Great Hall and Cathedral

　　Leaving what I wrote in the last entry aside, I admired their historical and continuous endeavor to maintain ancient buildings and hand their traditions down to their descendants. I found lots of memorial plaques for staff members of the college who had worked in the 12th to 19th century. Can we not say that the very effort to consistently preserve their own culture shows the level of the nation's civilization.
　　The first picture shows the stairs to the Great Hall, which is the mess hall of this college. The ceiling had an unique design, but I wasn't fully able to understand the college staff's explanation. The Great Hall is said to be utilized for reference in shooting the film, "Harry Potter". The attendant's comment reminded me of several scenes in the movie. Some staff members were busying themselves with doing the dishes in the adjacent kitchen. It seemed that the lunch time had just finished. The time schedule for the students would be strict.
　　As you see in the picture, lots of portraits were on the wall. I felt that the eyes of all the persons in the pictures were staring at me. I wondered how they felt to have every meal in front of those portraits. Anyway, I saw some visitors taking pictures of a portrait, but I didn't know that portrait and passed it. For my later consideration, the portrait might be of Lewis Carroll who wrote "Alice in Wonderland". A shop which the young girl who was said to be the model of the story had often visited apparently remained. I would visit it later. I'll show you the pictures of the Cathedral, which was the biggest one in Oxford. The place for prayers, anthems, its atmosphere was really solemn.

それはそれとして、８世紀から続くこれらの建物を見ていて思うのは、文化を後世に伝えていこうとするこの国のたゆまぬ努力である。これだけ古いものを保存していることに敬意を表したい。また、１２世紀～１９世紀に亡くなったカレッジのスタッフを記念する銘板がそこかしこにあった。文化を育て、伝えていく努力は文明の程度に比例するのではないかと思う。

階段はこのカレッジのいわば学食であるグレートホールへ登っていく階段で、天井に特徴的なデザインがあるらしい。そして学食に入る。ここはハリーポッターの撮影の参考にされたという。確かにこのような場所が映画に出てきたなあと思いだした。隣の厨房では食事の片付けに追われるスタッフが忙しく働いていた。少し厳格な気もするが食事の時刻がきちんと決まっているのだろう。

壁に多くの肖像画が掛かっていた。毎日の食事をこれらの肖像画の前で摂っているのはどんな気持ちだろう？そのうちの一枚で観光客が立ち止まり撮影をしていたが、何のことかわからなかったので無視。後で思ったのは、Lewis Carrollの肖像画だったかもしれない。このカレッジで数学の教師をしていた彼は学長の娘のために書いたのが、『不思議の国のアリス』だった。モデルになったと言われる女の子がよく出入りしていた店がまだ残っているらしい。後で行ってみよう。次に入ったのが、大聖堂。賛美歌を歌い、祈りの場所。荘厳な雰囲気の場所でした。