Belgium Beer Weekend ＠Hibiya Park: July 29, 2022

 

I visited Belgium Beer Weekend event held in Hibiya Park, central Tokyo.

The event started in Japan in 2010. It is held in several cities in Japan, including Tokyo, Osaka, Yokohama, Nagoya, Sapporo, Fukuoka and others. The plans were irregular in the last three years because of Covid-19 infections.

Hibiya Park is in the center of Tokyo. It is only one bloc from the Imperial Palace.

It is surrounded by skyscrapers.

Large lawn ground as well as fountains are in the park. (See the top photo)

There are also many trees.

Getting into the event space was strictly restricted to prevent the Covid-19 infection. Only checked persons are allowed to go in.

More than 200 thousand cases are found on July 23 throughout the nation. The number stays over 200 thousand. More than 40 thousand cases were found on July 28 in Tokyo.

No restriction orders have been issued so far in Tokyo. Still, people started to avoid having large-scale gatherings in closed places, such as restaurants and drinking bars.

People at the beer festival site are in the open space. It was not difficult to imagine that some of they were talking about Covid-19.

 

 

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.

Paris: Aug 22-26, 2019

I visited Paris for the first time in about 10 years. The city was attractive as before. I found many changes as well as unchanged fun there.

Popular tourist spots

Major tourist spots, such as the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre Museum, the Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile (Triumphal Arch of the Star) and the Ave. Champs-Élysées, were full of visitors. (See the three photos from the top) 

Such places have introduced admission control systems.

The Eiffel Tower is now surrounded by a set of plastic boards. Visitors can enter the tower only from entrance gates.

It is now necessary to make a booking to enter the Louvre.

The Notre-Dame, which had a fire in April this year, was under restoration works. I found construction machines at the side of the building. The stained-glass windows were all black.

New trends

I saw many electronic scooters (kick boards) running in the city. Most of them were operated under ride-share systems. The service was introduced last year.

I found LGBT bars in the Marais district. The zebra crosses, which were near one of such bars, were decorated with rainbow-color lines. It looked that social acceptance for the sexual minority was increasing.

I visited some open-air markets. Many shops stressed eco-friendly goods.

Conflicts and peace

I visited the HQs of Charlie Hebdo, which suffered a terrorist attack in Jan. 2015. 

“The place of expression freedom” was painted on the wall.

I also visited the Bataclan Theater, one of the places of November 2015 Paris attacks.

The records and memories of the terrorism remain. Both sites are near the Bastille Square.

In the Louvre, visitors enjoyed the drawings and sculptures at the side of such masterpieces. Kids were drawing their pictures in the aisles.

The scenes looked undoubtfully peace.

Enthusiasm and neglect

Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa was unbelievably popular in the Louvre. People made a queue of hundreds of meters (in my observation) to see the picture. Security guards controlled the visitors mechanically. (See also the 4th photo)

The Venus of Milo was also attracting people.

Victoire de Samothrace (Winged Victory) was also popular.

Delacroix’s “Liberty Leading the People,” too.

Few people stopped their walks in front of some of masterpieces, such as Ingres’ Grand Odalisque.

It was too extreme, I felt.

And more

I enjoyed many other places.

There are countless masterpieces in the Orsay museum.

Édouard Manet’s “The Luncheon on the Grass” is always controversial.

I walked St. Germain de Pres and Quarter Latin areas.

Les Deux Magots café reminded us of the mind of philosophy. 

Foucault's pendulum was moving in the Pantheon. 

I also enjoyed a show at Moulin Rouge in Montmartre.

There are so many things to talk about in Paris.