Nagasaki: Glover Garden

Saturday, 5th April, 2014.

After taking us to the Nagasaki Peace Park and the Dejima Dutch trading post museum, Junko took us to Glover Garden. 

On the way we had a very Japanese lunch.  It was freezingly cold and windy, and we walked past a shop where a young girl was offering free samples.  I forget what it was called but it was hot and filling, and we went into the shop at once.  The food was like a circle of thick, white, soft pastry folded around a slice of pork.  It hit the spot perfectly.  I don’t seem to have taken any pictures of it – must have been enjoying it too much!

 

To get to Glover Garden, you take a very long escalator up a hill.  It is called the Glover Sky Road, and is acclaimed as “Japan’s first slope elevator”.

 

From the top can be seen spectacular views of Nagasaki …..

 

….. and its harbour.

 

Storm clouds were rolling in, so we hurried on our way.

 

Glover Garden is named after Thomas Glover (1838-1911), the Scottish merchant who built Japan’s first railway, helped establish the shipbuilding industry and whose arms-importing operations influenced the course of the Meiji Restoration.  Busy fellow.

 

Some former homes of the city’s Meiji-period European residents have been established in this hillside garden.  They don’t look Japanese at all:

Frances is taking a picture of this one.

 

 

Junko (in the light-coloured coat) is walking past this one.

 

And this one.

 

I don’t know why these young girls were in the garden dressed like this, but there they were.  Perhaps it was something to do with this period of Nagasaki’s history.  You can see how windy it was.

 

The gardens were simply stunning.  Here is Junko near one of them.

 

Halfway down the hill is the Madame Butterfly Statue of Japanese opera singer Miura Tamaki, inspiration of Puccini’s famous opera.  The story took place here in Nagasaki.

I didn’t actually get a picture of the Madame Butterfly Statue, which is why I’ve put in a picture of some cherry blossom instead.

 

And some giant carp in a pond.  The Japanese do giant carp very well.

 

Every now and then you could catch a glimpse of the harbour through the gardens.

 

Some more giant carp in a pond with cherry blossom petals.

 

Carol freezing.

 

On the way out.

Thank you Junko for your kindness on this very cold but wonderful day.