2023 年 3 月 10 日
I was very nearly not writing a post this week, having just driven with the car to the UK and back for a major family event. 今週のイギリスへの困難な旅。 But there are impressions to write down. My son and I left Langen, near Frankfurt, at about 10am on Sunday, and arrived in Sussex in the evening. The only hiccup on the journey is this stretch of water between France and the UK called the English Channel, or as the French say La Manche. When I was booking the Eurotunnel train online it didn't seem much different to booking a flight to some far flung corner of the globe. Passenger and passport details and proof of residency in Germany all had to be provided in advance. The reality looks like this......You feel like you are entering a high security prison. It's rather different from the adverts.....海峡トンネル。 厳重警備の刑務所に入るようなもの
It's a tedious, stop and start process. You are checked for exposives, for drugs etc. etc. They have even employed ravenous seagulls to check you keep in line.......空腹のカモメ
So it's a relief when you can finally drive off the train at the other end........電車を降りる
On the return journey I had to smile at seeing this sign again. A sign that would have been absurd before the tunnel was opened in 1994 トンネルは 1994 年に開通しました
And, for heavens sake, why isn't there a standard norm for electric sockets?....Ah, we have to support the Adapter industry of course...標準の電気プラグがないのはなぜですか
For us, a trip to the UK is never complete without an excursion to London. Wading through the thousands of events in London on Wednesday March 8th, I found an eccentric concert to go to in St. George's Hanover Square - just around the corner from Oxford Circus. Now I am always sceptical when I read blurb like ".....Charismatic violinist and director so-and-so....". But we need not have worried. The Norwegian violinist - Bjarate Eike, had assembled a baroque orchestra with students from two of the leading music colleges in London, the Royal Academy of Music and the Guildhall School of Music. This was no stiff-lipped formal do. We had Handel and Purcell of course, but also Norwegian and Irish folk tunes, and even a dancer who would not have looked out of place in a BBC costume drama production. And I had the impression that these top young professional players were loving it. Here is our view from the gallery.....
Looking towards the East end....
........some of the illustrious former church wardens.....
....and a view of the west end......
I'll include a programme to help you get some idea of the music that was played. One of the surprises was the famous Irish melody "Da mihi manum", (Give me your hand"), played with exquisite beauty and tenderness by Bjarte Eike on his baroque violin. https://www.barokksolistene.com/bjarte/
Some other impressions from the UK. The wild spaces of Chichester harbour at West Wittering......Sussex
The Rest of (the) World かいがい - The only German wine on offer at Waitrose supermarket, Haywards Heath....(it's actually from the Mosel valley, and in euros that is......wait for it......€ 9.00......ouch!)
This week we end with two recent pictures from the Langen woods...no titles needed....
and something to laugh about.....a language app having a melt-down 🤣
Thank you for reading !
Feel free to share it with friends if you like. よろしければ、リンクを友達と共有してください😊
I send out the blog pretty randomly to whoever I think might be interested. Either by email, LINE or WHATSAPP. If you don't want to be sent this blog, don't hesitate to tell me and I shall take you off the list. No problem.
この投稿を読んでいただきありがとうございます。 新しい投稿のお知らせを受け取りたい場合は、上部の購読フォームに記入してください。 ありがとう！Nigel.😊
and before we go.....
I learn new Japanese vocabulary from as wide a selection of sources as I can. Now I know the Japanese love cats, but I was surprised to hear this song written from the standpoint of a cat.
"you probably think I'm sleeping/no, I'm dreaming/I'm worried that if I was human/you wouldn't smile at me so much........."
THE END
🎵
終わり