Oh the snow!

Nagano is  west of Tokyo and is the capital city of Nagano Prefecture. The 1998 Winter Olympic games were held in Nagano. It is one of the premier ski and snowboard destinations of Japan due to its rising mountains, white powdery snow and gorgeous panoramic views.

When we arrived in Nagano, it was cold, but there was no snow in the valley. John and I were disappointed as we thought the ground would be covered in snow. Our tour guide got a call from our hotel saying there had been a snowstorm last night and we were in for a snowy treat.

Not five minutes from the valley, we started to see snow. Lots of it covering the ground. That evening John and I talked about how wonderful it would be to have a white Christmas. That  same evening (Christmas Eve), it began snowing again. We were elated. We went and stood outside in the snow and just watched as it piled up on the tables and chairs on the deck.

At the end of our trip, we agree that we need to move to a place where it always snows in the winter. Enjoy some of the snow pictures from our trip!

View from our hotel room.

More of our view.

More view.

View from the private rooftop onsen.

Fresh powdered snow.

A few photos as we were driving.

Near snow monkey park.

Random house on the way to snow monkey park.

Car covered in snow.

Icicles!

Random photo on our way to snow monkey park.

I look cold!

Our bus had snow chains!

Snow on the cars.

Random sight on the way up to the park.