Boston

Last weekend, I went to Boston.

It was a very beautiful city and I took more than 300 pictures for two days.










Everywhere I went was great, but the most impressing thing for me was the Fenway Park.

The size of Fenway Park was not so big as Yankee Stadium.
However, this size make me feel that the game and players are closer to me.

Moreover, I found that the fan of Redsox is very kind.
The man who sit next to me explained many things not only about Redsox and Fenway Park but also the major league.
According to him, the seat I sit is the oldest bench in all baseball stadiums in the United States.
Other than this kind of information, we chatted about good points of Japan and America.

After the game ends, I could go to the right in front of the net which protects people from foul balls.
I was so moved at seeing such a great and historic ground very close!

Another thing that excited me was Museum of Fine Arts.
When I visited there, the exhibition of Samurai was held.
Many materials were exhibited to make them look very cool.

Since I came to the United States, I could see many things related to Japan.
Every time I saw such kind of things, I was very surprised and glad at how loved Japan is by the world.
At the same time, I could learn how foreign people see Japan.
Thus, this six weeks was very valuable and worthwhile experience for me.


As well as Samurai, there were many beautiful arts in that museum.
I like the way of showing these great pieces.

 Before I left Boston, I ate a very big lobster with my friends.

Thanks to one of my friends whose major is biology, we could eat it completely.

British Art Gallery

 Today's trip was British Art Gallery.

















It was bigger museum than I expected and contains many pictures or sculptures made from 1700s to 1960s.

Three of my favorite pictures are these ones.
They are all drawn by the same painter, Joseph Wright of Derby (1734-1797).

The most attractive point for me is their light.

 In this picture, you can see the dim light in the middle.
I think this makes the impression of this picture bright although it is almost dark.

 Next, I also like these two pictures as a pair.
Although they are the different places, they seem to be the same.

I think that this is also because of
the light effect.





According to Julia, my blogging teacher, these three pictures use same skill, which is to express the light without drawing the source.
Therefore, I felt that they are very soft and warm in spite of the harsh situation in them.


Moreover, these two pictures are my favorite ones as well.

These look, on the contrary, dark.
However, I was punched by them.


Since I am not familiar with British history, I do not know where it is or what the painter wanted to express, but still, I could find that this picture has much power.


I want to go there again after learning British history.

Niagara Falls

Last week, many of my friends here said I am crazy because I planned to go to Toronto from here, New Haven with my friends to see the Niagara Falls.
We took a shuttle bus as soon as the class ended and boarded on the airplane from New York.


Toronto was a more modern city than I expected.
However, as we got into the downtown, it looks some kind of European city.

Next day, we saw the Niagara Falls.
Amazing, awesome, huge, great, fascinating,,,
I cannot find an appropriate word to describe the Niagara Falls.
I was so moved by the greatness of the nature.

I could not see the edge of it.

Moreover, we could see from the side of this Canadian fall.
It was more than tens of meters, we caught water and felt pressure or wind from this fall.

How tiny people are!
Left side of this picture looks white because of the mist from the fall.

Also, I found the Maple, which is the symbolic tree of Canada.

Although we made reservation on 7:00 airplane and did not have enough time, we enjoyed Toronto very much.

New Haven Museum

Today, I have been to the forth museum since I came to the United States, which is New Haven Museum.
It mainly exhibit the historical artifacts related to New Haven, so I could learn about the New Haven history.














New Haven is famous for bicycle, for there was some bicycle shop in New Haven.
I was very surprised at how different the original one is from current one.
I could hardly believe, but it is really used in the past.

The wheel was made of wood.
I am wondering how people rode on a bicycle...

Moreover, in New Haven, we can see many cherry blossoms.
As I wrote in the previous post, I was glad at seeing the relationship between Japan and the United States.

 I want to see these cherry blossoms in the spring.

Philadelphia

I went to Philadelphia, where I lived in my childhood, last weekend.

Although I have been there before, it was fulfilled with new things for me.

First, the train which I rode to get to Philadelphia was new.

I was so surprised because I could see many trains were delayed more than one hour.

If this kind of situation happened in Japan, many Japanese would be upset and it could be a big news.

Fortunately, the train I planned to get was not so delayed as others, so I could ride on it comfortably.

When I got there, the family I stayed with for this weekend welcomed me!!

They made one of traditional Japanese foods, Soba, for me.

I was very glad at eating it, for I missed it so much.
Through last weekend, I ate a lot of Japanese foods, which was great for me, for I do not have to miss them any more.








Next day, we visited the center of Philadelphia to see some historic places.
Since Pennsylvania is famous for the first thirteen states in the United States, it was worth visiting there.

Also, I could see many wagons led by horses.

It was interesting but, at the same time, trouble in that there was a little traffic jam because of these horses.






Also, I found the word "ICU" in the market.

This visit was the first time in this thirteen years.
Although I did not remember many things there, it was fun and meaningful trip for me!

Pepe's Pizza

In New Haven, there are two big pizza restaurants, Pepe's and Sally's.
Whomever I asked to about pizza in New Haven, all of them reply that it is very controversial.
People in New Haven are divided to two groups according to which pizza to support.


Today, I ate Pepe's one.
First, the way to go to Pepe's was great.

Along this street, many cherry blossoms were planted.

Since these trees were transplanted, they may indicate the relationship between Japan and the United States.

Moreover, there was a statue of Columbus in the park which we passed through.

Columbus is historic and important person in American history.
It is because Pepe's (and Sally's) is located in such a historical place as New Haven, which makes us feel sanctity that the controversial about pizza is so heated up.

Pepe's is in Wooster Square,  Italian-American town in New Haven.
You can see both Italian and American flags in this picture.

Although it was weekday afternoon (around 1:30) and so hot, people had already been lined up and waited for eating pizza outside the restaurant when we arrived at Pepe's.

 Inside the restaurant, I felt that I was in the oven because the wall is made of bricks.

This pizza is original in New Haven.
Therefore, it different from Italian one or even other cities' one such as Texas.
It is famous for its thin crust.
Even though these pizza is a little fat for me, they were delicious.

I want to recommend those who come to New Haven to go to Pepe's.

Yankee Stadium

Last weekend, I went to Yankee Stadium.

That was my first time to go to the stadium to watch the game of the major league and I was so excited.
In fact, I do not know many teams or players in Major league.
However, even so, I was very looking forward to seeing the game because I can see Ichiro, who is one of the most famous and popular athletes in Japan and belongs to New York Yankees now.

To be honest, I cannot say that the game was good or interesting, for players in Yankees made errors and disappointed the fan.

Nevertheless, as for me, it was worth seeing the game in that the game was 2000th games in Major league for Ichiro, and what is more, Ichiro himself hit 6th Homerun in this season!

I really want to go there again.