Black Sea

　　I woke up when my lunch was delivered and immediately I made sure where I was. Surprisingly, my plane was flying over the Black Sea. On the screen, "Odesa", "Sevastopol" and other familiar cities in recent news items were shown. There was nothing to keep me busy and I was wandering on the map, zooming it in and out. I found Sinop on the ground and recalled the well-known naval battle in 19th century. By the way, the incident during which the Russian missile cruiser Moscow was sunk by Ukraine in the Black Sea was still fresh in my mind. I uttered "Were the pilots insane?" I recalled the Malaysian passenger plane which had been shot down over the disputed area in Ukraine, which happened to be on the same day in 2014.
　　Looking down over lunch, two distinctive summits of Greater and Little Ararat came in my sight. They were solemnly beautiful. I promptly took my binoculars out and searched Mt. Ararat for the ruin of Noah's ark(grin). I had mistakenly put these binoculars into my suitcase on the way to the U.K., but I carried them into the cabin on the way back to Japan in an attempt to observe the land of Scotland and Iceland. However, I wasn't able to view them, as the plane took the eastbound route, but luckily the clear sky gave me a wonderful splendor of the Eastern district of Turkey.
　　Before long, the street of Yerevan came into my sight. The weather was perfect and Mt. Ararat would be clearly seen from the Armenian Capital city. Recalling the history of Armenia, I felt a feeling of sympathy for the people of Armenia. Mt. Ararat, which is now located in the territory of Turkey, originally belonged to Armenia. Japan is lucky to be an island country.
　　My plane veered to the right then to the left in the meantime. I assumed that the move was to avoid North Korea. The last meal was offered around the time when the plane passed out into the East China Sea. The 13 hours' flight was really a challenging task.
　　This is the last entry on my trip to the U.K. this year. My next trip plan to the U.K. is up in the air at present, but I'd like to visit the U.K. next year too. The most possible destination and time of the year is the western area of London in June. Bath, Bristol, and Wales if I can. I have to learn the area's history and culture from now.

(Vocabulary)
missile cruiser ミサイル巡洋艦
be still fresh in our minds　記憶に新しい
massif 〘地〙中央山塊, 大山塊; 連峰.
binoculars 双眼鏡
Noah's ark ノアの箱舟
Yerevan エレバン（アルメニアの首都）
in the meantime そうこうしているうちに

食事が来たため目が覚め、反射的に現在の飛行位置を確認した。なんと黒海の上を飛んでいる。オデッサ、セバストポリなどニュースで聞き慣れた街が表示されている。しばらく地図を拡大したり縮小したりして周辺を地図状で散策。シノープを見つけた。有名な海戦のあった場所だな～　などとのんびりは出来ず、ただただ早く通り過ぎてくれと祈った。ここはロシアの誇るミサイル巡洋艦モスクワが撃沈された場所ではないか。パイロットは正気なのか？２０１４年の奇しくも同じ日、７月１７日にウクライナ東部の戦場の上空で撃墜されたマレーシア航空機を思い出した。

写真に示した食事を食べながらふと地上を見ると特徴的な山塊が！大小アララト山だ。ノアの箱舟の残骸が見えはしないか（笑）と双眼鏡を取り出した。往路ではうっかり預け荷物の中へ入れてしまったが、復路ではスコットランドやアイスランドを眺めるために手元に置いていた。

しばらくすると、アルメニア、エレバンの街が見えてきた。エレバンの街からアララト山は間違いなく今日も見えているだろう。アルメニアの人々の近代史を思い、同情した。日本人にとって、歴史的、文化的に切り離せない富士山を中国に奪われてしまったような状況だろう。日本は島国で良かった。多分北を避けるためだろう。飛行機は大きく右回旋し、中国大陸を抜ける頃、最後の食事が出た。１３時間のフライトはさすがに長く感じた。