London: Oct. 22-24, 2019

I made my regular visit to London. It was when the political developments around Brexit were in the last stage with the latest deadline date scheduled on Oct. 31.

PM Boris Johnson and the EU leaders agreed on the new condition of Brexit in the EU summit on Oct. 17 in Brussels. (A plan to place Northern Ireland in different position from the rest of the U.K. to avoid hard border between Northern Ireland and the Ireland republic). The adoption of the agreement in the U.K. Parliament is still unclear as of Oct. 24.

I found both pro-Brexit and anti-Brexit groups appealing their positions in front of the parliament. (See also the top photo)

Many of them were old persons, perhaps partially because it was a business day.

There were many Union Jack along with the U.N. flags in the Parliament Square. The statue of Winston Churchill (as well as Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi and other great figures) is placed in the square.

London was attractive and energetic as ever, I found.

The Westminster Bridge was crowded with tourists as usual.

I got the impression that the number of Chinese tourists continued increasing.

The city is also changing rapidly.

The number of skyscrapers has increased in the City district in the last few years.

I was lucky as I was welcomed by a nice weather this time. I could take good photos of the metropolis from the plane.

The photo shows the landscape around the Westminster. The towns spread around the Big Ben and the London Eye.

The 2nd photo from the top shows the River Thames, the the City district and the neighboring areas.

This shows the Canary Warf and the Olympic Park.

I also took a photo of windmill generators I the mouth of the Thames. (on Oct. 17). (see also the 3rd photo)

Brussels: Oct 20-22, 2019

I visited Brussels for the first time in a year. My visit was just a few days after the EU summit, in which a new agreement was made on Brexit conditions between the U.K. and the EU. The following process is still unclear and the future result of Brexit is unpredictable.

I walked around the Schuman district, where the EU institutions locate.

There were still 28 flags of EU (the number of member states) in front of the European Commission building.

I also visited museums run by the European Parliament.

They exhibit information on European history as well as on the roles and functions of European Parliament at Parlamentarium.

Further information of European history is explained at the House of European History.

There are many other facilities and institutions of European Parliament in the Esplanade Solidarnosc 1980 area.

There is a message that says “the future is Europe” on the wall of a building in the Loa street in the Schuman district. (See also the top photo)

I also visited the new headquarters of NATO in the northeast side of Brussels. It opened in 2018. (See also the 2nd photo)

It was rainy when I visited the Grand Place in the enter of the city. Still, tourists were enjoying the historical atmosphere.

Toledo: Oct. 19, 2019

I visited Toledo, a historical city in La Mancha, for the first time in my life.

The city, which locates about 70km south of Madrid, was an old capital of Visigothic Kingdom.　It continued to flourish as a main city (sometimes as a capital) of the Moslem dynasties and Christian regimes which followed the Visigoth.

The city stands at the side of the Tajo River. It is now registered as a World Heritage city.

The city has witnessed the rises and the fall of many countries, races, religions and cultures.

The cathedral was built between 13^th to 15^th centuries by the rulers of the Castilla Kingdom.

El Greco’s famous pictures are displayed. (See the 2nd photo)

Christian, Muslim and Jewish people co-existed in the city in for centuries towards the 16^th century. The memory of the Jewish quarters remains.

There are many metal craft shops in the city. They sell gold and jewelries in addition to artificial crafts. The history of the rises and falls may have developed the business.

I had a pleasant time walking around the old city.

Madrid: Oct. 18-21, 2019

I visited Madrid in Spain.　It was my first visit in more than 20 years.

The basic structure of the city remained unchanged in my impression, but there have been many changes in the towns.

Many peoples gathered in the Puerta del Sol, a plaza in the center of the city. There were street performers, musicians as well as tourists and local people there. All of them were enjoying their times. (See also the top photo)

The place is kilometer zero of Span. It is also known as a place where fierce resistance battle against Napoleon’s French army took place in 1808.

Grand Via is the main shopping street of the city. People enjoyed café at the side of the sidewalks.

There are lots of masterpieces of Goya, El Greco, Velázquez and many other painters in the Prado Museum. Taking photo is prohibited inside the museum.

The museum opened in 1819. The statue of Goya was looking the sign to celebrate the 200^th anniversary. (See the 3rd photo)

The Queen Sofia Museum exhibits Picasso’s Guernica and many other masterpieces of the 20^th century. Famous pictures of Dali and Miro are in the museum.

Current works ware also displayed. I found that some of them focused on the issues such as poverty, inequality and environment problems.

Foods and drinks are excellent here in Spain. At the San Miguel market in the downtown, I found many people enjoying the tapas with wines and beers. (See also the 2nd photo)

Other must-visit places in the city include:

The royal Palace

The Plaza Mayor

They had large scale demonstrations in Barcelona when I stayed in Spain. It was organized to oppose to the decisions made by the supreme court, which sentenced years of imprisonment for the political leaders of Catalunya. They lead the independence movement of the region in 2017.

TV and newspapers reported the incident largely. People’s reactions in Madrid, however, looked to be limited.

I visited the supreme court, the congress and other places related to the politics. No movements were found around there.

I found several homeless people and beggars in the streets.

It is not sure whether it was the aftermath of the financial crisis in the early 2010s.

The country will have a re-general election in November as the formation of the new government has been unsuccessful after the latest election in April this year. I visited the headquarters of the People’s Party, the largest opposite party. No campaign posters were displayed yet.

New National Stadium of Tokyo (under construction): Oct. 5, 2019

There are about 10 months before the Tokyo Olympic Games open in August 2020.

I walked around the site of the New National Stadium. The stadium will be used for the opening and closing ceremonies as well as for truck and field competitions in the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The stadium is now under construction. It is scheduled to complete in November.

I walked the “Stadium Street” from the Tokyo Metro Gaien-mae station.

It is about 500 meters from the station to the stadium. There is a rugby stadium, as well as a baseball stadium along the street. There are also shops, museums and other facilities.

People took photos of the stadium from an open space in front of the Olympic museum.

A big Olympic mark is placed there.