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* It was cloudy this morning. Yesterday's temperature at the center of Tokyo Metropolis was 35.2 degrees, the highest in this season. But it was rather cool this morning. The weather station said this morning that the temperature would be the same as of yesterday. The Express Highways were crowded with vehicles which were gong back home during Obon holidays. In early yesterday morning, a big trailer truck collided with vehicles which had stopped on the highway due to congestions ahead of them. Five units of vehicles were burnt up. Five people were killed including a child. At the center of Metropolis, few vehicles were on streets and almost none of pedestrians on roads not only because of holidays but heat. Many kinds of cicada were singing loudly. The sounds of post man's motor scooters were conspicuous. I left my home for Setagaya before 11:00, by riding on trains of subway, JR, Keio-line and Odakyu-line. When I came back to my home after three hours, my white shirt was wet with sweat. Trains were rather crowded. But the most of them did not care much about heat.
* Romantic Trip in Europe (Part 2)
Ichiro Kitano
Schloss Neuschwanstein
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Neuschwanstein Castle is located in mountains near the border of Austria on south of Munich. It was built in 1886 by Ludwig 2. It is also called as Swan Castle (direct English translation of the name of castle in German.) Unfortunately it was cloudy so that I could not get its good outside picture (Editor: I think this is one of the best I have ever seen. Its shot angle is excellet.) Furthermore, within the castle, to take pictures was prohibited. Both of king's living and bed rooms were decorated with many pictures on Gob ran (?) texture rugs. Especially two wall pictures of "Tristan und Isolde"were very impressive. The motif of them is said to be a king's tragic love in his youth. The king was an earnest patron for Richard Wagner. He made operas such as "Tristan und Isolde", "Parsifal"and a few others for the sake of king. He never married throughout his life and in his later years he was treated as a metal patient. Only less than a half year after he moved to the castle, he died an unnatural death. Ref. the above picture (7).