奥地利／Austria（Part 2）

＊格拉茨／Graz
因为想要多了解奥地利，所以决定到两大旅游城市萨尔茨堡和维也纳以外的另一个城市去看看，最后选择了格拉茨。如果你对这个奥地利第二大城市完全没有印象，那说这是阿诺·施瓦辛格的家乡你应该会有印象吧？或许是因为之前在萨尔茨堡看到太多东西的缘故吧，让格拉茨显得非常单调。这里没有迷人的风景，没有一个像萨尔茨堡那样有特色的要塞，也没有那些特色小店，多少让人感到失望。
Wanting to see more of Austria instead of just the two main touristy cities Vienna and Salzburg, I decided to pick one more city to visit. After some deliberation, I finally settled on Graz, a soothing village (according to the Lonely Planet guidebook!) in the south of Austria and actually the second biggest city of Austria. A lot of you may not have heard of Graz, but if I mention Arnold Schwarzenegger, you may have some impression of this place, since this used to be Arnie’s home turf. Although the guidebook describes Graz as a place with tons of things to see or do, I must say, I was quite disappointed with what I see there. You cannot see a beautiful skyline like that which you can see in Salzburg. Neither is there an interesting or beautiful citadel or quaint little shops to be found. Guess I am too spoiled by Salzburg. 格拉茨是有个城堡山，走上去可以看到整个格拉茨，周边的风景也不错，还可以看到日落，不过就此而已。所谓的“城堡”就只剩下钟楼和棱堡等，然后还有几个大炮。
To be fair, there is a castle hill from which you can see the whole of Graz and catch the sunset. But what is left of the castle is that of the clock tower, the bastion and a few canons. 而格拉茨的古镇也不算“古”，感觉完全像是新镇，旧建筑外墙粉刷得漂漂亮亮，根本没有古老的味道。
The Old Town was really disappointing since it does not even have an “old” feel to it. With fresh coats of paints and nicely restored outside façade on most of the buildings, it felt more like “New Town”. 唯一让人感到有趣的是这个看起来像是外星人的博物馆。当地人称这个由两位英国人设计的建筑为“友善的外星人”，有人认为这应该是个突变的膀胱，有人则认为这其实是个太空船。无论你认为它像什么，这绝对是格拉茨的招牌之一。
The only thing that can pique one’s interest has got to be this alien looking museum. The locals refer to this creation by two UK architects as the “friendly alien” whereas some refer it to a mutant bladder or spaceship. Whatever you think this building resembles, it is definitely one of the main star of Graz.

奥地利／Austria（Part 1）

喜欢艺术表演吗？又或者是伟大音乐家莫扎特是你的偶像？喜欢迷人的雪山风景？还是渴望在漂亮的多瑙河上来个浪漫的船游？那奥地利最适合你。
Love the arts? Or is the great musician Mozart your idol? Perhaps snow capped mountains are more your cup of tea? Or perhaps going on a romantic cruise on the Danube is more appealing to you? If you like any of the above, then a trip to Austria is just about right for you.

真的要感谢熊天平多年前唱的那一首《爱情多瑙河》，让我从很早以前就对奥地利有印象。要不是好奇想知道，世界上是不是真的有个多瑙河存在，对奥地利的认识或许就会一直停留在它的英文名字发音与澳洲非常接近，如此而已。不过印象归印象，去了之后才知道，多瑙河只是奥地利的一小部分而已。
I do have to thank Panda Xiong and his music for my first knowledge of Austria. If not for his song that mentioned the Danube River in its lyrics, I’d have never been curious about this country and would probably be like hundreds of others, believing that Austria is the same place as Australia. A visit to the country not only tells one that Austria is definitely not the same as Australia and it is not all about the Danube.

＊萨尔茨堡／Salzburg
不知道是不是因为天气太好，让照片拍出来格外漂亮，还是因为是有条萨尔茨河贯穿整个城市（我喜欢有水的地方），第一眼看到萨尔茨堡就爱上了它。这个《音乐之声》拍摄地的古镇并没有布拉格的那样有味道，也没有布拉格那样多的旧建筑，但在这些小街穿来穿去，望着那些17世纪的建筑，感觉还是挺舒服的。
Maybe it’s the beautiful weather, or maybe it’s the sight of the Salzach River winding through the whole city (I’m a sucker for places with waters), whatever the reason, the first sight of Salzburg, where the movie “The Sound of Music” is filmed, is enough to make me fall in love with this place. The Old Town here may not have as much character as that of Prague’s Old Town, neither does it has as many old buildings or special hidden corners, nonetheless, it is pleasant enough to stroll around in. 著名音乐家莫扎特在250多年前就是在这里出生，因此这里到处可见这位名人的踪影，像是他出世的房子和他在24岁离开萨尔茨堡前所居住的房子。当然，少不了一堆的莫扎特纪念品，包括这些莫扎特巧克力球。
Mention Salzburg and most people will be able to say “Mozart”. Yes, the famous musician was born in this city and as such you will see Mozart “lurking” everywhere. There is the house in which he was born, and the house in which he lived for 24 years before he left Salzburg. Needless to say, there are tons of Mozart souvenirs, including these Mozart chocolates. 非常喜欢萨尔茨堡于1077年就建起的城堡，城堡内有个木偶博物馆和其他博物馆，也有不少房间开放供人参观，而从城堡外可以看到整个萨尔茨堡和远处的阿尔卑斯山脉。
The fortress from which Salzburg many Archbishop-princes once ruled from is one of my favorite part of the city. Breathtaking views of the city and the Alps in the yonder aside, there are interesting museums and torture chambers for one to explore. 萨尔茨堡的旅游景点不仅仅是在古镇内而已，而是散布在城市四周。像是只要坐半个小时的公车，就可以来到翁特峰。以前看到有关欧洲的短片或刊物时，都会看到漂亮的雪山，一直都非常向往。本来不打算在欧洲过冬，所以没有想过会看到雪景，怎么知道十月到奥地利居然看得到！What I like best about Salzburg is that, its sights are not just confined to the Old Town. A half hour bus journey within the city will bring you to the mountains of Untersberg. One of the things that I really looked forward to seeing, before I step foot on European soil was scenes of snow-capped mountains. This being only October, I did not expect to see such a thing, so you can imagine my joy on arriving at the mountains, to see such a scene lying before me. 萨尔茨堡有个宫殿，虽然这个17世纪的皇宫现在已经是个博物馆了，但四周的环境还是保持的跟原有的一样。
The former palace in Salzburg is just 10 minutes by bus from the mountains. The 17th century Schloss Hellbrunn, as it is known, is now a museum, the surrounding gardens, is still kept as it was originally. 这里最有趣的莫过于它的喷泉，这里的喷泉能够变出很多花样，真的很有意思。
This most intriguing part of the palace is its tricks fountain, which as the name implies, can play many tricks. 雪山看得不够过瘾，结果隔天搭了一趟火车去看冰洞，这个世界上最大的冰洞就坐落在萨尔茨堡南部40公里外。还没有到山上就可以看到迷人的风景，而进入山洞后，除了冰之外就什么都看不见了。这里的冰可不是我们平常吃的那种冰块，而是经过了几千万年的“磨炼”，形成各种各样的形状，整个洞就是一个天然的壁画。不用说啦，里面的温度是低到极点，即使是穿上了厚厚的登山鞋和袜子，我的脚趾还是差点变成冰。
Not satisfied with the sights of the snow-capped mountains, the next day I made a day trip further out of Salzburg to check out the world largest accessible ice caves, the Eisrieswenwelt Hohle. The ice caves, which started forming 100 million years ago, are located in a little village called Werfen, which is about 50 minutes by train from Salzburg. The village itself is beautiful and there is actually a nice castle which one can visit. From outside the ice caves, you get breathtaking views of the surrounding areas. Inside the ice caves, you see walls and chunks of ice (what else!) forming beautiful “pictures” and elaborate shapes. It is truly an amazing sight. Of course, this being a cave of ice, it is cold, dark and wet inside. In fact the temperature was so low that even with my thick socks and hiking boots on, my toes felt frozen the whole time I was inside.