イギリス・ドイツ滞在日記　改め　”子育て奮闘記”　題して　【ブーブログ】

I got up early in the morning, not only to jog but also to see the peak illuminated by the rising sun(morgenrot).












Klein Matterhorn (small Matterhorn, 3883m) is the highest place in Europe, where the visitors can go up easily with cable cars. With two long cable cars, we got there in one hour. The place was named because its shape is very similar to the real Matterhorn, though it is smaller than the one.
There is a splendid view because nothing shut out. We can see every mountain around here, ranging fom Austria to France(Monte Bran;4807m). Winter sports such as ski and snowboarding are availabe throughout a year.








Going back to the bottom, we took the other cable cars to Gornergrat.




The view point is said to be the best place to see Matterhorn. We can see the beautiful winding of glacers and the glorious view of Matterhorn.

Passing through narrow and winding valley, a small train brought us to a pretty town, Zermatt. The town is just foot of a famous peak; Matterhorn (4478m). That is why many visitors come from all over the world. To my surprise, most of them were Japanese. Many signs were written in Japanese and we can hear some announcement in trains or shops in Japanese. Japanese is definetly a moneymaker for this small town.





In fact, Matterhorn is not the highest mountain in the Switzerland, but due to its beauty, it had attracted many since 18th century. There are several moutains which is higher than 4000m. Matterhorn, however, is the high-light of this town.







We bought a pass which is valid for the successive three days and immedeatly took a cable car to go up to a hill. Taking several cable cars, we got a top of Unterrothorn which is said to be the one of the best view point to Matterhorn. The place was covered with snow and, since we got there in the evening, it was very cold. We started to go down with the last cable car.








On the way back to our hotel, we partly walked down instead of using the cable car. This was really beautiful day.

This is the final day for us to stay in Interlaken. During most of our stay except for the first day, it was cloudy or rainy, as the guide book pointed out. However we enjoyed hiking in spare moments from rain. The place we visited today is a small lake on the hillside of small mountain. We saw some posters hanging on the wall of the stations, which was very very beautiful. The blue but transparent lake reflects the figure of the mountains with snow. It seems as if the range of Jungfrau welcomes us. The combination of the mountains over the blue lake is real Switherland. We were lured by the poster and decided to go there.



















We took a gondla from Grindelwald, which used to be the longest ski lift in Europe. The terminal "First" is the start point this time to the lake "Bachalpsee". The way to get there was winding but flat, keeping the same level from the beginning to the end. We can see several mountains covered with snow a little bit. The view to the villiege underneath was very fine. But the peaks of the beautiful moutains like Jungfrau were hidden by the thin cloud and we could not see clearly. About 50 minutes walk leads us to the lake. The color of the water is blue and quite transparent. We had fresh air and took a break.
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On our way back to our hotel, we dropped at the peak of a mountain "Moenlichen" which is said that we could see the beautiful panoramic view. The weather was bad against our will. It snowed heavily and we could see nothing except for cows.

The dinner was at Korean restaurant on the centre of Interlaken. We enjoyed hot and spicy Korean food from the bottom of our heart.

Lauterbrunnen is located the middle of Jungfrau-region and work for the connecting station to several directions. Few attractions are here.



One of the must-see is a big fall from the glacer around Schlithorn. We can see it with 10 minutes-walk from the station.




After we took some pictures there, we continued to walk toward Schlithorn. This place we walked used to be under the glacer. Geographical features tells us the place as it was. The sandwitched by high-wall prevents us from seeing the senery to the high mountains just next to us.





Truemmelbachfaelle(fall of Truemmel river) is the other attraction in this area. The great water run not outside the wall but inside. The walk-pass was constructed nowadays and even old people can see it easily.




We walked farther and took a cable way to a small villege placed over the big wall. Muerren which is small but pretty villige placed just opposite side of the range of Jungfrau. We can see the bold view of the mountains if it would be fine. Unfortunately raining shuts the great view to the mountains. Nevertheless we took a rest at the restaurant which we would see the view to the mountains, eating vegitable soup. We relaxed for a while.
A big chess in Muerren






After we went back to Interlaken, we had Chinese food at Chinese restaurant. They contain many vesitables and were good for our health.

We planed to hike from today in real earnest. This area is famous for the mountain sports, especially for hiking in summer. There are a lot of hiking-pass all over this area and frequent transportation such as train, bus and cable way makes us move easily.





Today's course starts from Grosse Scheidegg(big mountain pass) at the foot of Wetterhorn(3701m) and lasts for 2km. The top of Wetterhorn was covered with snow. After we got off the bus from a villege called Grindelwald, we started walking. The view to Grindelwald was fantastic.






The small villege among the high mountains reminds me of several fairy-tale about the Switzerland. It was windy and chilly. As we walked, the cloud came up and started raining.





When arrived at the station of cable way, we were drenched to the skin. With long-distance cable way and trains, we went back to the hotel in Interlaken at this evening.


We had Fondue at the dinner, which is one of the typical dish of the Switherland. We boil the thin-sliced beef a little bit just before we eat and tasted it with dressings. It tastes like Shabu-Shabu rather than Cheese fondue.

Jungfrau, as the name suggests, one of the most beautiful mountain in these area, is worth visiting absolutely. The 4158m-high mountain can be easily accessible thanks to the mountain train which was constructed about 100 years ago.
Since we stay here for five days, we bought Jungfrau Pass to save the cost for travel. It is valid in Jungfrau region for successive six days and enables us to take buses and trains with free of charge. Although it was expensive(about \19,000), we had better buy it because it is charged about \17,000 from Interlaken to the top of the mountain in return.









With some transfers, we can get to the top of the mountain named "Top of Europe" in three hours. The beautiful scenery from the train window is breath-taking. many small timbered-houses over the green hill made us feel that we were really in Switzerland. At the last of the transfer, we took the train which has lack and pinion propelling system to climb up the steep hill successfully. Most of the route was in tunnel constrcuted into Eiger wall, the most famous and difficult wall for climbers because of its height and angle. This wall still attracts many climbers through a year. On the way to the top, the train stopped twice and let travelers see the great view through windows on the wall of the mountain.

Viewing place on the top was quite modern. There are several restaurants, toilets and small retailers like kiosk. Scenary from the place was very fine and wanderful. We could see the villege underneath in sunshine.





The longest glacer in Europe spreads more than 23km in length and is said to move very slowly. Due to the cold air, it was hard for us to be outside for a long time.






On the return way, we dropped at a station and enjoyed hiking a little bit. The big wall of Eiger laid just behind us. The villege we could see was like miniature toy spread over grass.

With cheap flight served by Air Berlin, we got to Zuerich airport at the evening. 50 minites flight from Frankfurt international airport was convenient for us to trip. It costs only 40 Euro per person.






Immedeately after we exited the Zuerich airport, we headed to Interlaken where is the centre of Switzerland and famous for the base of hiking around Jungfrau-region.








The hotel we stayed first in this country was booked just three days before we arrived. Although this area has many hotels for travelers, those were almost full because of the high-season for holiday. We were very very lucky to book it.
We can see several mountains from the town, which have snows on the top. The town was named after the place where was located between two lakes(inter lakes -> Interlaken). Frequent shipping services are served daily to those two lakes from this town.









The town is small but energetic. Many tourists have come from all over the world, especially from Japan and Korea. We can see many Japanese walking around the streets on which many Japanese signs are hanging.

Wiesbaden is the Landeshauptstadt(capital) of Hesse state. As mentioned before, one of my goal during the stay in Germany is that I visit all the capitals of the states in this country. This small city is the last one I have to visit.

The centre of the town is about 2 km away from the main train station. 30 minutes walk along a beautiful green garden leads me there. Several interesting building face to Markt which is also served as the traffic centre such as but and tram. At the tourist information, I got the town map which is helpful for me to walk around easily.




The church "Marktkirche" at the Markt has several towers one of which is the highest builing in this town. The brick-made church was gorgeous.





This town is also known as bath place. We can see some rest home around the town centre. The most beautiful one is called Kurhaus. Unfortunately the look was under construction.









According to the leaflet I got at the information, there are several attractions outside of the town. The limited time prevent me from visiting there.

After town walking, I directly went to Frankfurt airport to see my wife.

I have not prepared for the trip at all although I will start tomorrow. Immediately after I came back to home, I sit my desk and checked the place we will visit. The internet is very useful in this case because I can get many information what I really want in no time. The map of the city we visit and the time table for the train are available on the net without any charge. I printed out those material needed. I finished it in three hours.
I hope it will be fine during our trip.

We played the badminton at a sport place as usual. When we got there, few played. However, as time passed, the place was filled with German. I was always surprised that most of them play briskly and snappy for their big body.
We enjoyed playing without taking a break for about two hours. I was exhausted. To drink after the play relaxed us very much..

I took medial checkup for eyes today. All workers in PTB have to take it every year. I thought that it is not neccessary for me to take it because I work here only one and a half years. My boss agreed with me. Anyway I took it.
As a matter of fact, this checkup had postponed several times because of my convenience. This checkup was carried out only for me.
I was called away at noon and went to the room for the checkup which is the small room for health care. I sit the desk on which the eye inspection equipment was placed. The size of the equipment was small so that it can be carried. The examinee sees the inside of the box throught the eye pieces and tells the doctor or nurce what he/she looked.
The examination was easy to understand because it is very similar to the one in Japan. On the exam of some thick circles one part of which was missing, I had to tell which part was missing. The other test was to inspect the perspective and the color distinction.
I was reliefed because the result was quite good.

I decided to join the 10km running competition in Braunschweig which will be held on 8th of October. According to the web site, it seems to be the prize-awarded race. That is my motivation to join it. I think that to be the first prize is difficult, though, it is worth doing.
Immediately after I check the web site, I went out for training.

From the end of this week, I will go to Switzerland. I went to the city centre and bought a book for traveling there in order to prepare for the trip. Unfortunately, no shop sold the book written in English. I was obliged to buy the German book. Although this would work for me to learn German, it is impossible to understand the detail because of the lack of my German skill. I choose the one which has as much picture as possible for my understanding. The one I bought contains not only beautiful pictures but also detailed map and general information of the country.

The final city of our journy is Heidelberg, 130km northwest of Stuttgart. It is a major tourist draw and for good reason. As befits Germany's oldest university city, the orderly red-roofed buildings stretched alongside the Necker River manage to exude both the playfulness and rigour of student life.



Heidelberg zoo was just next to our stay place. There are a lot of animals, ranging from monky to lion. Many kids enjoy watching the interesting animals.












To get the most out of a town walk, begin at the Alte Bruecke. The Karl-Theodor-Statue refers to the local regend that the prince fathered almost 200 illegitimate children. At the base of the bridge is a statue of a brass monkey holding a mirror and surrounded by mice: touch the mirror for wealth, the outstretched fingers to ensure you return to Heidelberg and the mice to ensure you have many children.








We can see students prison at the centre of the city. From 1778 to 1914, university students were tossed into the Studentenkarzer if convicted of misdeeds.





Castle is almost ruined now. It, however, tells the one of Germany's finest examples of a Gothic-Renaissance fortress. The terrace provides huge views over the town and the river.

Bodensee (Constanz lake) is the largest lake in Germany and also popular for the place of holiday. Ueberlingen we stayed has small seaport and serves ship transport to the other towns hourly. We can swim there if the water is not so cold.



At noon we headed to Lindau island which is located on the east part of the lake. Since the island is the intersection of three country's border(Germany, Switzerland and Austria), we can easily go each countries by boat. Due to mild climate, we can see tropical flowers over the island.









Next place we went was Rheinfall(Rhein waterfall) in Schaffhausen, Switzerland. There is the biggest waterfall in the river flow. We cannot imagine the vigorous and powerful water flow from the quiet current of the lower Rhein.

We got to Heidelberg at night and stayed there.

The highest mountain in Germany is Zugspitze(2964m) which is just off the small village called Garmisch-Partenkirchen. We went to the foot of the mountain and took the Eibsee-Seilbahn, a steep cable car, sways and swings its way straight up to the summit from the Eibsee lake in about 10 minutes. To get to the top was easier than we expected although it was incredibly expensive(45Euro = \6,000!!).



Views from the top of Germany were quite breathtaking. Several small towns can be seen beneath. Although the weather was fine, it was very cald and windy a little bit. We felt that we were as if we became God. The top was also accessable from Austria by cable car.





As going back to the foot by the cogwheel train, we can see the transition from crag to forest which consist of the mountain. There is a beautiful lake called Eibsee at the foot of the mountain. We enjoy boating there.








Next place we went was Oberammergau where is approx. 20km north of Garmish-Partenkirchen and famous for fresco drawn on the wall of houses. This fresco attract many visitors throughout a year although this town has only small population of 5,400.







We planned to stay by the lake Constanz(Bodensee) this night. On the way to get there, we dropped at Muenchen because the car navigation system told us that it is the best way to go. We had Japanese dish there. I was so surprised because many Japanese, including tourist, were walking the city.

We arrived the hotel at 1:00 a.m. and went to bed soon.

Schwangau forms the Koeningswinkel(Royal Corner), home to Germany's biggest tourist attractions: Ludwig 2's two palaces, Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwanstein. It is said that a lot of Japanese visit this place throuhout a year. Neuschwanstein schloss is famous for the model of Tokyo Disney Land.

We got there at noon and found a long queue to buy the ticket. It took more than one hour to get it. Both castles must be seen on guided tours which last about 40 minutes. The ticket we got was for the tour started from 14:50 for Hohenschwangau and 17:05 for Neuschwanstein.




Ludwig spent his childhood at the Hohenschwangau which is Neo-Gothic fashion yellow palace. It was originally constrcuted by Schwangau knights during the 12th century. After his death, the palace was ruined. Maximilian 2 who is father of Ludwig bought it and reconstructed the palace exsisting now.
The tour starts with the room for billiards, following guest room and bed room. All rooms was perfectlly preserved and told us the glory at that time.









Neuschwanstein schloss mounted on the top of the hill was constructed by Ludwig. It is said that he planned this castle himself with the help of a stage designer rather than an architect, and it provides a fascinating glimpse into the king's state of mind. Built as a romantic medieval castle, it was started in 1869 and, like so many of Ludwig's grand schemes, was never finished. For all the money spent on it, the king spent just over 170 days in residence.
The enterance was filled with visitors from all over the world. All enjoyed the beautiful sight from the hill. We had to walk through a labyrinth of corridors to see rooms because the castle is so big. What the most facinated me was the lavish Saengersaal which created so that Ludwig could feed his obsession with Wagner and medieval knights. Wall frescoes in the hall depict scenes from the opera Tannhaeuser.

The long trip to southern Germany starts today. It is first time for me to travel with a car. One of my friends picked me up at my house and headed to south. On the way, we dropped at a small town at the foot of Harz mountains to took the other friend.

The first destination, Nuernberg, is located in Bavaria state and has the population of about 500,000 which is the second largest in the state.
According to my guide book, for centuries this city positioned at the intersection of medieval trade routes and was the unofficial capital of the Holy Roman Empire and the preferred residence of German king. Alt stadt(Old town) is surrounded by the wall and is split into two by Pegnitz river which flows centre of the town from east to west.

We had a glass of beer "Weizenbier" which is famous in Bavaria. We found that it is finer than we drink in north.

Frauenkirche which faces Haupt Markt attracts many tourist. We enjoyed the sound of the organ in the church for a while.











Rathaus houses the old prison and a torture room used a long time ago.








One of the highlight in this town is Kaiserburg. The complex is roomier than the exterior lets on, embracing the Kaiser's living quarters, a Romanesque chapel, the Imperial and Knight's Hall and the Sinwellturm(Sinwell Tower). The view from the top of the tower was excellent. The brown roofs of the houses gave rise to the feeling of the medeival era.
Behind the castle is a beautiful garden that's open seasonally. The grassy knoll in the southeast corner is Am Oelberg, a favourite spot to sit and gaze out over the city's rooftops.

I made a travel brochures for the trip to southern Germany although I had something to do. The title of this trip was decided by one of my Japanese friend who travel with us. At first, I didn't intend to make it. However, when I started to do that, I could not stop doing. I check the exact place we are going to and the address of the hotel we stay, using the map provided with internet. As I look at the web site, I can get several useful information for the trip. At last, the brochure has 17 pages, including the maps and the pictures. I was satisfied it.
Now it's time for departure!

I was in home today most of the time. I want to finish my work before I go to trip from next Monday.
At the evening I went out for a change of air. It started to rain suddenly and I took shelter from the rain. I have to be there for a hour until it stopped. We have these kinds of shower recently. I think autumn is comming.

A student who temporarily study in PTB has his birthday today. He brought a variety of pancake for celebration. As I described before, those who have the birthday celebrate it by themselves and serve something to eat or drink. My birthday will come soon. What can I do?

We decided not to go to Scottland for holiday. A group which planned to attack USA by air planes was arrested in UK. The member is thought to be linked to El Kaida and planned it for a long time.
Due to the incident, the passengers got into difficulties. The security of the airport in UK became strictly and there were long queue to wait for it. The baggage on board was limited. Almost all the flight from and to UK was cancelled. We are not sure when these difficulities will be over.
For our safety, we cancelled to fly to Scottland. Instead, we stay in Germany.

I stayed at the institute until 6:30 p.m. It is quite rare for us. Because we had the deadline to submit the revised version of the paper, we discussed longer than usual. The deadline is this Friday. We must be hurry up...

After the work, I went to my friend's house in order to make up the schedule for the trip which starts from next Monday. He kindly served us the dinner. The table was filled with several fish dishes I like the most. We enjoyed them very much.
All the schedule was fixed today and booked the hotels we stay. The beautiful pictures on the travel book made us excited. I hope the weather is fine next week.

I didn't join the badminton today because I had something to do. Eventually I wanted to play for a change. The work, however, prevent me from doing it. Even after I came back to home, I sit the desk and worked with the PC. I have to finish my task before I go to the holiday.

With two Japanese I decided to trip to the southern part of Germany next week. I know there attracts many Japanese thoughout a year because we can see a lot of "Maerchen Germany" such as Neuschwanstein Schloss, the Alpine mountains and Boden See. It is also the place I really want to go.

The thema of this trip is "Nature". Compared with the northern Germany, the southern part is hilly and woody. My friends living in Braunschweig, including me, are lack of mountainous nature like Japan. We really want to see magnificent nature!

The highlights of this trip we decided are Neuschwanstein Schloss which is the most famous German castle for Japanese, Zugspitze (2964m, the highest mountain in Germany) and Boden See(Lake Constance) which is the biggest lake in Germany. I am looking forward to going there.

Although we discussed until midnight, we could not complete the plan and decided to do that again.

I stayed home all day long partly because it was cloudy and about to rain. As I said before, the weather is not so good in these days. The other, trure reason was that I have to work. Next week I go to the southern part of Germany. And on the next week I go to Scotland as holiday. I have a task which should be finished by the beginning of September. Considering the schedule, I found that I have few time to do that.
I sit a desk and worked using my computer. Despite I did that until late night, I could not finish it....

Some Japanese live in Braunschweig because there are several Japanese company around here. They meet sometimes and promote a friendship.
A Japanese who is a business bachelor invited the other Japanese, including me, to his house, because his family came to his house after an intercal of one year. Each participants brought something to eat. One Japanese woman came with Takoyaki-ki to make Takoyaki although we didn't have Tako. Instead of Tako, tuna was used to fill inside.









Children were excited because a lot of Japanese gathered in a house.







This was completely Japanese party due to many Japanese food. We enjoyed until midnight.

Today's dinner is curryreis. A Japanese friend of mine in Braunschweig invited me for dinner. Since I have never eaten the curry since I left Japan, I was very excited.
The curry was made the day before we ate and placed to make the taste mild. As it was warmed slowly, the smell of the curry made us hangry. The curry made yesterday was not only good taste but also hot and spicy. We enjoyed the curry, drinking several glass of wine.

It looks like autumn these days. It is cloudy and cool. The temperature seldom rise up to 25 deg. Celsius. I will go several places for holiday from the end of this mounth. I hope weather get become better.

Nobody in our lab from today. All of my colleague have gone to the holiday. The holiday of schools in this state began on Monday of last week. With their children many people went to somewhere. One of my German colleague is in north Italy where my Italian colleague came from. According to him, the Italian mountain place in Alps is popular for German holiday because some people can speak German and the nature is very very beautiful. He said he will stay at summer-time pension and feel relaxed.

My present task is computer simulation. Programming the simulation software to mimic the physical phenomena on PC, we try to understand and predict the behavior of the instrument in detail. As you know, it is impossible to complete the programme at one time. I need to correct it many times. It is troublesome and time-consuming.
Besides, I have to read many papers to have a clear comprehension. Exactly to say, this is not my field but scientist's. It is too complicated for me to understand. The more I study, the more confused.
Nevetheless I do that because I have to explain my results to my colleague at the beginning of September. Recently I sit at my desk all day long. To be honest, I don't like the deskwork.... I hope this work is over soon.