First Travel Day - Sapporo to Utsunomiya

Sitting in a train station early in the morning... it was cold and I was still sleepy!
After spending a few nights in Sapporo, we left for Utsunomiya. Below is a photo of the Shinkansen or high-speed "bullet train."



We spent two nights at the Petit Benefit hotel (means "Small Benefit"-- actually it had the most benefits of any of the hotels where we stayed!) It was the only hotel that had a high-speed Internet hookup and we also really liked the robes they provided. They also had some very nice Japanese baths in the downstairs of the hotel. Robert used the baths every night (they were a little hot for my taste, so I just used the tiny tub in our bathroom.)


Utsunomiya is basically known for gyoza (dumplings), and we enjoyed a few. Other than that, it was just a place to stay that was convenient to sightseeing in Nikko.