Autumn in the neighbourhood of my office

Autumn has been here and Tuesday seemed to be a Indian summer.

Thanksgiving day is cold just like a autumn day.

November 24th will be as cold as a day in the winter, and temperature will be from 0(zero) to 3 (three)  degrees celcious. 

Some leaves change their colors in red, yellow and orange, but pine trees don't change the color.

We can see Mt. Fuji from the building where I am working.

Equinox and Sweets

Unfortunately, I missed to post this topic 

last month, then it already seems an obsolete topic but let me post.

From September 19th to 25th in this year, Japanese people call this period "Ohigan or Higan", meaning the other side of the ocean dividing alive and death.  According to Buddhism, it is said that we may easily communicate to our ancestors or those who had passed away during this period.

Japanese Ryokan and Foods there

I stayed one night at Japanese traditional hotel, so called "Ryokan".
It locates along the beach and it has "Roten Furo"(a open-air hot spring water bath) on the roof with nice ocean view.
( Actually, it is the gulf view; Mikawa gulf is rich with many sea creatures and we enjoyed a lot of seafood in dinner.

The dinner is typical "Ryokan" cuisine, a soy source based boiled snapper, a grilled shrimp, slices of abalone, octopus and vegetable pot, snapper rice, etc. including a dessert dish.

Snapper rice is the picture below; topping sesame, wasabi and dried sea lettuce, then pouring the special soup for snapper rice.

The breakfast is also typical Japanese style: a bowl of miso soup, porched egg, marinated vegetables, dried fish and some salad.

My. Fuji with hula hoop

My. Fuji is so famous that it has been sung in the lyrics; "The summit above the cloud, looking down the other mountains,  the thunderbolt resounding down under, Mt. Fuji is not only the highest but also the most aw-inspiring mountain in Japan".

All elementary school kids learned this song in the early grade.

This picture reminds me the scenery of the one in the lyrics with hula hoop clouds.

Please listen to the song "Fuji no Yama"

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=aIOsF8fg4Dg

Mt. Fuji

Mt.Fuji looks different in several seasons, especially winter and summer.

The height of Mt. Fuji is more than 3700m and it has snow even in July and August.

The highest temperature on the top of MT . Fuji distinguishs  the first snow fall on the top of the mountain with the last one.

In December, the top of mountain has been covered with snow like below:

In June, the top is unvailed and it looks different from the stereotype images of Mt. Fuji, which means it is always covered with snow.

Spanish food at Barcelona

Breakfast at the cafe near Sagrada Familia; we ordered Gaspach, Empanada and capchinos.

Shrimp salad with bread. Tapas seems like side dishes or appetizers and most of Tapas are served on the bread.  This restaurant serves it separately.

This is a combo dish; a beef steak, sausage, French fries, sunny side, and salad.

Oysters from the market.  We went the restaurant near the Boqueria market.  Everything is very fresh!

Everybody knows Paella.  Well seasoned steamed rice and fresh sea food make it literally delicious.

This is common style of Tapas; topping on the bread.  They are well fitted with beer and wine.

This is veritable paella. Beans make it sweet and pepper makes spicy.  Good combination of vegetables.

These are fast food types of Tapas at Barcelona Airport.  Fried squid ( a dish at the top) is very close to the Japanese one.  Even quiche tastes good for beer.

The works by Gaudi at Barcelona and Mallorca

Gaudi is a very famous architect with Sagrada Familia, under constructing in more than one hundred years.

It will be completed in2026, ten years later from now.
Besides Sagrada Familia, Gaudi produced the Park Guell  and the Casa Mila apartment in Barcelona,  and designed the sacred canopy in the Cathedral at Mallorca.

The Guel Park was originally produced for the resident use, however, the design of houses and monuments were so advanced and unique that no one lived there except Earl Guell and Gaudi.  

So, it was donated to Barcelona city as the Park Guell after Earl Guell passed away.

The picture below is Casa Mila, the apartment for Mr. Mila, located in the center of Barcelona.

It is said that this building has no straight lines and that people at that time had negative feelings because of the unique design, then it was called "La Pedrera" (a quarry in English).

Nowadays, it is the museum of Gaudi's architecture.

The last Gaudi's works I visited and saw were the Sacred Canopy and the stained glass in the Cathedral in Mallorca.  This Cathedral is famous with the night view as well.