The Cable Car Museum

 The Cable Car Museum in San Francisco was established in 1974. It is operated by the Friends of the Cable Car Museum as a nonprofit educational facility.

Open 10am to 4pm from Monday to Thursday, 10am to 5pm from Friday to Sunday and closed on Monday. 

Admission fee is free.

Located in the Washington/Mason cable car barn and powerhouse.

There are various mechanical devices - grips, track, cable, tools and a huge collection of historic photographs. You can see the huge engines and winding wheels that pull the cables from the museum deck. 

Three antique cable cars are also famous. The Sutter Street Railway No. 46 grip car and No. 54 trailer and the Clay Street Hill Railroad No.8 grip car which is only car from the first cable car company.

At the museum store, books, clothing, cards and even real cable car bells are available. 

http://www.cablecarmuseum.org/

© 2004 - 2021 Friends of the Cable Car Museum

Bus man's holiday - examining at Ueda Nishi High School

I had the pleasure a couple of weeks ago to conduct the speaking exams for students at Ueda Nishi High School (Nagano prefecture) at CEFR B1:Preliminary for Schools level, for our centre (JP004). I teamed up with a new colleague (John) who was good enough to drive (heavy snow the night before prevented me from doing the honours).

It was obvious that the students at this school had prepared themselves to exchange ideas and collaborate in their conversations, making our jobs relatively easy! The only disappointment for us was that there were so few candidates (from the English conversation club) when in fact the entire school studies English with a couple of full-time ALTs backing up the very competent and enthusiatic Japanese teachers. 

Maybe next year?!

William Tell & other stories - Nanaha's choice

 

Waving at the International Space Station

As regular readers will know, we are really keen to get our students at Luna into the reading habit, and creating independent thinkers & travellers of the mind. I think it is really important to enjoy what you are reading, and that it means something to you.                                                                                                                I was thrilled we managed a stellar "Eureka" moment last night with a group of extremely chuffed Eigonauts! Having finished their first choice readers (action packed stories) the last one in the bag was "In the Sky". Potentially a bit dull & flat - except we have an incredible resource just outside the front door!                                                                                                                                        During our previous lesson we'd talked about planets & stars, constellations too; we'd spotted Orion easily and noticed the half moon from the car park. Tonight's mission was time critical (and weather). My satellite tracking app told me it'd appear on the southern horizon at 18:32, giving us 8 minutes before the end of class to spot the International Space Station. My girls were watching the countdown while we did a few other tasks, and coordinated with our classmate in Nagano - via Zoom - what we were going to do & how (needed to use my iPad to "take the class for a walk!").                                                                                                                                                                                                            First of all we found Orion again, and tried to spot Gemini. We had watched a short NASA video

constellation identification

explaining the constellations in view in March, but we could not see Castor or Pollux. The moon was hiding brightly, behind BigBoy (restaurant next door) which was also very lit up, making our view west & south somewhat obscured. Next, we realised the buildings in front of us hid the horizon, and from the app we could see the ISS was going to keep fairly low as it tracked westwards over Utsugushigahara.                                                                                            We dashed upstairs and turned all the lights off, stepped onto the roof (safely!) and were immediately able to see the bright white dot moving across the dark sky exactly where the teacher said it would be! The girls realised that if they might be able to see it again in an hour & a half, it must be going very fast indeed! I asked them if they thought the seven astronauts would be waving back ("probably not, it's dinner time" they decided!)...but they kept waving frantically anyway :)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        And that was about all we had time for, though homework is to draw a picture of the night sky (I found them in the waiting room with the lights off, being very diligent, later!). "Happy?" I asked them. Far from it - they were deliriously chuffed to bits...and so, therefore, is the teacher.

Tracking satellites 

The "AHA!" moment :)

A lovely city, Florence in Italy

 

I have just read “Death of an English man”, written by Magdalen Nabb who was born in England in1947, and lived in Florence as well as Italy since 1975. The story is a murder mystery, set in Florence.

 

Florence is my favorite city! I have been there half a dozen times, and every time I visit, I feel excited again and recognize that I love the city passionately.

 

I think you must visit the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore which is the symbol of the city it is amazingly beautiful. The exterior of white, green, and pink marble is stunning, hence the name “Cathedral of Flower”. You will be overwhelmed by the magnificent construction.

"Primavera" Uffizi Art Museum

 

Next you shouldn’t miss going to the Uffizi Art Museum (Galleria degli Uffizi). “Uffizi” means “offices” in Italian. This huge Renaissance style building used to be the municipal office of the House of Medici, who were the political dynasty in the Republic of Florence during the first half of the 15th century and collected numerous Renaissance art. Well known paintings such as “The Birth of Venus” and “Primavera” (Spring) by Botticelli , as well as amazing works by Leonard da Vinci are also parts of the collection. When I stood in front of the “Primavera” I was so impressed and couldn’t move for a while. You can appreciate many of the important art works there. There are many important artworks you should appreciate there.

 

Rivoire

If you feel tired, it’s a good idea to have a break at the cafe on the rooftop of the department store “Rinascente”. You can enjoy an espresso with a lovely city view. If you prefer a more elegant one, try “Rivoire”. It is an historical fancy cafe, facing the Signoria square. You can savour traditional chocolate and cakes with a fascinating atmosphere inside. They also have terrace seats. Their chocolate will be a special souvenir.

 

Santa Maria Novella Firenze

I would like to tell you one more place that I go every time I visit the city. It is an ancient pharmacy “Santa Maria Novella Firenze”. The history of it goes back in 1221. Dominican friars of the convent of Santa Maria Novella, started to grow herbs in the garden and created natural preparations. Now we can buy their original skin care cosmetics, with fragrances based on essential principles of aromatic plants. Their products are fantastic! You can find the shops in some Italian cities but Florence is the original, and inside the store is marvelous.

 

Teruki

 

Review of extreme sport "Crashed ice"

Hi,

I’ve watched a video of Crashed Ice. I had seen this sport before, but I didn’t know this is categorized as extreme sport. This sport is extremely fast, so it’s hard for me to follow player with my eyes. The game was over in the blink of my eyes.

I think the game was hard and dangerous. Although players wear a protective clothing which like ice hockey’s costume, they might be died if hit their head in the wrong spot.

It is unbelievable that player skates at top speed from beginning to the end. Just keeping balance on the ice is hard, however the player goes around a corner and jump over obstacle at an incredible speed. As the course is narrow, they clashed between each other. So, some players fell down during the game due to losing their balance. Even if a player could come out on top, there is possibility to be last.

Spectators didn’t know who will win the game. They were really excited watching the sport and the stadium had energy. Of course, I was excited to cheer the game!!

I recommend you that watching “Crashed Ice” and you should collect a lot of videos.

Have a nice holiday.

Miyuki

Kotaro & his Dragon Mother

Once upon a time, there was a good guy who managed cultivation for his village. He had girlfriend. They loved each other but he didn’t know her well.

One day, he secretly attached a long thread to her dress when she left his house. Next day, the thread showed the way to her house. However the road led into the deep mountains. He saw she was the incarnation of a dragon. She stopped meeting with him as soon as he visited her house.

After a few years, an old woman picked a baby out of a river. The baby was named Kotaro. Eventually, the old woman died, and Kotaro set out to find his mother, because he felt very lonely. He remembered that the woman had often told him that he was the child of a dragon and that he had been found in the river from dragon mountain.

While he travelled, he noticed that his village needed good fields for life. When he arrived at the pond where his mother lived, he screamed “ Mom ! “. A big dragon came from the pond, and he told his mother that he wanted to make her pond into a field to help his village as his father had did. His mother understood she would lose her living place if she accepted her son’s demands. Nevertheless she decided to help him. While she attacked her body to the mountain for cultivation, rumbling sound was very big. When that sound stoped, the new field was born. The village people lived happily ever after thanks to their fertile field.

Nobody knows where Kotaro and his mother lived, but we can still see their flight around the mountains near Ueda city in Nagano like a long bank of fog.

Posted for Yumi

Sayuri's favourite antique shop

" Skogen" stands still like a secret hideaway in tranquil woods where we certainly need to be guided by the car navigation system. Looking up at a big and stylish grey house with a huge garden in front, our expectations are rising to the top. When we open a big wooden door, there is a big entrance hall with some rather simple and natural wooden furniture which gives us a welcoming feeling.

" Skogen" is a vintage furniture shop specialized in Scandinavian countries where the owner visits once in a while and imports their one of a kind products. There are eight different rooms: living room, dining room, bed room and study and each room is ideal and finely arranged with well-designed lamps, tables, sofas, chairs and adorable small goodies from Northern countries which are famous for their sophisticated design and natural fabric with warm colours.

There are big windows in the enormous living room facing the lovely garden and lots of pretty candle holders are placed beside the windows which bring us beautiful and romantic night light.

This is an experience where you'll go on a journey into Sweden and others if you love it there, then this is the place to be.

This season will start on April 1st, opening from Friday to Monday, 11:00 to 17:00, advance booking required https://www.skogen.cc

Natur in Risonare in Kobuchisawa and Natur Karuizawa are sister stores which open regularly and are highly recommended as well.