Inside U.K.
U.K. Boasts Full Schedule of Tourist Attractions
By STEVE HILL
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イギリスには見所がいっぱい
ロックやポップスの歴史をハイテク設備で楽しませてくれる記念館が最近シェフィールドにオープン。この夏は多くの観光客が予想されます。それ以外にも、ロンドンにできるホームズ探偵の銅像や皆既日食、ラグビーW杯など、英国ではこれから見所が目白押しです
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The recently opened £15 million (¥3.3 billion) National Center for Popular
Music in the Yorkshire city of Sheffield is among the best new tourist
attractions in Britain expected to attract plenty of visitors this summer.
The building has been designed in the shape of four giant stainless steel
drums and houses a range of interactive exhibits that cover music from the
1950s to today. Instead of displaying guitars and costumes in glass cases, the
emphasis is on presenting a high-tech computerized assault on the senses.
Creative director Tim Strickland said: "This is not a place where you walk
around looking at memorabilia. The National Center is a place where you
have a go: play an instrument, remix a video or design an album cover. Our
aim from the beginning was to get people involved."
Sheffield has a long history of producing rock stars, from Joe Cocker in the
1960s to The Human League in the 1980s to bands like Def Leppard and Pulp that
are popular today.
Admission for visitors who have the time to drag themselves away from the
more traditional sights in London is a very reasonable £7.25 (¥1,595) on
weekends and in July and August, £5.95 (¥1,309) at other times.
The capital, though, will be the first and last stop for many tourists, and
why not? It remains a massive draw to throngs of people who are
fascinated by the history of London.
Last year, the Tower of London (2.6 million people) and Westminster Abbey
(2.5 million) were the two most popular attractions in the country, proving
that "Old England" could hold its own against the so-called "Cool
Britannia" campaign.
New sights to look out for this year include a first statue in the capital
honoring Sherlock Holmes, the great fictional detective. The 9-foot
(2.7-meter) bronze figure, by renowned British sculptor John Doubleday,
will be unveiled outside Baker Street Underground Station in September.
Those who like a visit to the cinema should take in the British Film
Institute's London IMAX Cinema on the South Bank, near Waterloo Station. It
is housed inside a £20 million (¥4.4 billion) specially built structure and
features Europe's biggest cinema screen — 10 stories high! The theater can
seat 482 people and will be used to show selected 2-D, 3-D, 35 mm and 70
mm films.
Visitors who like to shop will love a trip to the Bluewater Mall. Featuring
more than 320 stores, including John Lewis, Marks & Spencer and House of
Fraser, the complex has been built in a former chalk quarry near Dartford,
19 miles (30.4 kilometers) east of London. It is reckoned to be the largest
indoor shopping complex in Europe and is expected to attract a staggering 30
million visitors a year. Not all of them will be shopping, as there are seven
lakes and a forest as well as a 12-screen cinema multiplex, restaurants,
bars and cafes to enjoy.
For people who like to be outside, there are several interesting new
attractions that focus on Britain's great maritime tradition.
There is a self-guided walking trail of Titanic landmarks in the southern
coastal city of Southampton, the port from which the doomed liner sailed on
her maiden voyage in 1912.
And in Bristol, in the west, a superbly detailed replica of the Matthew, the
tiny vessel in which John Cabot sailed across the Atlantic from the
English port to discover Newfoundland in 1497, is moored next to the
magnificently restored S.S. Great Britain, the world's first
propeller-driven liner.
Back on the south coast, the resort of Brighton is staging England's largest
arts festival from May 1 to 23 with entertainment coming from the Royal
Shakespeare Company, Tony Bennett and the Moscow State Circus.
And in London, the famous voyages of Captain James Cook and Charles Darwin
will be the focus of a major exhibition opening in July at the Natural History
Museum.
One event sure to attract plenty of British tourists as well as visitors from
overseas is Britain's first total eclipse of the sun in 70 years. It will be
visible throughout the far southwestern county of Cornwall on Aug. 11, and
preparations are already well in hand to deal with the vast number of people
expected to view this rare spectacle.
Anyone interested in sport will not need reminding that the Fourth Rugby World
Cup gets underway in Wales Oct. 1. World champions South Africa will be in
Britain to defend their crown, but the New Zealand All Blacks are
favorites to win the trophy for the second time. Games are also being held
in England, Ireland, Scotland and France, with the final set for Cardiff on
Nov. 6.
Before that, though, comes the Cricket World Cup. Twelve nations will play 42
one-day matches in May and June, with players wearing colored clothing instead
of the traditional all-white, at 21 venues throughout the United Kingdom,
Ireland and Holland.
Shukan ST: April 16, 1999
(C) All rights reserved
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