德国／Germany

下一个目的地是奥地利。原本想要买张从阿姆斯特丹直接到萨尔茨堡的火车票，结果上网查了价钱后差点晕倒，居然要215欧元！坐飞机？不了，谢谢，因为要300多欧元。花了好一段时间“做功课”，最后发现德国铁路正好有促销，一些短程车票只需要区区的29欧元，即使29欧元的特价票卖光了，还有49欧元或69欧元的。于是决定分段完成阿姆斯特丹到萨尔茨堡的旅程，先从阿姆斯特丹到科隆，再从科隆到慕尼黑去，然后从慕尼黑到萨尔茨堡去，结果全程只花了100欧元。
The next country on my list is Austria. At first, I wanted to buy a direct train ticket from Amsterdam to Salzburg, but on checking out the prices on the internet, I almost fainted. A one way ticket from Amsterdam to Salzburg actually costs 215 Euros! Take the plane, you say? No thanks. That is even more costly; it costs more than 300 Euros. Spend a long time doing some “homework” before I realised that the German Rail is having promotions for short distances trip, with prices starting from as low as 29 Euros. In the end, I decided to break the journey up into parts, taking the train from Amsterdam to Cologne, then from Cologne to Munich and lastly, from Munich to Salzburg. And the costs for doing the journey in three parts instead of one? Only 100 Euros.

＊科隆／Cologne
其实早在三年前就已经到过德国，那是我在这次旅行之前唯一去的欧洲国家，当时花了两个星期去了德国的八个城市。这也是为什么当初我不太愿意到荷兰去，因为必须横跨我已经去过的德国。不过想想在德国停靠可以省100多欧元，我也就不抱怨了。反正三年前到科隆时，正好碰到新上任的教皇回乡，在科隆举行了两天的弥散，我当时根本没有机会参观科隆大教堂，于是就乘这个机会在科隆待一天，去参观科隆这个标志性的建筑，顺道去逛街购物。
Actually, I’d been to Germany three years ago. In fact, it is the only European country that I had done prior to this trip. Back then, I spent two weeks backpacking on my own through the whole of Germany, visiting about eight cities in all. This is one of the reasons why I was reluctant to visit the Netherlands, as it means I had to traverse Germany. However, considering that doing some stopovers will mean a savings of more than 100 Euros, I did not have any complains this time round. Furthermore, I did not get to visit the famous Cologne Cathedral the last time I was there, because the new Pope happened to be visiting back then and for the two days I was there, there were tons of people attending masses there. I thought I might as well make use of this chance to see the cathedral and do some shopping.

科隆大教堂历史悠久，其雄伟的建筑真的让人惊叹。记得第一次看到这座教堂时，抬头往着整座建筑，脖子都感到酸。
The Cologne Cathedral (Kolner Dom) is one of the best known architectural monuments and a landmark of Cologne. Being one of the largest churches in the world, the first sight of the building is enough to take one’s breath away. I remember when I saw the church for the first time, I had to crane my head all the way in order to take in the whole building. 教堂里面也一样雄伟，高高的天花板，大大的柱子，让参观的人感觉好藐小。五颜六色的窗口本身是个艺术，就连历届神父或其他伟人的坟墓也很特别。
The inside of the church is equally grand, with tall ceilings and big pillars, making one feel really small standing there. The stained windows are more of art pieces than windows. There are also some treasures too, like this large gilded sarcophagus, which is the largest reliquary in the Western world, believed to contain the remains of the Three Wise Men, whose bones and 2000 year clothes were discovered at the opening of the shrine in 1864. 从教堂出来，兴高采烈地走到科隆的主要购物街去，准备来个大“血拼”。唉！哪知道那么倒霉，当天似乎是公共假日，所有的店铺都没有开，结果只好回到火车站去等待隔天凌晨去慕尼黑的火车。可恶的是，火车站内的厕所贵得要死，一次要1.10欧元，结果每次要上厕所得走到距离火车站100米的麦当劳去。噢，不是免费的喔，每次要0.50欧元，不过起码比火车站的便宜，去两次等于去火车站的厕所一次。本以为白天火车站还挺温暖，晚上在那里等火车应该没有问题，哪知道一到晚上，人群变少，火车站变得像冰库，冷得直发抖。我第一次在火车站过夜就这样凄惨地度过了。
Coming out from the cathedral, I happily made my way to the main shopping boulevard of Cologne, all prepared for a full day of shopping. Alas! It was not meant to be. The day I was in cologne seemed to be some Germany public holiday, so all the shops were closed. In the end, I had to spend the rest of the day and night at the train station, waiting for the train to Munich which goes in the wee hours of the morning. The one bad thing about spending the whole day and night in the train station is that the toilet in the station is so expensive! Each trip to the loo will cost 1.10 Euros (that is 2.20 Euros! And we are complaining when the toilet cost 10 cents in Singapore?). In the end, each time I had to use the toilet, I had to go to the MacDonald’s which is 100m outside the train station. And even then, I had to pay 50 Euro cents to use the toilets! And to make things even more miserable, the train station, which was still pretty warm in the daytime, became a fridge by midnight. Thus, I spend my first overnight in a train station in misery.

＊慕尼黑／Munich
经过德国的时候，正好碰上慕尼黑啤酒节，于是决定搭乘凌晨的火车到慕尼黑去，然后在啤酒节上待一天，晚上再乘火车到萨尔茨堡去。这样不但可以体验啤酒节的气氛，又不必头痛要找昂贵到级点的住宿。之前与我一起游克鲁姆洛夫的美国人Nick正好也打算来个慕尼黑啤酒节一日游，我们俩便约好在那里碰面。
The Oktoberfest happened to be ongoing as I was passing through Germany, hence I decided to take the early morning train to Munich, spend the day at the Oktoberfest, before taking the train at night to Salzburg. Considering how ridiculous the prices are for accommodation during Oktoberfest (a bed in a dorm can cost as much as 100 Euros), this is actually the best way to experience Oktoberfest. Nick, the American whom I travelled to Cesky Krumlov with earlier, had the same idea as I did, so we arranged to meet up at the fest.

抵达慕尼黑后就直接步行到啤酒节的会场去。原来所谓的慕尼黑啤酒节其实是一个大嘉年华会，除了有一堆贩卖啤酒的帐篷外，还有很多食物摊位、游戏摊位和云霄飞车等。小孩子不能进帐篷喝酒，但可以在这些摊位买东西吃和玩乐。
I headed for the fest the moment I got off the train. It seemed that Oktoberfest is just like a big carnival. Not only are there huge tents for the beer drinking, there are also many food stalls, games stalls and rides etc. This means that Oktoberfest is not just for the adults, but also for the kids. 不过到啤酒节去，真正好玩的是在帐篷内。每个啤酒商都有自己的帐篷，里面超大，但却挤满了人。这里的啤酒不是用小酒杯装的，而是重达三公斤的一公升大酒杯来装的。当然，啤酒价钱不便宜，每杯要15欧元。另外，里面还售卖各种各样的传统家常小吃，如香肠、烤小鸡、泡菜和烤牛尾等。出席啤酒节的人很多都会穿上传统的巴伐利亚服装，每当帐篷内的乐团奏起音乐时，大家就会随着音乐跳舞和唱歌。不管你来自世界哪一个角落，不管你听不听得懂大家在唱什么，你都会举起酒杯一起舞动。　　～伟
But the real fun in Oktoberfest is in the tents. Most of the major players in Germany’s beer industry have at least one tent here at the Oktoberfest. When I say tents, I don’t mean the tiny ones you see back home. These tents are huge and can hold thousands of people at one go. Each tent is filled to the brim, with hundreds more queuing outside, waiting to get in. Inside the tents, you can buy beer which comes in huge 1 liter mug weighing at 3kg. Of course, since this is the beer festival of Munich, beer does not come cheap. Each mug of beer cost 15 Euros. You can also find all kinds of local eats in the tents, like sausages, pretzels, sauerkrauts and roast meats etc. A lot of people attending the fest make the effort to come dressed in traditional Bavarian clothes. Whenever the band in the tents launch into a song, everybody will starting moving along with the music. No matter which part of the world you are from, no matter if you understand the music or not, you are bound to raise your mugs and sing and dance with everyone else.　～wei