Today we dock in Hokodate at 8am but we don't leave until 11pm. We gave to be all back on board by 10.30pm. The exciting thing about this is there is a Ropeway to the top of Mt Goten where you can see the city light up after dark from the Mt Hakodate Observatory House. Getting around is made very easy using street cars and a day pass. From the ship we have a free shuttle that takes us to the railway station and then it's a short walk to the tram stop to go to Hakodate Bugyosho (magistrates office). This was the official government office of the Edo shogunate and was placed here when the city opened for trade in the 1800s. The Edo shogunate collapsed and with the final battle here the magistrates office was dismantled. 140 years later in 2010 it has been rebuilt using the exact same materials and traditional techniques. It is a beautiful building and in the springtime the hundreds of cherry trees in blossom would be breathtaking! ( especially if you have breathing difficulties). The five sided fort or Goryokaku is surrounded by a star shaped earthen wall and the mizutame-masu ( reservoir/moat) draws water from the streams on both sides of the entrance. Adjacent to the fort is the Goryokaku Tower with an observation deck from which you can view the star shaped fort and gardens. After coffee and some sort of apple pastry, we are refueled and recharged. Back on the tram to the Donburi Yokocho Market. It's the Hakodate Morning Market of fresh seafood. There is an abundance of fresh fish stalls and small eateries where they cook your fish fresh. In most of the windows are plastic models of the food on offer and the price. Generally you are looking at 5 kinds of seafood, Sea Urchin, Salmon Roe, scallops, Salmon, crab, raw squid etc and rice for around ¥1500 ( $15.00) I do want to try the crab so I chose a crab and fried rice and Glenn has a vegetable, pork and noodle bowl - Ramen. It's very nice and we only pay around ¥800 each plus drinks. After lunch, we are back on the tram in the opposite direction to go to the Koryu-ji Temple. We get off the tram at the end of the line and walk up and down and around the streets. We do have a bit of a chuckle as the area is very hilly and you have sea in one direction and the mountain in the other and these streets are called 'slopes'! Ironic isn't it. Each of these slopes has a significant name with a meaning, either reflecting where it leads or what sort of businesses were there or a more simple meaning such as Chacha-nobori Slope. Chacha means an old man and the slope is so steep that you will bend over like an old man to walk up hill. There is something different to see in all of these streets. At the Temple, besides the amazing ornately carved buildings and gates, there is one of the largest cemeteries we've seen. It goes way up the hill and the monuments and burial plots are huge. There must be millions of graves here given that cremation is the usual custom. By now it's getting on for 4.30pm and while we had intended to go back to the ship before heading up the mountain on the Ropeway we decided to abandon that idea and get back on the tram and go to the Ropeway now. It's is reputed to be one of the busiest cable cars in Japan because of the spectacular views especially at night time. We know that the ship has night tours arranged to bring people up the mountain so heading there early is not a bad idea. It's been a beautiful sunny day but when the sun goes down it will get cool up there, lucky I bought a scarf with me today. I must mention here that all our plans come with disclaimers that they are subject to change without notice. Usually what we set out to do in the morning gets changed and we do end up doing far more than expected. The view is fantastic and because it's clear we can see clearly for quite a distance. Something that was surprising was the surfers. Mt Goten used to be on an island but with volcanic activity the larger island of Hokkaido joined at the base of the mountain to form an isthmus. On one side is the sheltered port area and on the other is the open ocean and there is a popular surf break there. As the sun goes down, we get ourselves a good viewpoint to see the city light up. From here we can see our ship and with the aid of binoculars we can see the movie on the big screen on deck 14! The buses start coming. I stopped counting at 30 buses. That's a lot of people especially if they all have to come down in the cable car. We get our fabulous night shots and decide to get down the mountain before the rush. As it was we were jammed into the carriage like sardines for the return journey. We now need the tram to take us back into the city so we can get the shuttle back to the ship. The walk up to the Ropeway station was extremely steep so the walk down is fairly treacherous especially given that it's dark. Just as we get to the corner, the tram stops about 100m away so the sprint is on! Whew we made it! We are back on the ship by about 7pm. Totally exhausted after a lot of walking and adventuring. It's open dining tonight which means our restaurant is closed so we can dine wherever we want . After a revitalizing bath we opt for the buffet and lucky for us both of our waiters are up there so they chose us a table in their area and Jeffrey follows me to the buffet and tells me what's best and Dom gets us a glass of wine in a wine glass when everyone else has plastic. They look after us very well. Tomorrow is our last port of call before our cruise returns to Yokohama on Thursday.