Day 51. Saturday, September 4, 2010. In Nagasaki.
Hot. Brilliant sunshine all day. A little cloud cover would have helped.
Started with b'fast at Nagasaki JR then took the streetcar to the Edo Period Dutch enclave called Dejima. It once was an island in the bay which effectively isolated the small foreign population from the natives. Some buildings reconstructed, some exhibits, but generally a shell. Next hung around the ANA Glover Hill Hotel waiting for the lunch buffet. Afterward walked up the hill to the Glover Gardens. A bit depressing as the lives of Glover and other foreigners in 19th c. Nagasaki remind me a bit of today. A special class because they were foreign and so sometimes given privileges and a lifestyle impossible in their home countries, but at the same time limited by an impenetrable cultural and physiological barrier.
The old "western" houses on Glover Hill are interesting and seem to be furnished with period furniture though it's condition is deteriorated. I wonder how people back then viewed it. How will our furnishings and dress be thought of 125 years from now?
Came back to the YH early to escape the heat and plan for tomorrow. The ferry from Mogi 11 kms south of here to Amakusa Island leaves at 7. The next is at 10. That means I have to push off no later than 5:30.
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