Trafalgar Square is the undisputed centre of London. On the column which seems to reach the sky, the 165-foot Nelson's statue stands in a majestic manner. This statue is the symbol of Trafalgar Square. Nelson was famous as a leader when the English Navy defeated France led by Napoleon in 1805. This statue which approachs the sky overwhelmed me and I almost cried out in wonder.
In this square, there is the National Gallery which has a lot of paintings by da Vinch, Raphael, Michelangelo, El Greco, Rembrandt, Van Gogh and Cezanne etc. Moreover, there is the National Portrait Gallery which displays the portraits of the royal families. These attract people too.
I remember that I visited there with my friend who liked Turner and ran around the gallery to look for his works, when I went to London for the first time.
After that, when I traveled alone, I decided to see all the exhibits in the National Gallery. However, it is too large. Even if you just see the displays for a short time and pass paintings which you aren't interested in, you'll get tired soon and can't see all of them in one day. In my opinion, if you really want to see all the works, you'd better spend a few days. At first you should get the map and then mark the rooms one by one(there are many many rooms, so if you don't mark, themyou will be confused about which room you've already seen).
Anyway, I'm very surprised that the admission to the National Gallery is free, while you have to pay more than \1000 for the admission of a usual art exhibition in Japan. I probably heard that Margaret Thatcher tried charging a fee when she was the prime minister, but people objected strongly, so she failed. Is it the English policy? I think that English people are generous! Wow!

Many years ago, I went to England from the end of the year to the New Year. Because I was a little poor, I used a small travel agency, so I couldn't book the return part of our ticket until just 2 days before the departure. Therefore, my friend and I were not completely ready for travelling when we boarded the airplane, so we talked and decided where we were visiting during our flihgt. GIO GLOBE TROTTER* said that many young people gathered on New Year's Eve for the countdown at Trafalgar Square. I remembered that I had seen the scene of a countdown at Trafalgar Square on NHK news. Suddenly, I began to want to go there on New Year's Eve. I said, "Why don't we go to Trafalgar Square?", and my friend answered "It sounds a good idea!". Thus, we easily decided to go to Trafalgar Square.
5,4,3,2,1! "Happy New Year!!" Everybody who was surging through the streets said excitedly. Each stranger kissed each other. Wow, a young man kissed me on the cheek. The atmosphere made me say "Happy New Year!" to a complete stranger. At that time, I really enjoyed being there.
An electric scoreboard under Nelson's statue showed us "From Trafalgar Square To XX, the last train departs at XX...".
"Well, Let's go back to our hotel." When we were going to buy tickets at Leicester Square station, we were surprised. Every passenger went through a ticket gate without buying a ticket. Moreover, the station staff beckoned to everybody. "Are you sure?", we were skeptical. Again, I admired Engligh people's generosity.
After that, somebody said to me that usually only two women don't want to go to Trafalgar Square on New Year's Eve because people become so exited, so it would be a little dangerous. Before thinking, we did it. Is it a privilege of travellers who don't know the situation.

* "GIO GLOBE TROTTER" is a series of Japanese books which talks about travelling in each country all over the wolrd. There is a lot of valuable information which is written by many of it's readers

left : one day, some black men who seemed to be clergymen sang a song"Jesus is Lord!" under Nelson's statue.
right : Lion's statues which guard Nelson's statue are popular in Trafalgar Square.
I often saw some people taking photos in front of it as if there isn't any trouble, but look at the picture above!
Those Lions are on quite high pedestals. Therefore, you should scramble up before taking pictures like this!!
By the way, I'd rather not to say who she is. Heh-heh...

By the way, don't you think that it is strange that there isn't any Trafalgar Square Station on the undergroud although there is Picadilly Circus station and Westminster station? The nearest station to Trafalgar Square is Leicester Square station. I heard that there is a disputed in Yokohama. They disputed which name should be chosen as a new station's name ; Motomachi or Chuukagai. Is the reason why there is no Trafalgar station the result of a similar dispute ; Trafalgar Square or National Gallery? What do you think?

(2002.8.29)

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Trip to Englnad

I really love London!