Brighton revisited

It had been hot in England a few days before July 5th, and this was good for us because I had had a plan to take my friend to Brighton and enjoy sea bathing together on that day. The last time I visited Brighton, the beautiful scenery struck my heart very much, so I decided to go there again to show it to my friend also. The temperature was also high when we took a coach at the Victoria station as those of the previous days had been. So when we got off the coach in Brighton and checked in the hotel, we felt like running to the beach immediately. There were no air conditioner in our room, and it had just a large fan on the ceiling. I had been satisfied with the ocean-viewing room, but I regretted that I had not made sure in advance that it had an air conditioner. My friend complained about it, but I could not help it. Under these circumstances, getting relaxed in the hotel room for just a few minutes, we headed to the beach without delay. It was good for sun-bathing but the water was too cold to swim for a long time. As a matter of fact, it was only for the first few minutes that we got in the water. For the next few hours, we spent our time just in the beach and closely saw the tide was getting higher. Only experiencing such a natural phenomenon became our unforgettable memory. For a while we could play with a stray dog, which faithfully brought back a pebble to any thrower. It was a so cute little dog that I think I should have taken a picture of it. When we agreed to go back to our room in the hotel, we felt a bit cold. On returning to our hotel, which was located within the distance of a few minutes' walk, the receptionist asked us how we had enjoyed the sea and beach. We just answered, 'it was a bit cold to swim'. After talking a hot shower, we got dressed and went to the restaurant to eat delicious fish and chips. We still could have a sea view from our table. Having dinner in this way, we walked around the Brighton Pier, and played some arcade games there. It was a wonderful night, indeed. Back in the hotel, we watched a comedy movie on DVD titled Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgandy, which had been put in the room to entertain the guests. I could neither catch up with the speed the actors speak nor understand the story well, I fell asleep in spite of myself while watching. The following morning, we had an English breakfast in the cafe near the beach, and went to the Royal Pavilion; but before we headed to the Pavilion, we had to go back to the hotel so that my friend could get some more clothes; the second day was cloudy, windy and cooler. As for the Pavilion, this time, I could go inside the building and saw wonderful rooms and furniture. There was Queen Victoria's room because the Pavilion itself was built for the seaside retreat of King George IV, her uncle. The banquet room was so gorgeous but it was not allowed to take any photographs. That's why both of us bought official guide books. We looked around the rooms listening to the audio guide, and we could learn about the historical building and the royal genealogy as well. Leaving the pavilion, we looked around the city centre, and headed to Brighton Marina, the huge shopping mall with some restaurants and amusement facilities. There we killed time until our coach was coming. Before we got on the coach, we had a Italian dinner in the restaurant near the coach station. Anyway, in Brighton, we enjoyed such a wonderful summer experience.

3 days in Madrid

On June 28th, I and 'D' left for Madrid; we flew out of Heathrow at 2pm and arrived at Barajas airport around 5pm in the local time. Then, we took a subway to Atocha station which is the nearest to our hotel, Hostal Barrera. I forget to mention that she paid for the hotel and airplane tickets because it was her who had asked me to just come with her to Madrid and see how her sister was doing. Therefore, literally, I had only to accompany her; I cannot speak Spanish as she does (not castellano but español), and I had not researched the city in advance. Nevertheless, I have been to Madrid once at the age of 18, so I could remember a few things such as useful expressions in Spanish and the location of the museums. We checked in the hotel late but it was still bright outside. When 'D' contacted with her sister, 'J' told her that she would wait for us with her friend from Netherlands at Plaza Mayor and have dinner with us. So we headed to the square soon after we had got ready. There were fairs and street performances still going on, and we enjoyed looking around the Plaza. Finally, we could meet them in the restaurant, and had dinner together. It was around half past 10 when we went back to our room. This is the outline of Day 1 in Madrid.
The following day, 29th, we saw lots of famous paintings by visiting the 3 museums in Madrid, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Museo del Prado, and Museo de Thyssen Bornemisza. In the first one, which was the nearest to our hotel, we could appreciate the famous Guernica by Pablo Picasso (right above). The last time I saw it in 1995, I did not understand at all what each motif signifies; but this time I got some knowledge of the masterpiece on the Internet and transferred that information to my mobile phone. By referring to it, this time I think I could understand the painting better, and even explain it to my friend. Again I was impressed by the great work of art, but this time it was not only the impression but also the story behind each objects in it that I could learn. I thought that I could really enjoy appreciating the picture. As is well known, Museo del Prado has many Spanish masterpieces. Even visiting this museum only would be a wonderful experience; here you can see Las Meninas and Rendicion de Breda by Diego Velasquez, La Maja Desnuda and La Maja Vestida by Francisco Goya. When I saw Guernica, I felt the joy of having some knowledge of the pictures in advance and appreciating them by consulting some notes in my mobile phone. Therefore, I did the same thing to appreciate these well-known pictures in the Prado museum. I found a few pages about these masterpieces on the Internet with my mobile phone, and saved them first. Then, referring to them, I watched the pictures carefully to see what the explanations say of them with my own eyes. Of course, the best way to get information about the pictures in the museum is to buy the official guidebook; but I did not have enough time to read through it in English, so at least at that moment using the Internet was a better way. Seeing the paintings at the museums was not boring any more but it did become exciting by such an active reading. I think the experiences of Day 2 stimulated my brain very much. Also this evening, we had dinner with 'J' and her friend in the restaurant near our hotel. I think I had the famous Spanish cuisine, paella.
In Day 3, 30th, we looked around popular tourist attractions in the city, such as Palacio Real, Plaza de España, and Estadio Santiago Bernabeu or the home stadium of the famous soccer team Real Madrid. Of these three, I've been to Plaza de España where the statues of Don Quixote and Sancho Panther stand; but visiting other two places was brand new to me, so I really enjoyed them and could learn the Spanish history a bit. These historical sites were very beautiful and the fine weather made the scenery more fantastic, though it was hot. The blue sky and the white buildings made a beautiful contrast. In the stadium, we could see not only the playing ground, but also the press room, the locker room, and even the shower room which David Beckham and Zinedine Zidane would definitely use. There was also a museum, in which you can learn the history of the most popular soccer team. Through these 3days, I think we had a really good time in Madrid.

Madame Tussauds and St. Paul Cathedral

• On June 26th, I took my friend to the famous wax museum, Madame Tassauds, and St. Paul Cathedral. This was because we would have liked to visit these places this March but we couldn't. I had known that the admission fee for Madame Tassauds was very expensive, so I had bought a discount ticket on eBay in advance. It was a season-limited ticket and called '2 for 1 coupon', which means that we can enter for the price of one adult, though it still costs 25 pounds.
  
• As for St. Paul Cathedral which we visited first, both of us could enter for the student price. I had not expected her student ID worked because she was a part time student in another country. But the receptionist did not ask any questions about her card. St. Paul Cathedral was indeed magnificent; we could see many tombs of the well-known British in the crypt, such as the Duke of Wellington, Sir Christopher Wren, William Turner, and Lord Nelson. In addition, there were also in the same floor some memorials of famous people, like William Blake, Florence Nightingale and John Donn. I wish I could have taken pictures inside! There were lots of objects I wanted to capture. One of them was an allegorical painting by William Holman Hunt, The Light of the World, because I had already learned in the class of the graduate school that Charles Dickens severely criticized it; but I cannot remember the reason now. Despite his criticism, I was really impressed by the image; it was bigger than I expected from the copy I saw in the class, and seemed to be very special and significant. After looking around the ground floor, we went up 259 steps to the Whispering Gallery and 119 steps more to the Stone Gallery where we could have a panoramic view of the London city and shoot the scenery. It had been 24 hours before we left for Spain, and from that time on we could reserve the seats for the airplane, so my friend did it through the Internet with my mobile phone while having a seat in the Whispering Gallery. Thanks to that procedure, we could sit side by side in the plane to Madrid. After that, we went outside in the Stone Gallery and took some beautiful pictures.
  
• Exploring Madame Tassauds's exhibitions was really fun! We could see many famous figures there, from Shakespeare to Tom Cruise, and shot lots of funny photographs. This was the third time for me to visit the museum, but still I could really enjoy it. The wax dolls were lifelike, and the exhibitions were, of course, updated. The last time I went there, I remember that there used to be some Japanese figures such as the Sumo wrestler, Chiyo-no-Fuji, and the old prime minister, Shigeru Yoshida; but this time, I could not find any of them, though I thought that I might see a Japanese major leaguer, Ichiro, because he, in my opinion, is now worldly-famous. What surprised me most was the special exhibition for Michael Jackson, who had been dead just the previous night. They were playing his songs loudly and built a tribute corner for him, streaming some video clips background. I did not expected that they reacted to his death in this way so immediately. The horror room and a ride tour had not changed since I experienced them when I was twenty.

Tourist Attractions in Greenwich

• The picture files I took with my digital camera help remembering what I did in the past because they have information of the exact date when they were captured. To make this entry, first I referred to them in my portable data storage. They indicate that it was June 25th when I showed my friend around Greenwich. Furthermore, I can trace back in which order what we saw because the files have also information about the time when I shot.
• The first place we visited on that day was The Royal Observatory Greenwich (left above), which, I think, is worldly famous. It had several exhibitions in it and the admission was free. Needless to say, the feature is the prime meridian of the world. We could take pictures of us with one foot in the east half and another foot in the west half of the globe, and felt that we were in the very centre of the world. The line was showed up with a special object (right above) and lots of tourists gathered around it.
  
• The observatory is located on the hill called Blackheath, and if you take a train you have to climb it up; but this time we took a no. 53 bus from Woolich Arsenal and got off at stop called Greenwich park which was on the hill. A few minutes walk took us to the attraction site and we could command a magnificent view from there.
  
• You can see in the foreground Old Royal Naval College (left rear), National Maritime Museum and Queen's House (left front), and further, across the river Thames, you can observe O2 Arena (a white dome in the right) and the office buildings in Canary Warf in the centre. Of these places we visited the first two attractions after enjoying the exhibitions in the observatory.The Painted Hall and Chapel in the ORNC were worth seeing, indeed. The ceiling painting and the picture in the wall were awesome, and the chapel was very beautiful. Some of the buildings were used for the Greenwich college and some music college, so when we were walking in the site we could hear somebody practice playing his or her instrument.
  
• In the National Maritime Museum, we could not only learn about ships and the sea, but also appreciate some paintings which have something to do with them. The Queen's House was also brilliant; the 17th century building itself is worth visiting, and it has several important pictures inside. I regretted that I had not enough knowledge of the history of buildings and paintings to appreciate them. After fully enjoying these tourist attractions in Greenwich, we took DLR (Dockland Light Railways) to Canary Warf, where many buildings of the finance-related companies are located.
• O2 Arena is an huge event hall, in which Michael Jackson would have held his concert in this July; and it was that night that we heard a sad news of his death on TV. The first one we got was that he was in a coma, but several minutes later, it has been changed to the report of his death. When I watched Dorian Gray, I saw the trailer of the movie of Michael (below You Tube clip), This is it, before the main feature. It impressed me so much in spite of a few minutes clip that I reserved a ticket immediately when I was home. The movie is going to show from tomorrow for only two weeks. Now I'm looking forward to seeing it this Sunday.

Looking back on this summer

(Left:Sea View from Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth)
(Right:Stonehenge in Salisbury)

• How time flies! More than 4 months have passed since I wrote in the last entry on June 17th. July, August and September were mainly spent on writing up the dissertation. On September 30th, I could manage to submit it, and finally I have finished the course on that day. Now I'm waiting for the result. I'm told that the stuffs are going to have a meeting in November, in which they will decide whether or not the students are entitled to get a degree by judging chiefly from our dissertations. To be honest, I'm very anxious about it. Of course, I did try best, but I don't know my work is good enough or not. However, since I have handed it in anyway, I cannot help it now.
  
• I think, instead, it's better to reflect on my experiences I have had for these four months. Most of the time, as I wrote, have gone for the thesis, but still I could travel to some places. Here's the overview. My friend 'D' came to see me on June 24th, and stayed with me till July 13th. This time, we went to Madrid in Spain from June 27th to 30th after I had showed her around Greenwich and the central London for the first few days, because she wanted to see her sister who had been learning Spanish in that city. Her sister 'J' had finished the course, so we could come back together to London. About eight hours later we arrived at Heathrow, 'J' went home by taking another flight to her country early in the morning. Returning from Madrid, I and 'D' made a few journeys to Brighton, Howarth and the Lake District. Each trip has made many episodes, which are worth while noting down here.
  
• So I will write them in this blog from now on for the next four days. From September 9th to 21st, my father came to England for his annual field work, that is, visiting the places relevant to English literature, so I also joined his first 3-days trip to Portsmouth from 10 to 12th. We were blessed with fine weather during all the time our sightseeing there, so this was also very enjoyable. After leaving Portsmouth, we parted; my father went to Exeter, and I went back home to continue the dissertation writing. However, we saw each other again at the Globe theatre to see Troilus and Cressida. I said good-bye to him at Paddington that night, and the following day, he left for Japan.
  
• After submitting the dissertation, I became just a Japanese tourist. First of all, on October 3rd, I watched the movie in Leicester Square, Dorian Gray, the latest film adaptation of Oscar Wilde's novel. I posted the trailer below. Next, I went to Bath and Salisbury, the former for Jane Austen Centre and Roman Bath and the latter for Cathedral and Stonehenge. I stayed two nights for each place from October 6 to 10th, and on my way home from Salisbury, I decided to go to Oxford and Gloucester for the next round. The plan was carried out soon; I visited Oxford on 15th and stayed 3 nights to 18th. The purpose of this short trip was, of course, looking around the famous colleges, seeing Christ church and joining the Bodleian library tour. I could do all these things, and I've learned a lot.
  
• In addition, before going to Oxford, I went INSIDE Kensington Palace on 13th, which means I paid the expensive admission fee and enjoyed seeing the rooms, exhibitions and halls inside the palace. That was what I had hesitated to do when I was living in the college hall in Paddington, even when I could go there by several minutes walk. So even though I've seen it many times, I just looked at it from outside. On second thought, however, Kensington Palace was still important to me studying the Victorian culture because Queen Victoria was born there. That's why I visited it. The last one for this month was Stratfor-upn-avon from 20 to 22nd. I saw Twelfth Night by RSC (Royal Shakespeare Company) at the Courtyard Theatre on the night of 21st. Watching the RSC's performance in Stratford-upon-avon where Shakespeare was born had been my dream since I read his comedies in the first year of my master class in Japan. This dream was also realized, and visiting Shakespeare's birthplace and his wife Ann Hathaway's cottage was amazing. I got so absorbed in my literary sightseeing this month so I decided to take rest this week. Now I have the time to look back on my experiences this summer and autumn by writing them in chronological order on this web diary. The journeys I mentioned here were full of episodes, which I do like to record. That's all for today.