We got up around 7:30 and were out the door by 8:00. Check out at APA Villa Hotel Sendaieki – Itsutsubashi was a breeze as we just put our key cards into a reception bin. We picked up the car and drove down to Sendai Station.
It was here where we committed our second fault of the trip. Our original plan was to visit Sendai’s Morning Market. We didn’t find out until we had arrived that it was closed on Sundays. I could have sworn that I read somewhere that said it was open 7 days a week. In addition, one of the shops we wanted to stop by said they were open on Sundays. Either way, we should try and find at least two sources to verify information in the future.
We headed back to the station and found some food for breakfast. We went to Pensée (パンセ 仙台駅店) which had a good selection of pastries and other baked goods. Our favorites were a custard pastry with a crumble on top and a bulgogi roll with cheese.
We also stopped by 3007 to pick up a fruit smoothie for Amy. The smoothie was really good. It had a light mango taste. In addition, we enjoyed the generous amount of fruit chunks on top. We ended up using a spoon as even the boba straw was not big enough to suck up the large chunks of fruit.
At around 10:00 we went back to Bake Cheese Tart. We got a couple of their orange yogurt and one of their Matcha cheese tarts. The orange yogurt was surprisingly really good. The mandarin slice on top had the perfect balance of acidity and sweetness. It really supplemented the richness of the cheese tart. I’m a big fan of Matcha things and the Matcha cheese tart did not disappoint. It had a strong Matcha flavor, but the bitterness was cut down by the creaminess of the cheese. The red beans on top and the kinako added some nice complimentary flavors. Would definitely recommend if you are in the area.
We then headed over to the observation deck at the AER building. We made our way to the bank of elevators for the office portion of the building. They were located in the back of the building away from the shopping area. We made our way to the 31st floor. There were a total of two different decks on opposite sides of the building and a small window by the elevators. The observation deck gave us panoramic views of the greater Sendai area. We’re glad we went. We can imagine that the night views are equally as breathtaking. We’ll have to stop by when we come back in the future.
We headed back to the car and made our way out of the city. We took the ETC toll road for Matsushima. We arrived about an hour later. There was a bit of traffic and we had some difficulty finding parking. We finally found a lot that was ¥1,000 for the day.
Taking a short cruise of Matsushima Bay was on the top of our to do list. We called ahead to order our tickets in advance. We were surprised to learn that there was a ¥500 discount for calling ahead. Tickets normally costed ¥1,500 each. Instead we only paid ¥1,000 for each. The cruise was about 50 minutes long and circled around the major islands. The small ticket booth was located just across from our parking lot.
We had just missed the 12:00 ferry, so we decided to take a quick break at the local Starbucks. The Starbucks was located in the newly constructed Matsushima Rikyu building. We ordered a mango smoothie and went to the second floor. The views from the second floor were beautiful. The building also had a couple of colorful Tanabata-gami on display.
A little while later we headed out. We made our way to the dock with the ferry. The line started forming quite early and we were near the end. Seating on the ferry was on a first come first serve basis. There was also a second deck that could be accessed for an additional fee. We were able to find some seats on the air conditioned first floor. We also learned that there was an outside standing area in the back of the ferry. We felt our view inside was limited, so we headed to the back of the ferry. It was hot and humid outside, but the cool ocean breeze felt nice.
The ferry cruised around at a leisure pace and the ride was pretty smooth. We passed by a number of pine tree laden islands. It was interesting to see how the ocean had carved and shaped the islands into what they are today. We also passed by a number of small fishing villages that dotted the larger islands.
After the cruise, we stopped for a lunch at Yoshi after getting a recommendation from a lady at the tourist information center. Apparently, anago (saltwater eel) was in season. We were given this sheet that listed all the local restaurants that were serving anago. We decided to give it a try.
After lunch, we stopped by an omiyage shop down the street and picked up a number of souvenirs. On the way back to the car we stopped off at a Pokémon Manhole Cover. Lapras was the official support Pokémon of Miyagi Prefecture. There were 35 unique Pokémon Manhole Covers located in cities throughout the prefecture. Here is a link with more information about their locations. We can’t wait to find more in the future.
We made a quick stop at a convenience store and gas station before heading out. We got on the ETC express way at the Matsushima-Osato IC. We made our way south and eventually exited the Mito-kita IC. The total cost including the 30% weekend discount came out to ¥3,710. We stopped off at a McDonald’s before dropping off our friends and heading home. We got home, unpacked the car, and called it a night.
Final Thoughts: We got a lot done in such a short period of time. The cheese tarts at Bake Cheese Tart were delicious and we can’t wait to try their other seasonal flavors in the future. The Matsushima island cruise was a nice and affordable way to see a large part of the bay. There was definitely more we wanted to do in Sendai and the surrounding areas. We can’t wait to go back.
More to Come…