(no subject)
We left Kitakyushu on Thursday, 12 October 2006 and arrived in London that night. On Friday, 13 October 2006 in the morning we went to Big Ben near Westminster Abbey. The weather is cooler in England so I wore a jacket. According to Big Ben it was half past ten, or as many young people in Britain say, “half ten”. There was a statue across the street of Boadicea (no relation to the J-Pop singer BoA), the queen who defended Britain and stood up to Caesar. Friday the thirteenth is so unlucky that fear of it has a name: paraskavedekatriaphobia or some variation. In October of 1307 the Knights Templar (guardians of the Temple of Solomon) in every country of Europe were killed by followers of King Philip IV of France. That’s why it is unlucky. So I rushed around the bend in the river Thames to Temple Church. It is the church in London built by the Knights Templar (大阪のキシダン意外、世界の一番有名なキシダン). It has statues that show how the Knights died called effigies (お墓でもないねー像の一種だ). Solomon lived very long ago, before Christianity and Islam.
The photos above are from the movie The Da-Vinci Code. These below are what we took. This year had Friday the thirteenth twice -- in January and October -- and they add to 13: 1+3 + 1 + 2+0+0+6 = 13, 1+3 + 1+0 + 2+0+0+6 = 13!
London has many theatres. We saw Les Misérables which is French but also the longest-running musical ever - and this one was all-in-English. Even with the cheapest tickets we could see!
We got back on the subway and got off the train. Inside the city it is a subway, and outside it’s a train. It’s the London Underground! The slogan is “Mind the Gap” as you can see on the right. 意味は空いてる所に注意して下さい。
We went to Oxford University nearby, which is really a city. Oxford has many colleges including the oldest college in England, and indeed all of Great Britain including Ireland. There are many portraits including Queen Victoria in the centre at Jesus College. There was a pastry shop with cakes and pastries in elaborate Halloween designs. Below on the left is the lawn at All Souls where people from around the world are invited each year to receive honorary degrees in Latin at a party and ceremony.
Harry Potter features the dining hall at University college. . .
We came back to London for Diwali, the Hindu festival of light. India was once part of the British Empire, and there remains a strong Indian influence in London. There was a representation of Ganesh, the most popular of the Hindu gods.
From London we went to Wales. The castle was built there by the English. It is in a little town called Conwy on the northern shore. The signs are mostly in English, Welsh, French, German, two languages one of which was probably Spanish, and Japanese. I guess many tourists go there from Japan.
The best thing about Conwy was the Georgian house:
We visited the Beatrix Potter museum. Of no relation to Harry Potter of course, she is best known for her character Peter Rabbit. Also in the Lake District, where two of my grandparents came from, we saw the biggest lake and rode on a real steam engine.
The autumn colours were quite beautiful in October, and I think it was not so chilly, though colder than Japan.
The countryside in the lake district is superbly beautiful with kilometres and kilometres of fences of piled stones hemming in fields of mostly sheep, some cattle, and a few other types of animals. Then we went to Edinburgh.
In Scotland we saw Edinburgh Castle (wizard school?) and Rosslyn Church which was in The Da-Vinci Code.
Edinburgh was where my father was born, but not in the castle above. In three days, happy Hallowe’en, All Saints’ and All Souls’!
The photos above are from the movie The Da-Vinci Code. These below are what we took. This year had Friday the thirteenth twice -- in January and October -- and they add to 13: 1+3 + 1 + 2+0+0+6 = 13, 1+3 + 1+0 + 2+0+0+6 = 13!
London has many theatres. We saw Les Misérables which is French but also the longest-running musical ever - and this one was all-in-English. Even with the cheapest tickets we could see!
We got back on the subway and got off the train. Inside the city it is a subway, and outside it’s a train. It’s the London Underground! The slogan is “Mind the Gap” as you can see on the right. 意味は空いてる所に注意して下さい。
We went to Oxford University nearby, which is really a city. Oxford has many colleges including the oldest college in England, and indeed all of Great Britain including Ireland. There are many portraits including Queen Victoria in the centre at Jesus College. There was a pastry shop with cakes and pastries in elaborate Halloween designs. Below on the left is the lawn at All Souls where people from around the world are invited each year to receive honorary degrees in Latin at a party and ceremony.
Harry Potter features the dining hall at University college. . .
We came back to London for Diwali, the Hindu festival of light. India was once part of the British Empire, and there remains a strong Indian influence in London. There was a representation of Ganesh, the most popular of the Hindu gods.
From London we went to Wales. The castle was built there by the English. It is in a little town called Conwy on the northern shore. The signs are mostly in English, Welsh, French, German, two languages one of which was probably Spanish, and Japanese. I guess many tourists go there from Japan.
The best thing about Conwy was the Georgian house:
We visited the Beatrix Potter museum. Of no relation to Harry Potter of course, she is best known for her character Peter Rabbit. Also in the Lake District, where two of my grandparents came from, we saw the biggest lake and rode on a real steam engine.
The autumn colours were quite beautiful in October, and I think it was not so chilly, though colder than Japan.
The countryside in the lake district is superbly beautiful with kilometres and kilometres of fences of piled stones hemming in fields of mostly sheep, some cattle, and a few other types of animals. Then we went to Edinburgh.
In Scotland we saw Edinburgh Castle (wizard school?) and Rosslyn Church which was in The Da-Vinci Code.
Edinburgh was where my father was born, but not in the castle above. In three days, happy Hallowe’en, All Saints’ and All Souls’!