Winchester and Chawton

• On 12 June, Friday, I visited Winchester and Chawton. This time, I took first a coach to Winchester so that I could save travel costs; the price of a railway return ticket to Winchester was £28.30 whereas the fare of coaches (the national express) was only £16.70. The cost could have been reduced more if I had bought a ticket a few weeks in advance. I've learned that if you plan your journey well ahead you can save every kind of fee. The coach I have to get on was scheduled to leave Victoria Coach Station at noon. So first I had to go to the station by local buses. The final destination of the coach was Portsmouth. The coach made brief stops at Heathrow Airport and Winchester. It took just two hours to get to Winchester.
• When I got off the coach, I saw a statue of Alfred the King of West Saxons; the station for coaches was located in front of the statue. I knew that I had only 4 hours to look around Winchester and visit Chawton, I hurried up to the bus stop for Chawton in order to check the time table. As I searched the route the previous night, I had to take the bus X64 from Winchester to Chawton. Finding the terminal and timetable, I learned that the bus had just left and the next one would leave in one hour. Therefore, I decided to look around Winchester first.
• I headed to Winchester Cathedral (the left above), in which Jane Austen was buried. Showing my student ID at the reception, I could enter the cathedral at the student price £3.50. The man at the entrance asked me where I came from, and I answered I was from Japan, then he gave me the brochure in Japanese. Thanks to it I didn't have difficulty in finding Austen's tomb. There were little people around it, so people would pass by without realizing. Fortunately, I could see the live performance of the orchestra for free there ; Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra was rehearsing in the chancel for that night. I was very impressed by the resonance. Many people were sawing their performance with enthusiasm.
• After looking around the cathedral, I went back to the terminal bus stop. Then, I waited for the bus about 10 minutes. When I got on the bus, I bought the return ticket to Alton Butts. It took about 40 minutes to get to Chawton. Originally I tried to go to Alton Butts, but I saw the sign when the bus went around the roundabout near Chawton, so I got off the bus there though it was on the way to Alton. 15 minutes walk from the nearest bus stop took me to Jane Austen's house. It was easier to get there than I expected because I had only to follow the signs. Here again, I could go in the museum at a student price, which was just £3.00. The house (the right above) was wonderful, and I took some pictures of it. Walking through the exhibition, I could learn Jane's life again. What impressed me most was her writing table (the left below); it was a very tiny round table, from which she sent her imaginative stories to the world. According to an explanation on the panel, she always wrote her stories on it after breakfast. 30 minutes were enough to look inside the house.
  
• Coming back to Winchester, I walked to another house where Austen lived her last days and died. It is now a personal residence (the left below), so tourists are allowed to take a picture of it only. I wanted to go to the Great Hall where the Round Table noted in connection with King Arthur was hanging, but I couldn't, because it was closed at 5pm, and it was 6pm when I arrived at Winchester. The final coach for London leaves at 18:50. So I took it to the station in London. I got very tired of a long bus ride.
  

Brighton and Seven Sisters

• On 31 May, I went to Brighton. It was in Jane Austen's Mansfield Park where I saw the name of the town for the first time; it is the place where Mr Rushworth and Maria Bertram visit on their honeymoon, or in Pride and Prejudice, where Lydia Bennet's romance with George Wickham begins. When I referred to my travel book, I realized that I could make a day trip to Brighton. From the novel I learned that it was the favorite resort of all London, so I decided to visit there to make the most use of the fine weather. I could see that the atmosphere was indeed enjoyable as I expected from Austen's description; being invited to stay at Brighton, Lydia imagines what excitement awaits her there:"a visit to Brighton comprised every possibility of earthly happiness. She saw with the creative eye of fancy, the streets of the gay bathing place covered with officers". Although Brighton in Austen's works is associated with immorality, I just went there for fun as a tourist.
• Reading through the chapter of tourist attractions in the south coast, I found that Brighton was near to Seven Sisters, where you can see the most popular white cliffs of Great Britain. Finally, I made a plan to visit the two places within a day.
• There were some other reasons why I wanted to go to Brighton; there is a famous building, Royal Pavilion which Queen Victoria's uncle George IV had built over 40 years; since he came to the town, he liked the site very much and made up his mind to have a retreat there. The building is really unique as you can see. In addition, I would like to see the clock tower which was presented to the town of Brighton by James Willing Esq, in commemoration of the 50th year of Queen Victoria's reign. Furthermore, for Seven Sisters, I hoped to get some pieces of chalk rocks of the cliffs as a souvenir.
• From Woolich Arsenal, I transferred two times at London Bridge and East Croydon. It took about 2:30 hours to get to Brighton, and costed £21.90 for a return ticket. Arriving at Brighton station, I could even see the ocean in the distance, so I got excited heading to the beach. On the way to the beach, I met the clock tower that I was willing to see. Getting to the beach, I was impressed by the magnificent scenery. In spite of a premature season(still the end of May), the beach was already filled with sun-worshipers because of the fine weather. The scene reminded me of William Powel Frith's Ramsgate Sands, though I knew that it described a different beach. Since the weather and the place created a beautiful pictures, I shot lots of photographs.
• The idiosyncrasy of the Royal Pavilion did surprise me very much. I thought that I had never seen such a palace in Britain since I came to this country. It did derive from the very mixture of the Oriental and European tastes.
• Looking around the busiest part of Brighton, I took the bus no.12 to Seven Sisters. It took longer than I expected. You have to estimate about 40-50 minutes to get there. Getting off at a stop called Seven Sisters Park, I started walking to the viewing spot by following signs. Since the walking course is very popular, I saw lots of visitors coming back. The footpath was also fantastic, you can see one of the most beautiful natural panorama on your way to the beach. Although I had to walk 40 minutes at least, I was not bored at all because I could see the lamb and cows. The breathtaking scenery somewhat reminded me of the wallpaper of Windows XP. As a matter of fact, it was better than that definitely. When I got to the beach, I looked up the cliff and felt awed by the magnificence. I could pick up some pieces of chalk rocks and put them into my backpack as important souvenirs. Leaving the beach, I climbed up the hill, and this time I looked down the beach, which was really scary.
• I wanted to take a picture of seven linking cliffs because the name was derived from it, but I couldn't because I was on the spot. I've learned from another website that if you want to see the whole cliff, you had better go to Seaford and climbed up the hill facing the cliff. Anyway, I had a really good time in Brighton, and I will never forget this fantastic experience.
  

Dulwich Picture Gallery

• Britain had fine weather last weekend, so I went out on 30 and 31 May in a row. On Saturday, I visited Dulwich Picture Gallery; since I came to London, I had found pleasure in a literary walk. As a result, about one month ago I asked my father to send some books about literary walking in London. In these days, I had been reading a book about Soseki Natsume's footsteps in London; and I've learned that he has been to the gallery. First of all, he liked the site Dulwich very much, and wrote his impression in his diary:"when you come to this area, you would see comfortable elegance even in Britain"(此辺ニ至レバサスガノ英国モ風流閑雅ノ趣ナキニアラズ).
• Furthermore, what interested me was the fact that this gallery was the oldest public museum in Britain; it was opened in 1811, which is earlier than National Gallery by 13 years. Learning about the gallery in this way, I felt like going there very much. First of all, I took a bus to Lewisham station, and then got on a P4 bus to Dulwich. There was a stop under the same name right in front of the building. It took about 20 minutes, as far as I remember. When I got off the bus, I could easily understand what Soseki felt there. Of course, what I saw there was not exactly the same as what he had enjoyed, but still I did like the area very much. At the entrance, I showed my student ID, because the admission was free for students. If I were not, I must have paid 10 pounds. The gallery itself was not so big, 30-40 minutes would be enough for general visitors. The most famous picture is Rembrandt's "Young Girl Leaning in a Window-sill"(the left below). When I saw it for the first time, I felt awed by the very artistic style. I think Rembrandt's creative power overwhelmed me.
• Since I wanted to see the same pictures as those Soseki did, I transferred the images to my mobile phone, and tried to find their originals in the gallery by referring to them. Soseki mentions Joshua Reynolds's "Mrs Siddons as the Tragic Muse"(the right below) and commented on it: "the eighteenth-century world is very classical as a whole. ...but the theme of this portrait is not at all. Reynolds would take an intermediate position between the classical and modern to harmonize both the present figure Mrs Siddons and the classical character the Tragic Muse, and created such a classical work as meets the taste of his time"(十八世紀は一面にクラシカルな世である。...所が今言ふ肖像画は決してクラシカルな題目ではない。レノルズは此中間に立って巧みに此の二者を調和して彼の画を時勢に応じる程のクラシカルなものにしたのである。)
• I've learned another interesting episode concerning this gallery; Giles Gilbert Scott has got the idea for the design of telephone booth by seeing the decoration on the mausoleum at the backside entrance of this gallery. I could take the pictures of both, and now I think they are indeed comparable.