As we were on the train heading to Sapporo it started to snow. Instead of taking the local train to our hotel, we decided to grab a taxi and avoid dragging luggage through the snow. I was absolutely giddy to see the snow as we drove through the city.

We arrived at our hotel before the 1500 check in. So, we dropped off our luggage and set out in search of lunch. We found a cozy ramen restaurant just a few blocks away. Several friends told us to try Hokkaido ramen. It exceeded their recommendations and our expectations. It was as delicious!

Once we finished our lunch, we started to return to our hotel and then realized the Susukino Ice World was only a block away.

So, we walked through to check out the ice sculptures. There were so many!! Easily 30 plus. I took a picture of most of them. The titles would crack us up!

Check out the guy cleaning off the snow on the Hawaii 808. Proof that it was snowing like crazy when we first arrived.

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There were so many ice sculptures! They were all amazing!! I had a couple favorites. The cat and dog, of course.

And the “Supple Woman.”

Let’s not forgot- this is Sapporo!

We walked the sculptures during the day and then returned after we changed into our snow gear. They sculptures were cool at night as well.

Plus, the ice bar was open and serving champagne. Yes, please!

I’ll wrap up this post here for now. So far, it’s snowed all day, the ramen was delicious, I’m wearing my hot pink snow pants (all weekend), the ice sculptures were too cool, and I enjoyed champagne at the ice bar. Sapporo Snow Festival is exceeding expectations even before we visited the actual Snow Festival!!