9月2日 (土)  函館旅行　A Trip to Hakodate, Hokkaido 　２泊３日で函館に行ってきました。新潟空港から新千歳空港へ。JRに乗り換え３時間弱で到着。市内をゆっくり走る路面電車にコトコト揺られて、異国情緒あふれる函館を娘と二人で満喫して来ました。函館港はアメリカ使節ペリーの来航により下田と共にいち早く開港された所で、各国の文明が押し寄せたかつての古き良き時代をうかがわせるモダンな西洋建築が点在している歴史のロマンあるれる街です。 　一枚目は、美しいゴシック様式のカトリック元町教会。中に入ってみると確かに洋風だがどこか日本風。二枚目・三枚目はロシア･ビザンチン様式のハリストス正教会。日本で初めてギリシャ正教の布教を始めた教会だそうです。アーチが美しくひときわ印象的です。 　My daughter and I made a three-day-and-two-night trip to Hakodate, Hokkaido. It took nearly three hours from Shin-Chitose Airport (close to Sapporo) to Hakodate. We fully enjoyed this exotic city, traveling on streetcars, which slowly rattled along the streets. After the arrival of U.S. Commodore Matthew Perry in 1853, the port of Hakodate was forced to open to Western world, which led Japan to reopening diplomatic and commercial relations with the Western world after a long period of national isolation. The city with modern architectures makes people long for good old days, when foreign cultures rushed into Japan. The first picture is of a beautiful church in Moto-machi named "Catholic Moto-machi Church"in the Gothic style. The second and third pictures are "Harisutosu Seikyoukai" or the"Japanese Orthodox Church". It's the first church that started to propagate Greek Orthodox Church in Japan. Arch-shaped windows are strikingly beautiful and impressive.