The latest winter storm has blown through, the sky has cleared, and they are blasting the Rideau River near our house today. I wrote about that,
this time last year.
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| Camellia bushes on the riverbank, Tokyo |
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| Kiyosubashi, a bridge near our hotel in Tokyo |
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| Police boat and cruise boat on the Sumida |
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| Shinohashi Bridge, Tokyo |
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| Footpath beside the Sumida River, Tokyo |
Since my last post I've been away beside several overseas rivers, one of which, the
Sumidagawa, flows into Tokyo Bay. It is actually a 27km canal through the city, with a whole series of impressive, attractive bridges. More often than not it seems to be full of waves, perhaps because of the speed the riverboats sail at, causing a turbulent wake. What I liked best about the river was its recently landscaped banks, lined with neatly trimmed trees, bushes and flowerbeds. The pansies and camellias were already in bloom. In the summer it would be pleasant to sit on the park benches under the arbours that have been constructed, entwined with wisteria. Runners use the riverbanks for their jogging routes and I thought these promenades would be a good way to walk through the city from A to B without getting too much pollution in one's lungs, although on several stretches a motorway runs above one's head on concrete stilts and the noise of the traffic is noticeable. These road bridges keep homeless people out of the rain, so they have built their shelters there out of tarps or cardboard boxes, carefully tied up with string while they're not sleeping in them. I've never seen such neat and tidy street people. Their self-discipline in that regard was one of the things that amazed me about Tokyo. Behind the walkways, factories, office blocks and apartment blocks line the river on either side with hardly a metre of space to spare between them.
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| The River Avon at Bristol, UK |
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| The Avon quayside |
Other rivers I encountered on my travels last month were
the Avon in Bristol,
the Taff in Cardiff and
the Thames at Reading (we walked along the Reading towpath on the afternoon of Feb. 21st after sitting in an aeroplane for 12 hours––that's an invaluable cure for jetlag!) and Kingston(-upon-Thames) in both of which towns we saw swans taking off heavily from the water. In Kingston we watched them, as well as rowing boats, kayaks and canoes, from a window seat in the cafeteria at the
John Lewis department store with our daughter and family.
A nice variety of rivers and experiences to remember! It was good to see flowing water instead of ice and snow for a change, this winter. Any day now we'll see the water flowing freely down our local rivers too.
Since my last post I've been away beside several overseas rivers, one of which, the Sumidagawa, flows into Tokyo Bay. It is actually a 27km canal through the city, with a whole series of impressive, attractive bridges. More often than not it seems to be full of waves, perhaps because of the speed the riverboats sail at, causing a turbulent wake. What I liked best about the river was its recently landscaped banks, lined with neatly trimmed trees, bushes and flowerbeds. The pansies and camellias were already in bloom. In the summer it would be pleasant to sit on the park benches under the arbours that have been constructed, entwined with wisteria. Runners use the riverbanks for their jogging routes and I thought these promenades would be a good way to walk through the city from A to B without getting too much pollution in one's lungs, although on several stretches a motorway runs above one's head on concrete stilts and the noise of the traffic is noticeable. These road bridges keep homeless people out of the rain, so they have built their shelters there out of tarps or cardboard boxes, carefully tied up with string while they're not sleeping in them. I've never seen such neat and tidy street people. Their self-discipline in that regard was one of the things that amazed me about Tokyo. Behind the walkways, factories, office blocks and apartment blocks line the river on either side with hardly a metre of space to spare between them.
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