October 9th 2024 in Japan

I left Haneda, Japan for England.

On the 9th October 2024,the weather in Tokyo was not nice. Before my flight, I was feeling a little nervous because that would be the first time for me to go back to England in years. But at the same time I was excited, too.

Many years ago, I used to live in London as a student going to a language school. I thought it was time for me to go out of Japan to see how the world had changed. And I did.

For this travel, I was planning to go to 2 places, the Lake District and Cotswolds. I had been to the Lake District three times, but I wanted to visit there again. And Cotswolds, it would be the very first time.

This time I chose British Airways. It flies from Haneda not from Narita, which is good for people like me who live in the countryside because they often need to fly to Haneda first to go abroad anyway. And actually it was quite nice. The flight attendants were so friendly and polite. And the meals were well…ok.

On the plane, I was mostly watching movies. Sometimes I talked to the gentleman sitting next to me. He was a nice British gentleman. I watched 4 movies to occupy my time on the way to Heathrow, my airport in England. It usually takes 15hours to go to England but this time it took 14hours because we took a northbound flight, not a southbound flight. … but still plenty of time to go…

【Britain’s flag carrier (英国のフラッグキャリア) : ブリティッシュエアウェイズ】

今回旅の渡航先にイギリスを選んだ理由・・　好きだから💕(*^^*) 　好きに理由は要らないですよね。

とは言え、久しぶりのイギリスに少し緊張気味のAya。　何年か前にイギリスはロンドンに住んでいたAyaですが、世の中は急激な進化を遂げ・・　まぁ、自分が年を取っただけですが・・・。何もかも以前とは勝手が違っていて、出発前から もうものすごい緊張で、行ってもないのに『早く帰りたい』気持ちでした。(≧∇≦)　

今回選んだ空の便は、ブリティッシュエアウェイズです。イギリスの”フラッグキャリア”です。フラッグキャリアとは、その国を代表し、他の国に対しても一番知名度が高い国際線を運航する航空会社のことを言います。またフラッグキャリアは国を代表するということで、国旗や、国旗の色をデザインに取り入れていることが多いそうです。

英国の国旗は、そう言えば『赤、青、白』ですね。

・・　今回の旅では、今回で4回目になる The Lake District ”湖水地方”と全く初めての Cotswolds ”コッツウォルズ”を訪れる予定です。

October 9th 2024 : To the B&B near Heathrow, England

I got so exhausted after a long flight and some troubles at Heathrow.

To enter the U.K., you can just place your passport with a biometric symbol on its cover on the reader of the eGate and look at the screen just in front of you. That can work if you are a British citizen, a national of an EU country, Australia, Canada, Japan, and …etc. It was supposed to work for me, too because I AM JAPANESE!! But it didn’t. Well, it’s said sometimes it doesn’t work just because of technical issues with an eGate. In my case, I don’t know but I may not have looked directly into the screen until it turned green or something. Anyway I needed to see the officer.

After going through the passport control, I should have been on the way to my accommodation without any problems… And another trouble occurred.

I wanted to take a black cab, the famous London taxi, to my hotel. But the first 5 drivers said they didn’t want to take me! The reason was my hotel was too close to the airport. They simply didn’t want to work for little money. And the driver who accepted me asked for 40pounds to get there, which was about 8,000yen. Of course it was too expensive but I had to accept it.

When I arrived at the accommodation, I got relieved with no troubles lying ahead… at least until the next morning.

On the morning of October 10th 2024 : near Heathrow

I woke up feeling better next morning.

I was supposed to go north that day. The destination was Windermere, the Lake District, where Beatrix Potter, the writer of “Peter Rabbit” spent her childhood. I had actually been there 3times, but I decided to visit there once again. I like this area very much.

I was expecting something nice to happen there, so I tried to forget bad things which had happened the previous night. And I enjoyed my breakfast.

【B and B (ベッド ＆ ブレックファスト) 】

私がイギリスの国を旅する時は、大抵はこの”B and B”を宿泊先に選びます。多くの場合、家族経営の小さなホテルで、普通の民家を宿泊施設に改良した感じのアットホームなホテルです。一般のいわゆるフロントデスクのようなものはなく、到着するとそこのご主人様が直接出迎えてくれます。簡単に言えば、『ホームステイ』のようなものです。

今回の旅の一番最初に選んだこのB and B は、とてもお洒落なコテージのような作りです。名前も❝Heathrow Cottages❞ 。・・とはいっても、もちろんシャワールームやトイレがついています。

通常のホテルなら、従業員を雇って掃除やベッドメイキングをするので、その方がたへの❝チップ❞　が必要ですが、B and B ではチップは逆に失礼になると言われています。でもそれも一度泊ると納得しますョ。なぜって、B and B のホストの方々は皆さん宿泊客にゆっくり休んでもらおうと、心を込めて迎えてくれるからです。ですから、泊る所が分かっていたら、お土産を持っていくといいと思います。私も今回は日本にいる時に予約をしたので、日本のお土産を持っていきました。　・・とっても喜んでくれましたョ。

Heathrow Cottages https://heathrow-cottages.co.uk/

October 10th 2024 : Leaving London for The Lake District

On the morning of the second day in England, I left the hotel, Heathrow Cottages for the Lake District. First, I needed to go to Euston Station to take the train. I asked the owner of the hotel to call a cab to go there. According to the cab company, it usually takes 1 hour, but it came to pick me up 2 hours before the departure of the train so as not to be late for the train due to the heavy traffic in the morning.

The cab driver was a nice guy, and he was talkative. We talked a lot on the way. He said he likes Japanese cars and would like to buy one in the near future. Well, his car was quite old , but thanks to him, it was really a nice ride.

At first, I was worried about how to pay for the fare because I didn’t have small change to tip the driver. But I could pay by credit card including the tip. How convenient, isn’t it?

To be continued…

【National Rail (ナショナル レイル）英国の鉄道　 Part Ⅰ 】

イギリスは鉄道発祥の国。その名に恥じることなく、鉄道はイギリスの旅になくてはならない重要な役割を果たしています。その鉄道も、以前は国鉄が統括していましたが、現在は分割民営化され、25社ほどの鉄道会社（Operatorオペレーター）がそれぞれ運営しています。

今回私が使った鉄道会社は、ロンドンからレイクディストリクトへ行く、Avanti West Coast 、ロンドンからコッツウォルズを結ぶ、Great Western Railwayでした。

以前イギリスに住んでいたころの鉄道に比べると、チケットの種類や買い方は変わりましたが、以前と変わらないところは、今でも『車内販売がある』というところ。また、以前より改善されたところもあって、今では車内放送があるので（以前はありませんでした・・）、いつ自分の降りる駅が来るのか、窓の外を眺めてドキドキしながら駅の数を数えなくてもよくなりました。

October 10th 2024 : Arrived in Windermere

How many times have I been here?

Well,This was the fourth time.

As you can see, I like here very much.It’s OK  for me to stay here even if I have nothing to do. I can just visit the lake and make myself relaxed. 

When I decided to come back to England, I was planning to visit Windermere again.  People, buildings, natural beauty, and the story born in this area.

They are all adorable.

 

I stayed at Holly Lodge Guest House near the station this time. This hotel is self check-in. At first,I felt  a little nervous but it turned out that it didn’t have any problems. I actually saw one of the staff members when I arrived there. She is a sister of the landlady. She was so nice, and helped me carry my baggage upstairs saying “I’m very strong.” – my room was on the second floor. Her name is Kirsty. She was a very nice lady and we became friends soon.

October 10th 2024 : taking a walk to the lake

I arrived in Windermere before dark, so I started to take a walk just after checking in at the hotel. Because it was my fourth time to visit this area, I knew the way to Lake Windermere. And I thought the lake was not so far away from the hotel. But actually it was. When I reached the lake, I got so tired. I didn’t feel like walking anymore. I hod to, though. I needed to go back to the hotel anyway.

The view of the lake was beautiful, which made me feel a little better. well, just a little. Anyway, I enjoyed the nice view of the area taking some photos. And hen, off I went.

October 11th 2024 : walking to hill top

I was so excited although it was the third time for me to visit Hill Top. I really like this area because walking in the nature, I could almost forget about everything in my daily life. But on that day….

On the second day in Windermere, I was planning to go to the other side of Lake Windermere where Hill Top is. Before noon, I left my hotel for the destination. I was very happy thinking of visiting the village of Peter Rabbit again!

I was not so sure how to get there, but I’d been there twice by that point, so I had confidence that I could somehow reach there.

It was kind of easy to get to the ferry port. The ferry is very small. It takes about 10 minutes to cross the lake to reach Far Sawrey.

After getting off the ferry, I began walking along the road without taking the foot path. The reason I didn’t choose the foot path was that I didn’t want to get lost. When I came here with my friend many years ago, we took the foot path. We didn’t get lost but I remember it was a little confusing. Anyway I wanted to enjoy the view rather than concentrate on not getting lost. And so I did although I got so tired when I got Near Sawrey where Hill Top is.  … and there I found the house was closed…. Oh, no…

【Hill Top （ヒル・トップ）ビアトリクス・ポターの愛した家 】

ビアトリクス・ポター【ピーターラビット】のお話の作者が晩年過ごした家と農場【ヒル・トップ】は、イギリスの湖水地方のウィンダミア湖の西、ニア・ソーリー村にあります。イギリスのナショナルトラスト（民間非営利団体の文化保護教会）によって、当時のままに保存され、現在一般に公開されています。

道に面したエントランスの後ろ側の建物はショップ。そのエントランスから少し北の駐車場の奥にチケット売り場はあります。

邸内に入る少し前からビアトリクス・ポターのお話は始まります。アプローチ、玄関、そして家の中へと、お話はどんどん広がります。

実は、私Ayaは、今回何も考えずにこのヒル・トップを目指して、ウィンダミア湖をフェリーで渡り、ニア・ソーリーまでひたすら歩きました。・・で、結局、ヒル・トップは閉まっていました。

前もって調べておくべきでした…。当時金曜日が休館日となっていました。しかも、数年前より事前予約なしでは入場できなくなっているようです。つまりどちらにしろAyaは入れなかったわけです。今の世の中、スマホがあるのですから、事前に調べておくべきでした。

以前２回訪れた時にはまだそんなことはなかったのですが… 時代は変わりました…。