Japanese Surgeon's Daily Life

Trip to Okinawa 3

　　A tiny, croissant-shaped island was featured in a TV news item last night. I checked it on the net and I learned that the island was located just in front of us, so I decided to visit it today. Its name was Min'na-jima, nicknamed Croissant Island. It was 10 minutes drive from our condominium to Toguchi Port, from which the small boats start for the island, and 15 minutes from the port to the island. It was a tiny island, but its beach was crowded with boisterous kids and tourists. I preferred to see its natural circumstances or the lives of islanders than the beach and enjoyed wandering on the strange island. Then I headed for the northern end of Okinawa, called Hedo Cape. I happened to drop in at a roadside soba shop on the way, and the taste was great. I made a note of the shop’s name to revisit it on the next trip. It was worth the bother of stopping by. I had been to Hedo Cape before. Under the control of the U.S., people in Okinawa apparently prayed for the reversion of Okinawa to Japanese administration. I could see Yoron Island in the distance.

(July 14th)

Trip to Okinawa 2

　　I got up at about 5 o'clock this morning and went out for a jog after breakfast, but the subtropical sunlight was harsh and I was only able to run for 20 minutes. Eventually, I walked around almost the entire island. Some beaches were preparing to open. Many gravel carriers were peacefully lying at anchor at Motobu Gulf. They were for the construction of the new Marine Base, which was welcomed by most Japanese, but pro-China activists are getting in the way. I happened to see a ferry boat, which I had wanted to get on, and I took a snapshot. Today's dinner was at a gorgeous Italian restaurant in the resort, and we enjoyed the famous Hilton fireworks.

(July 13th)

 

Trip to Okinawa 1

　　My wife and I visited Hilton Okinawa Sesoko Resort in Okinawa, part of which was under development. There's a direct flight from my place to Naha (Okinawa), and we were able to reach Naha in two hours. After renting a car, we headed for Sesokojima Island via the American Village. We happened to pass by the scene of the conflict between the government and the leftist group. A security guard was killed there a few months ago. It was a disgusting accident. Just after our arrival at the resort, I enjoyed wandering around alone, leaving my wife, who was tired, in the condominium. Wandering aimlessly in a strange area was very joyful to me. We had Okinawa's local specialty, soba noodles, for dinner in our hotel. It was great. After dinner, we enjoyed a special concert by the local band "Inagun-gwa". Tonight's nibbles were pig ear jerky as you can see in the following pictures. It was not bad, but I prefer beef jerky.

（July 12th)

Ten-noh's State Visit to the U.K.

　　Japan's Imperial couple made a state visit to the U.K. for one week. Both of them have the experience of studying in Oxford University in their 20s. This visit would have been a great time for them. I heard of their visit in May and wondered whether we should reschedule our visit to fit with their state visit or not. However, we were afraid to get involved in traffic jams or something like that, and visited the U.K. during the early part of June as originally scheduled.
　　Countries like Japan and the U.K., which have kings, seem to be lucky for me. No matter what political misunderstandings or disputes there are, the friendship between the countries can be maintained at the level of the royal family. Getting a quick overview of Japan's history, people were totally free from the threat from overseas in the Edo era and in the times of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance. I really hope that the new Anglo-Japanese Alliance would be tied.

 

Back Home

　　We wiled away four hours with some drinks in a lounge at Suvarnabhumi Airport and then headed to Kansai Airport on Thai International Airways. I slept all the way on the flight, and the landing announcement awoke me. There was no Japanese-speaking cabin attendant and no Japanese version of an immigration card. I felt that the airline company didn't take proper care of Japanese customers despite the direct flight between Thailand and Japan. We got home utilizing the super-express Haruka, the Shinkansen bullet train, and the super-express Shiokaze for one stretch from Kansai International Airport. The destination of next year's trip to the U.K. will be London and Brighton.

At Munich Airport

　　We utilized award tickets of All Nippon Airways on this trip, but we weren't able to get direct flights. We had to stop over at Munich and Bangkok on the way to Japan. We stayed one night at Flightgate Hotel near Munich Airport. Our room was clean and cozy. The hotel staff were kind. Additionally, the breakfast included in the hotel charges was great. If we will have another opportunity to stop over in Munich, I'd like to book this hotel again. At Munich Airport the next day, I had to pass the passport control twice! I didn't know why. It didn't take so much time. One more thing, my daypack was opened at the inspection and my pack of wet tissues were tested using a thin film. The inspector might have doubted if I had some illegal substances. Anyway strict inspections are also for myself and are welcome. However, I wanted to know the reason why they suspected me of carrying something illegal. We flew Thai Airways International from Munich to Bangkok.

Lufthansa Lounge

　　There were seven to eight different airline lounges that we could use at Terminal 2, and we chose the Lufthansa lounge. We spent some time before boarding with complimentary dishes and alcoholic beverages. The following picture shows a book that I bought at a bookstore. It features reviews of traveling Japan made by foreign tourists. I was interested in how international tourists see Japan. The reason why we chose the Lufthansa lounge was that I wanted to accustom myself to German. I had learned German long ago, but my German speaking skills were rusted now. However, to my disappointment, the language used in the lounge was all English. I understood that we were in the U.K. and it was natural. We arrived at Munich Airport in less than two hours. I was afraid that the immigration process would be more complex due to Brexit, but it proved unfounded. We took a taxi from the airport to our hotel. The atmosphere of the taxi stand was terrible. All the drivers were of Middle Eastern origin. It was midnight and we had no option but to use them. We were cheated out of the taxi fare. It was three times higher than the taxi the hotel called for us the next morning.

(Vocabulary)
complimentary 無料の, 贈呈の, 〈チケットが〉招待の; 称賛の, 敬意を表する

　入ることの出来るラウンジが７～８種類もあって悩んだが、搭乗するルフトハンザのラウンジで出発するまで本を読みながら過ごした。これは、空港で見つけた本、外国人から見た日本観光の評論で、日本の観光地が外国人にどのように映っているのか興味があった。
　ＬＨラウンジを選んだのは耳をドイツ語に少しで慣らしておこうと思ったからだが、なんのことはない、聞こえてくるのは全て英語、スタッフも英語を喋っている。ここはイギリス。そりゃそうだろうな。日本から持参していたドイツ語会話のテキストは結局一度も目を通すことは無かった。行けなかったラウンジの案内板を記念に撮影しておいた。
　２時間足らずでミュンヘンに着いた。ブレグジット後、イギリスからドイツ（ＥＵ）に入国するには何か面倒くさいかと思ったがなにもなし。空港からは深夜だったのでタクシーを利用したが空港のタクシー乗り場の雰囲気が悪い。全員が中東系。仕方なく利用したがぼられた。翌日、ホテルが呼んでくれたタクシーの３倍取られた。

At Heathrow

　　We bought a stuffed bear, "Paddington" for our granddaughter at London Paddington. Then, we moved to Heathrow Airport by the Elizabeth Line. It was a direct service and very handy. We had to stop over at Munich. We used award tickets this time and stopping over at Munich was a trade-off for getting cheaper flights. We decided to enjoy the airport itself in Heathrow. After wandering around bookstores and several souvenir shops, we entered a conveyor-belt sushi bar which seemed to be run by Indians. Not only this sushi bar, but in many places, I often came across Indians or people of Indian origin. Anyway, the taste was not bad, but their prices were incredible expensive. We ate only two kinds respectively. Their tastes and cleanliness were acceptable. I recalled that my daughter, who was now in Bath working as a physician, and I felt nauseous in a sushi restaurant run by Koreans in Prince Edward Island in 2012. I'll add the link to the article. 

 

https://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2012/07/japanese-cuisine-.html 

 

(Vocabulary)     

conveyor-belt [conveyer-belt] sushi bar [restaurant] 回転寿司     

 

 

 

　パディントン駅で孫にお土産の熊のぬいぐるみを買った後、エリザベスラインでヒースロー国際空港へ。直通なのでかなり便利。ヒースローからはルフトハンザでまずミュンヘンへ飛ぶ。特典航空券なので直行便で無いのは仕方ない。その代わりにラウンジや空港そのものを楽しむことにする。回転寿司屋があったので寄ってみた。味はまずまずだったが信じられないほど高い。それぞれ２品ほど食べて失礼した。味と清潔さは合格点。 カナダ東部のプリンスエドワード島で、コリアンが経営する寿司屋「竹鮨」でうんざりしたことを思い出した。その時の記事を添付する 

https://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2012/07/japanese-cuisine-.html 

Good-bye Bath

　　I left Bath by the great western railroad (gWr). I took some pictures of the small street leading to my daughter's apartment. I'd never visit here again. I engraved the scene, atmosphere and cool weather on my memory. My daughter lived here and commuted for a year. I wanted to say loudly "Thank you" to all the people who helped her. 

　　I got a cup of coffee on the train and enjoyed the scenery through the window, always checking where I was on the screen of the iPad. I happened to find Windsor Castle on the screen. I looked in the direction of the castle, but I couldn't see it. However, I understood the rough position of the castle. I'd like to visit the castle on the next trip to the U.K. My daughter will move to Brighton this summer following the governmental(NHS) decision. I'll visit Brighton and around London next year. 

 

 

Cardiff

　　It rained on the last day in Bath. I visited Cardiff, which is the capital city of Wales. It has some medieval castles and a coal mine museum called "Big Pit National Coal Museum". This coal mine used to be a major driving factor of the development of the U.K. after the industrial revolution. When I was checking the location of the museum, I happened to find the town of Aberfan. I recalled a miserable coal mine accident. No, not the coal mine accident. It was the worst-ever industrial accident, which killed a hundred school kids. The small town was said to have lost one generation. Anyway, the weather was bad, and the driving seemed to be hard and we stayed at Cardiff and enjoyed wandering the streets and department stores. I wasn't interested in shopping and visited Cardiff Castle alone. In the outer wall of the castle, the preparation of events or something was under way. It robbed the castle of the medieval atmosphere and it was regrettable. The outer wall was a hollow structure and I could walk inside the wall without being caught in the rain. Was this space used to repel enemies? 

　　The streets of Cardiff were generally clean. There were few litters. One thing, most signboards were written in English and Welsh. I tried to pronounce some Welsh words, but their spelling was very unusual and I couldn't even imagine the sound of the words. I'll show you an example later. 

 

(Vocabulary)   

medieval 中世の   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

　旅行中、初めての雨。カーディフは言うまでもなくウェールズの首都。いくつかの中世の城が残っており、また産業革命以後、イギリスの発展を支えた炭鉱が博物館になっていると聞き行くつもりだった。Big Pit National Coal Museumだ。場所は南ウェールズ、悲惨な炭鉱事故というより、イギリス史上最悪の産業事故で、ウェールズ南部の小さな、ほぼ一世代を失ったという村、aberfanの近く。しかし、天気が悪く、運転が大変そうだったのでやめて、カーディフ市内のぶらぶら歩きに変更した。カーディフ城では何かイベントの準備で中世の風情は無くなっていて残念だったが、内部は雨も掛からず快適だった。   

　街は総じてきれい。余りゴミはない。が、いろいろな表示が２カ国語表示、ウェルシュ語と英語。発音を真似ようとしてもできない綴り。消えゆく言葉なのかもしれないと感じた。

Stonehenge

　　It was around May when I knew that the World Heritage Site of Stonehenge was located near Bath. I recognized the location of Stonehenge and asked my daughter to take us there. We had breakfast in her apartment and headed for Stonehenge in my daughter's car. Her car was made in Japan and already had run about 200,000km. The car was incredibly obsolete and run down, but worked! When she started her career at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, she bought it and she has used it for a few years. I thought it a junk car, but she wouldn't need it in the next duty hospital in Brighton and seemed to be going to sell it, though I believe that the car would never sell. Anyway, she bought a car and made a contact of her parking lot herself in a foreign country. I saw her pump the gas herself with deep feeling admiring her attainments.
　　The drive in the vast Salisbury Plain was really fun. Viewing the streaming scenes along the road was a soothing relief. When we arrived at the visitor center of Stonehenge, the parking lot was full of visitors and their buses and vehicles. First of all, we got tickets and then got on a shuttle bus to the site of Stonehenge. Stonehenge was circled by rope and visitors weren't allowed to access it. In the museum, there were several descriptions about people who were supposed to have built Stonehenge. Their restored houses and the same size of stone as a stone used in Stonehenge are also displayed. Seeing them, I admired the achievements of research, but at the last part, the description wound up saying, "All about Stonehenge are still unknown".

(Vocabulary)
junk a car 車を廃車にする
junk [junker] car〈米俗〉廃車
duty station (兵士の）任地

　ストーンヘンジがバースからほど近い場所にあることを知ったのは５月頃だった。ここにあったのかと場所を再認識し、是非とも訪問したいと思った。１２日は朝食を娘の部屋で済ませてストーンヘンジへ向かった。娘の車は日本製で、２０万キロくらい走っている。信じられないほどボロだが、動く。ストーク・マンデビル病院勤務時代に購入してもう数年使っている。廃車寸前かと思えば、まだ売れるという。次の任地ブライトンでは不要になるらしく売るそうだ。売れるはずが無いと思うが売れるらしい。(^_^;)異国の地で、車を買い、駐車場所を契約し、ガソリンスタンドで苦も無く給油している姿を見るとずいぶん逞しくなったものだと感慨深い。
　ソールズベリー平原のドライブは楽しいの一言。ロンドンとはまた違ったのどかな風景に心が和む。急ぐ旅ではなく、あちこちへ立ち寄りながらストーンヘンジに到着すると、観光客、それを運んできたバスでごった返していた。まずはビジターセンターで入場券を買う。そしてシャトルバスで現地へ。後でわかったことだが、一般道からでも眺めることができたが、近くから見るには（と言っても５０メートルくらいのところにロープが張られていてそれ以上近くには寄れない)やはり、入場券が必要。併設のミュージアムではストーンヘンジを組み立てたであろう人々の生活の様子が語られていた。復元された住居やストーンヘンジで使われている石と同サイズの石が置かれていた。展示品をずっと見ていくと、、、、最後に一言、それでも尚、ストーンヘンジの意味がわからない、と。結局行き着くところはそこ。（笑）

Afternoon Tea

　　Afternoon Tea is known as a tradition of the U.K. across Japan. My wife had been eager to experience the real and true afternoon tea in the U.K., and my daughter booked our seats in a restaurant, the Pump Room. The room was classy even with live classic music to the point where I wondered why I had to be tensed like this for just eating cakes and drinking tea. The amount of cakes and cookies was enough for me. If I continued "afternoon tea" every day, I would be clinically obese. Do many Britons enjoy it? I asked the waitress of our table this question interrogatively. The old eating habits were twice a day and people felt hungry in the afternoon, so this practice seemed to have started. The tea and confections were nice, but personally, I'd rather sip coffee in a relaxed mood at a cafe like Starbucks.
　　FYI, I feel crazy about the Britons' fondness for tea. The English tanks apparently have electric kettles inside to enjoy tea safely in the tank. (grin)

(Vocabulary)
interrogatively 問いかけるように, いぶかしげに

　イギリスの伝統でもあるアフタヌーンティー。カミさんがなんとしても本場のアフタヌーンティーを経験してみたいというので予約した。ケーキと紅茶を飲むのにこれほど緊張せねばならぬのか、と思わせるほど上品なもので、クラシック音楽の生演奏までついていた。娘は和装で参加。結構腹が膨れた。こんなこと、毎日続けたら肥満になってしまうと思ったが、古くはイギリスは１日２食で昼食はなかったので午後の空腹を紛らすために始まったのだそうだ。お菓子もお茶も良かったが、アフタヌーンティーはもうこれで十分。個人的にはスタバでコーヒーでもすすっている方がリラックスできる。
因みに、イギリスの戦車には紅茶を淹れるためのやかんが装備されているそうだ。安全に戦車の中で楽しみたいという。連中の紅茶好きは想像の域を超えている。

Avon River

　　As you see, viewing from the shooting point, the city of Bath is raised. I was not sure, but I imagined that people would have built the city again on the previous city. I'd been keenly interested in the geology of the city after seeing the basement of Sally Lunn's or the excavation work of Roman Bath. Why was this structure born? I'm going to investigate it. Additionally, I found some rather big lock gates just in front of me. I recalled the locks I'd seen in Oxford, and I realized again that the early modern U.K. had harnessed water for means of transportation.

撮影している場所から対岸を望むと街がかさ上げされている。昔からの街の上に街を作ったのか？Sally Lunn'sの地下のミュージアムやローマンバスの地下を見たときからこの街の地層が気になっていた。どうしてこのようなことになってしまったのか。調べてみたい。また、目の前には川の水面の高さを調節するための閘門がある。イギリスがこれほど水運に頼っていた国だとは知らなかった。

Strolling

　　I strolled in the city of Bath. The first picture is a monument for victims of World War II. Bath was also bombed during the war. The Germans would have done it. What did they aim to do in such a rural city? By the way, Bath has something to do with Frankenstein and there was a museum about him. I had been eager to drop in, but I couldn't due to the time shortage.
　　Then, I walked around the Circus, which was one of the sightseeing points. My daughter's apartment is between the Circus and the Royal Crescent. It's a very easy-to-grasp location. There were lots of cars parked in front of both historic buildings. The gaps between cars were extremely short and I felt sympathy for the car owners. It would take time to park or drive out of the parallel parking spaces. Tesla cars automatically park themselves, but even so, it would take time for many lock-to-lock steering.
　　The last picture is Saracens Head, the oldest pub in Bath, which opened in 1713. According to the audioguide of the city tour bus, the pub was loved by Charles Dickens. He is a well-known novelist, whom even I know, and I really wanted to sit at his regular place in the pub, but I didn't have time to do so due to the following schedule.

(Vocabulary)
easy-to-grasp　わかりやすい
parallel parking space 縦列駐車スペース

　一人で街をぶらつく。最初の写真は慰霊碑。第二次世界大戦でこの街にも空襲があり、その犠牲者を悼むものだった。おそらくはドイツ軍だろうが、こんな田舎町を爆撃して何が目的だったのだろう？この街はフランケンシュタインゆかりの街だそうで、ミュージアムがあったが明日にしよう、明日にしようと思っているうちに時間がなくなり訪問できず。少し残念。
　そして、バースの観光名所の一つ、The Circusを一周した。娘のアパートはこのThe Circusとthe Royal Crescentの間にある。こんなにわかりやすい目印はそうはない。どちらの建物でも車は路上駐車。車間は狭く、入れるのも出すのも大変だろうなあと同情した。テスラ車については自動で縦列駐車をしてくれるが、時間はかかりそうだ。
　そして、最後の写真は１７１３年開店のバースで一番古いパブと言われるSaracens Head。あのディケンズゆかりのパブと観光バスの案内で知った。入ってみたいと思っていたが、次の予定があって立ち寄れず。

EV Charger

　　I got accustomed to walk around the city of Bath. When walking on the backstreet, I came across a chic B&B. To be exact, an EV charger caught my eye first and then I noticed the charger was installed at the B&B for their guests. The connector was Type 2 and I'd never seen it in Japan. I wanted to know the spec of the charger, but there was no one to tell me. I'm going to write about EVs later. 90% of Tesla cars in Bath were Model Y. Model 3 and Y were fifty-fifty in London, and I didn't see BYD's EVs. I heard that the BYD's EV is very popular in Europe, but it was not the case, at least in the U.K.

(Vocabulary)
chic ʃik/ おしゃれな, シックな
to be exact 正確には

　バースの街にも慣れてきて裏通りを歩いていて、しゃれたB&Bを見つけた。正確にはEV充電器が目に留まり、それがB&Bの宿泊者向けだったという順番。プラグは見たことも無い形状で、日本標準のチャデモとはまったく違う。充電スピードなど詳しいスペックを調べたかったが周囲に誰もおらず尋ねることは出来なかった。後の記事でＥＶについて書くつもりだが、バースで見かけるテスラ車は9割がモデルＹだった。ロンドンではモデル3とＹが半々で、シナ製は見かけなかった。欧州に普及していると聞いていたがイギリスはそうでもない。

Vegetarian Dish

　　I was taken to a vegetarian restaurant called "OAK" by my daughter. I was often looking down on vegetarian dishes, saying "There's no way that I'd eat vegetarian dishes" on a regular basis. "It's delicious and you should try some," said my daughter and I followed her. When in the U.K., it would be wise of me to follow her. The taste was not so bad generally, and I didn't feel any sense of discomfort. However, they didn't seem to go well with my taste. I took pictures of some of the dishes and menus for my memory. I experienced vegetarian dishes for the first time and they were not bad. They were impressive in a good sense. Recalling livestock who are doomed to be slaughtered, vegetarian dishes might be recommended, but I'd not be able to become a vegetarian at once.
　　I heard of vegans and their dietary habit is beyond my imagination. They don't eat eggs or dairy products. That means that they don't eat ice cream or cookies or Christmas cakes and so on. Are there many vegan population in the U.K.? I think that there are some vegans in Japan, too, but I imagine it's very few in Japan.

(Vocabulary)
a sense of discomfort 違和感
be doomed to ～する悪い運命にある
slaughter 〈家畜など〉を解体処理する, 畜殺する;(けなして) 〈多数の人〉 を虐殺する
manslaughter 過失致死(罪)

(June 10th)

　娘に連れられ、OAKという店で初めてベジタリアン料理のコーストやらを食べてみた。味は悪くはないが、また違和感なく食べられたが、僕には合わないような気がした。料理のいくつかとメニューを記念に撮影しておいた。初めてのベジタリアン料理はまずくはなく、良い意味で衝撃的ではあったが、また殺される家畜のことを思えば良いことなのだろうが、一足飛びにベジタリアンにはなれないなあ。
　ヴィーガンという更に厳しい食事制限をしている人もいるらしいが、卵や乳製品を食べないなどとは僕には信じられない。アイスクリームや、クッキーなどを食べないなんて、イギリスではこういう食事を選ぶ人は多いのかな？日本にも居るとは思うが余り聞かない。

The Roman Bath

　　I knew that the influence of the Roman Empire had reached Great Britain, but I didn't know that their remains existed even now. After my daughter started living in Bath, I did research about Bath and knew about the Roman Bath. Principal travel guides carry its pictures holding greenish water surrounded by the Roman style walls and pillars. I jumped to stupid conclusions from them that the Roman Bath indicated this rectangle pool, but the ruins were genuinely beyond my imagination. The ruins had even a sauna bath, a workout gym, and a kind of sanatorium along with a generally accepted public bath. The ruins were under excavation, but the buildings and streets around the ruins apparently prevented the archaeologists from finding out the real magnitude of the Roman Bath.
　　I thought that the efforts of the U.K. inviting visitors might not be enough. The government still has work to do for a publicity campaign as a tourism-oriented country. I think that the U.K. wouldn't be recognized as a tourism-oriented country at least for Japanese people. I believe that it has sufficient quality.

(Vocabulary)
research 調べもの, 情報収集
do research 調べもの［情報収集］をする
tourism-oriented country 観光立国

　ローマ帝国の支配がイギリスにまで及んでいたことは知っていたが、ローマ時代の遺跡が残って居るとは知らなかった。バースに娘が住むようになってバースの歴史や文化を研究して、この遺跡を知った。主要な観光案内には緑色の水のたまったローマ様式の建物が出ているが、実際に観光してみると、それだけではなくかなりの規模の公衆浴場だったことがわかった。今でも発掘中だが、周囲の道路や建物が邪魔になりなかなか進まないらしい。浴場内にはサウナや、スポーツ施設まであり、今で言うサナトリウムのような施設もあったと考えられている。これほどの遺跡とは思わなかった。世界へ向けての宣伝が少し足りないのではないか？
　イギリスは観光立国として少なくとも日本人には認識されていないと思う。観光地として十分な資産を持っていると思うのだが。

Bath Abbey

　　It might be Westminster Abbey which I entered the place called "Abbey" for the first time. I was surprised to know that there were tombs on the floor on which visitors walk. I wondered if visitors' stomping on the tombs was impolite to the dead, or not. It was unbelievable for general Japanese. I didn't want to walk on those tombs other than the tomb of Winston Churchill. Bath Abbey was alike. I felt a crisp atmosphere from its majesty. I walked inside reading epitaphs on the wall. I found epitaphs of a few surgeons and I bent my head for a few seconds as a man in the same business and took pictures of them.

(Vocabulary)
crisp 〈日・天気・空気などが〉 澄んだ, ひんやりとした
The air was fresh and crisp. 空気は新鮮で澄んでいた．
majesty [U] 雄大さ, 壮麗さ

(June 10th)

　イギリスで初めて寺院と呼ばれる場所に入ったのはウエストミンスター寺院だったと思う。床に墓石があり、その上を歩くような形式にビックリしたことを覚えている。亡くなられた人たちに失礼では無いのだろうか。ウェストミンスター寺院ではチャーチルの墓を見つけたので、この墓だけは踏みつけるようにして歩いたが、なるべく墓の上を歩きたくは無かった。
　バース寺院も同様だった。その荘厳さに身の引き締まる思いがした。壁に掛かる墓碑銘を読みながら歩いた。その中に外科医のものもあり、同業者として頭を垂れ、写真も撮って帰った。

The Guildhall Market

　　I knew the word "guildhall" for the first time. Looking it up in the dictionary, it was an important word that I should memorize. I came across the Guildhall Market on the way to Roman Bath, one of the principal tourist destinations, and I entered it. The entrance wasn't so welcoming and I was reluctant to drop in here, but my daughter took me in. There were several kinds of shops and a leather book cover attracted me, but I had patience. My daughter urged us to eat scotch eggs. There were seven to ten kinds of scotch eggs. The number of the choices reminded me that I was genuinely in the best place to eat scotch eggs. I couldn't choose one and I followed the vendor's suggestion. The taste wasn't so special. If it was hot, it might be great. Or, did he serve me old stock? Anyway, I had a question. I was in England and not Scotland. Did scotch eggs come from Scotland? The man at the counter told me that scotch eggs are irrelevant to Scotland. I'll examine the origin of scotch eggs back in Japan.

　まず、Guildhallという単語は初めて聞いた。調べてみると結構大切な単語だった。覚えておかなくては。バースの観光地のナンバーワンとも言えるローマ温泉へ向かう途中、娘に誘われて入ってみた。臆病なのでカミさんと二人なら入らなかったろう。いろいろな物が売られており、革製のブックカバーに惹かれたが、我慢。これを食べなくちゃと言われてスコッチエッグを食べてみた。さすがに本場で、品揃えは豊富。お勧めのものを食べてみたが味は普通。温かかったら美味しかったかも。さてはおじさん、売れ残りそうなのを勧めたか？
　ところで、イングランドでスコッチ？と、さきほどイングランドの旗を見たので思ったが、スコッチエッグのスコッチはスコットランドとは関係ないらしい、、、とは売り子のおじさんの弁。

City Tour

　　I'll show you pictures taken from the city tour bus. The first two pictures show the Avon River. The building at your left hand in the first picture was a part of the bridge over the Avon River. Its structure was like Ponte Vecchio in Florence and there were some shops and a cafe on the bridge. There was a curious level difference between the road on which my bus was running and the surface of the river. I decided to look at the bridge from underneath later. The 3rd picture is Bath Abbey, on which the national flag of England was waving. It was not the flag of the U.K. I realized again that the U.K. was a collective entity. I had a plan to visit Wales later and I felt excited. My bus climbed up and up, then arrived at the Royal Crescent, which was located a few minutes' walk from my daughter's apartment. It looks very crowded and noisy, but it's quiet and comfortable after dark.

(Vocabulary)
from underneath 下から
entity 一個のもの［存在］

　市内観光のバスからの写真を並べる。最初の２枚はエイボン川を捉えたもので、１枚目の左の建物は実は、エイボン川に架かる橋の一部。イタリアのPonte Vecchioベッキオ橋のような構造になっていた。今走っている道の下はどうなっているのだろうと気になった。２枚目はエイボン川。翌日、この川縁に降りてビックリ。写真に期待して下さい。３枚目はこの後で訪問するバース寺院　尖塔の上にたなびくのはイギリス国旗ではなくイングランド国旗！複数の国の集合体であるイギリスなのだと感じた。翌々日にはもう一つの国ウェールズへも足を伸ばすので楽しみ。どんどんと坂を登って最後の写真は前に紹介したThe Royal Crescent。娘の住むアパートから徒歩１分、随分と賑やかに見えるが夜は静かで良い場所だ。