝市里选了家小饭馆吃早餐，我们要了当地典型的刺身饭，日式早餐套餐和油炸饼，味道不错，但没敢吃当地的另一特色 - 活的尤鱼刺身。

早餐后乘坐火车去城外的大沼国家公园，日本最小的国家公园，大沼里有126座小岛。下了火车，从车站到公园只需要几分钟路程，公园免费开放。我们先坐公园里的小游船在湖里转了半小时，风景还可以。回到岸上后，又沿着园区里的徒步小径，过小桥，穿林子，观赏大沼湖的自然美景。

游完公园，我们坐火车回城，准备在五稜郭站下车去西式军营五稜郭参观。可是上了火车后广播里不停地提醒去五稜郭的游客先坐火车回城，在终点站下车然后坐公交车去五稜郭。喜欢走路的我们哪能听得进去，硬是从五稜郭站下了火车，结果从车站到景点走了半个多小时，终于理解为什么在火车上广播通知大家千万别早下车了。路是多走了许多，不过也让我们感受一下日本旅游景点外的小区，陈旧但干净，路上几乎不见人影。走了一个多英哩后，有点饥寒交加，终于看到一家转盘寿司店，赶紧进去吃了个午餐，俩人花了不到二十美金，真是物美价廉。

来到到五稜郭，公园里有约1500棵樱花🌸树。正是樱花盛开的时候，非常漂亮。虽然天气不给力，但漫步在花丛中，还是很让人陶醉的。照片根本无法拍出那种感觉。偶尔天空放晴几分钟，那樱花在蓝天白云的映照下就显得更加迷人了。

坐公交车回城说是简单，但也不省时，公交车一小时一班，在车站整整等了半个小时才上车。回到酒店附近之后找了家饭店吃晚饭，继续是吃生鱼片，不过同时也要了些烤肉串和其它的热菜。在日本从早到晚吃生鱼片，虽说好吃，但天气太冷，吃多了我们的胃有点受不了。

坐缆车上函馆的山顶可以俯瞰整个湾区，昨天因风太大，缆车停运。今天倒是开的，但我们一整天在外冻得不行，不想再上山了，便选择上我们酒店顶楼的休息厅喝杯咖啡☕️，看个夜景。