游牧人

克罗地亚／Croatia（Part 3）

2009-09-11T00:06:00.014+08:00

＊杜布罗夫尼克／Dubrovnik
从赫瓦尔南下到下一个城市杜布罗夫尼克去。与从莫斯塔尔到斯普利特一样，巴士一路沿着岸线走，景色实在是美得没有话说。
From Hvar, I headed further south to Dubrovnik. Just like the journey from Mostar to Split, this ride was mostly along the coast. This time round, the weather was good and I was able to enjoy the stunning view to my heart’s content. 杜布罗夫尼克是另一个靠海的城市，自然让人很容易就爱上它，像我到的第一天就看到非常漂亮的日落。
Dubrovnik is another coastal city hence it is easy to fall in love with it. On the first day I was there, I managed to catch a great sunset, which was definitely a good introduction to the place. 可惜的是，原本就已经有的感冒决定在这个时候“爆发”，结果接下来几天除了旅舍外，哪儿都不能去。待病稍微有起色时，已经一个星期了，是时候再度上路，结果只能花一天的时间游杜布罗夫尼克。这真的很可惜，因为杜布罗夫尼克其实是个很漂亮的城市，应该说是几个克罗地亚城市中我最喜欢的。
Unfortunately, the flu that I have been carrying with me for a month chose to wreck havoc at this time, and the next few days I could only stay put in the room and go nowhere else. By the time I was able to leave the room to go for a walk, it was almost one week later and time for me to head to the next destination, meaning I only had one day to walk around town. It was such a pity because Dubrovnik is actually a very nice place. In fact, I’d say it is the city I loved most among those I’ve visited in Croatia. 杜布罗夫尼克的古镇绝对是克罗地亚的几个古镇中最有味道的一个。首先，这里的城墙保存的相当完美。虽然游城墙需要付费，但你可以沿着城墙游整个古镇一圈，走一圈需要两个小时，无论从哪个角落看，古镇本身或古镇以外的风貌都不一样，所以绝对物超所值。
Dubrovnik’s old town is definitely the one with the most character of those that I’ve visited in Croatia so far. First of all, there is a city wall surrounding the whole Old Town. Although you will need to pay an entrance fee, you can walk along the whole wall and take in a full view of the whole Old Town and its surroundings. A full circle of the Old Town takes a good two hours. And considering that no matter from which corner of the wall are you looking from, the town and surrounding scenery just looked different, this is definitely one city wall walk that is well worth your money. 绕着古镇走完一圈后，就到古镇内参观。这里到处是小商店或咖啡座或餐厅。慢慢“研究”这些小商店，或是坐在其中一家餐厅或咖啡座内喝杯下午茶是打发时间的好方法。当夜幕低垂时，大部分的游客都回到酒店去，整个古镇看起来冷清，但景色依旧美丽。
After going a full circle of the Old Town, it’s time to check out the inside of the town itself. Here you will find many small shops, cafes and restaurants, where one can easily while away one afternoon sipping coffee while people watching. The Old Town empties as night falls, and the streets become pretty deserted, but the town still looked as lovely as during the daytime.

克罗地亚／Croatia（Part 2）

2009-09-11T00:05:00.014+08:00

＊赫瓦尔／Hvar
从斯普利特乘坐渡轮到外岛赫瓦尔去看看。这儿可是克罗地亚著名的渡假圣地，可是因为我去的时候是11月，早已过了旅游旺季，所以街上只有几只“小猫”走来走去，完全感觉不到游客区的感觉，不过这也意味着有很多商店和民宿是关着的。
From Split, one can take a ferry to one of the many off shore islands. I chose to go to Hvar, which is actually one of the tourist hotspots in Croatia. However, since it was November by the time I got to Croatia, there was no crowd to be seen. In fact, there was only few people walking around and most of the shops were closed, making this place feel like a ghost town. 入住的民宿坐落在市中心的后山上，距离中心和海港有一定的距离。好在民宿提供免费接送，因此不必扛着大背包爬上山去。虽然要到市中心去得走20分钟，可是好处是这里风景幽美，还可以欣赏到漂亮的日落。
One of the budget guesthouses that was still open was this one that is located on the hills behind the town square. Naturally, it will take one some time to get from town to the guesthouse, but luckily the guesthouse provides free pick-ups from the jetty, so I did not have to lug my huge backpack up the hills. The pros of staying here is that, not only can you get a good view of the whole town, you get to see some great sunsets too. 赫瓦尔没有所谓的新镇或古镇，整个市镇给人的感觉比斯普利特的古镇还要有“古老”的味道。而尤其是在晚上，无人的广场在灯的照亮下显得格外的凄美。
There is no such thing as old or new town in Hvar. In fact, the whole town gives one even more of an Old Town feel than that of the Old Town in Split. And at night, when the whole town is bathed in lights but absolved of people, it is simply beautiful. 既然是个小岛，赫瓦尔周围自然都是水，这也是它受游客欢迎的主要原因。这里的海水干净又清澈，一年四季阳光普照，即使是在冬天，气温也不会太低，还是可以下水，因此我也就有机会享受难得的日光浴。
Since it is an island, Hvar is of course surrounded on all sides by waters. This of course is the main reason why this is such a popular destination for holiday makers. The waters here are clean and clear, always looking inviting. With the sun shining the whole year round, you can plunge into the waters even in the midst of winter (although the water IS slightly cold!). As such, I was able to plonk myself on the beach and enjoy a bit of a suntan, even though it was already November. 赫瓦尔还有个堡垒，和一般堡垒一样这个堡垒就在山上，从这里可以看到赫瓦尔全部的风貌。堡垒虽然不是很大，但有个监牢，而且还保留得跟原有的一样，挺有趣的。
There is a fort here in Hvar located in the hills behind the town (where else?). From here, you get an even better view of the town than from the guesthouse. Although the fort itself is not that big, it is pretty much kept as how it was, and there is even a prison here, complete with shackles!

克罗地亚／Croatia（Part 1）

2009-09-11T00:02:00.025+08:00

嗯，该怎么形容克罗地亚呢？就这么说吧，克罗地亚应该等于阳光、沙滩和漂亮的大海。呵呵，意外吧？这也难怪，因为我也没有想到克罗地亚会是这样的一个国家。因为从未听说过克罗地亚的任何什么，也没有碰过任何到过这个国家的人，所以就和其他国家一样，只知道它的足球，也就因此以为它应该和之前去的几个东欧国家没有什么两样。尤其是当我去的第一个城市是首都萨格勒布，感觉那里没有什么精彩的，也就以为整个克罗地亚会是一样无味。好在有到其他城市去才知道，克罗地亚其实精彩得很！
Croatia, hmm… how should I describe it? I guess, to me, Croatia means the sun, the sand and the sea. Surprised? Yeah, me too. I hadn’t expect Croatia to be such a country since I’ve never heard anything about this country (except its football, of course!) and have never met anybody who has been there. And since the first city in Croatia that I went to was the capital city of Zagreb, where it did not feel special at all, so it led me into thinking that this is probably what Croatia is all about. How realized how wrong I was when Croatia turned out to be a much more interesting country than at first glance.

＊萨格勒布／Zagreb
从旅游指南上看不出萨格勒布有什么迷人之处，不就是那一般首府有的几座大建筑、教堂、博物馆和古镇等，于是决定不要在这里浪费太多时间。结果证明了，这个决定是对的，花一天的时间就可以看完想要看的。也不是说萨勒格布那么令人讨厌，至少比起布拉迪斯拉发，感觉萨格勒布有味道多了。像是这里的古镇没有其他地方那样有浓浓的游客区味道，虽然这里的商店很多，但逛这些商店的本地人比游客多。而在这一带的咖啡座内喝咖啡的大部分都是本地人。
From the guidebook, I could not see much in Zagreb that will interest me, just the typical big buildings, churches, museums and Old Town that you will see in any other European cities. Hence I decided that one day is more than sufficient for it (especially since I don’t really like big cities). It turned out to be a right decision. It’s not that Zagreb is hateful. At least compared to Bratislava, I liked Zagreb more. Here, the Old Town is less touristy, and the shops are patronized by locals as much as tourists. And the locals do sit around in the cafes and restaurants in the Old Town, giving it a nice feel. It’s just that after seeing so many European cities, Zagreb hold less of an appeal to me. 这里的旧建筑比起布拉迪斯拉发更有特色，可惜的是，最漂亮的部分在我去的时候正好在进行装修，不过从这里还是可以眺望整个萨勒格布。
The old buildings here are more interesting than those in Bratislava. A pity though, a huge part of town was under renovation when I was there, so I could not get a good look at some of the nicer buildings. 广场的后面是一个菜市场，这也是我认为是萨勒格布最精彩的部分。
On the tiny hill behind the main square is the market. To me, this is definitely the most colorful part of the city. ＊斯普利特／Split
因为克罗地亚面积长，像是个长长的香焦一样，而想要去的其他城市大部分都在南部，因此当初先从匈牙利到萨格勒布待一个下午，再从那里到斯洛文尼亚去。然后从斯洛文尼亚回到萨格勒布，转火车直接到波黑去，游完波黑后再从莫斯塔尔到克罗地亚南部的斯普利特去。巴士沿着岸线行使，风景宜人，可惜的是当天天气阴霾，随后又下起大雨，因此拍不出漂亮的照片。抵达目的地之后，要走一段路才能到要下榻的青年旅舍去，结果找到旅舍时已经变成了落汤鸡。接下来两天也都是雨天，所以哪里都不能去，你说这样怎么可能会对克罗地亚有好印象呢？好在到了第三天雨终于暂停了一会儿，才有机会出去走走，才发现这个城市其实还真不赖。
Because Croatia is shaped like a banana, and most of the places that I wanted to visit is in the south, so I first went to Zagreb from Hungary. Then I headed for Slovenia, after which I went to Bosnia & Hercegovina, changing trains in Zagreb, before heading back to the south of Croatia, going to Split from Mostar. From Mostar to Split, the bus was going along the coast for most parts, hence it was a very scenic ride. Unluckily, it was a dark and cloudy day when I started the journey. Halfway through, it started pouring, so I was not able to get any pictures of the beautiful scenery. The hostel was a good ten minutes walk from the bus station, and thus, by the time I got there, I was soaked to the skin. The next two days the weather was equally crappy, pouring without stopping, so I ended up seeing only the insides of my hostel, which luckily was quite cosy, with a nice kitchen, free internet and even comes with a television with more than 1000 choices of movies! When the sun finally came out on the third day, I was able to find out for myself how nice this city is. 最先去参观的当然是古镇。斯普利特古镇其实就坐落在建于四世纪的罗马皇宫戴克里先宫废墟之内。这里其实保留得相当不错，城墙虽然陈旧，而且还长满了杂草，但还是保存得相当完整。沿着城墙可以看到一整排贩卖各种各样物品的小摊位，和一般古镇不同的是，这些摊位卖的不只是纪念商品，其实大部分卖的都是日用品或是当地人也会购买的服饰。
The first place to go to is of course, the Old Town. Split’s historic centre is actually located within the massive Roman palace ruins, the Diocletian Palace. Although the palace was built way back at the turn of the 4th century, and was abandoned for centuries, parts of the palace is still very well conserved, with a huge part of the palace wall still standing, although it is full of weeds. Along the wall, you can find a whole row of stalls, selling everything from daily necessities to souvenirs. As such, you can find as many locals as tourists shopping here. 走入古镇大门会先来到一个大广场，这里最引人注目的是圣杜杰大教堂。这个教堂是世界上最古老的教（建于305年），但真正吸引人的不是它的历史而是它那钟楼。其实爬这个钟楼感觉战战兢兢的，因为梯级狭窄，最后三层楼更是只有梯级，没有确实的地面，如果失足就会跌在钟楼中央的大钟上，绝对不适合有惧高症的人挑战！如果爬上去之后感觉脚软，那只要看一看四周漂亮的风景就会忘掉一切怕怕的感觉。从这里你看到的不只是古镇，而是整个斯普利特，包括整个港口和城市周边的山区。
Upon stepping through the main gate, you will find a huge square which is dominated by this huge cathedral, St. Duje’s cathedral. This is actually considered the oldest cathedral building in the world (built in 305 AD.), but more often than not, visitors are not here for the rich history, but to climb the massive bell tower of the cathedral. Climbing this clock tower is definitely not for the faint hearted, because the staircases are quite narrow and as you get closer to the top, all you get are these metal staircases along the walls and just a huge empty space in between where one can look down onto the huge bells in the middle of the tower. If your legs are feeling like jelly after the climb, then one look at the beautiful surroundings is enough to cure you of your jittery. From here, one not only can see the Old Town, but the whole of Split, including the harbor and the surrounding hills. 欣赏完整个城市的风貌后，可以到教堂旁边的地道去走走。这里比较有游客区味道，因为这里的摊位贩卖的都是游客商品，像是油画、首饰、衣服、明信片和他纪念品。
After having my fill of the beautiful scenery, I next checked out the basement next to the church, which was in actual fact full of little shops selling all sorts of souvenirs, crafts and jewellery. Naturally this area feels very touristy, but it is a good place to browse for something for the loved ones back home. 古镇内的建筑都是石头建的，大部分都保留得相当完美。穿梭在狭窄的街道上，不时钻入那些小商店参观，感觉真的很悠闲。虽然才走到一半又开始下雨，但雨中的古镇看起来更迷人。
The buildings within Old Town are mostly made of stones and most are well conserved. Walking through the narrow streets and checking out the tiny stalls was quite a good way to while the afternoon away. Although it started drizzling again mid-way through my walk, it did not quite reduce the charms of this place. 古镇的另一边是海港，一看就知道这里的商店、餐厅和咖啡座都是专门赚游客钱的，个个看起来都非常高档。像我们这种背包旅行者当然没有那么多钱到这些地方去，所以只好满足于拍照留念。
On the other side of the Old Town is the harbor. One look and you can tell, this area is meant for tourists. Along the whole harbor are tons of up-market looking cafes and restaurants, definitely nothing suitable for a poor backpacker like me. So I did the next best thing, i.e. take pictures of the beautiful harbor instead.

波黑／Bosnia & Hercegovina（Part 4）

2009-08-06T05:35:00.015+08:00

抵达莫斯塔尔的第二天，我和另一个女生Rachel决定随Majda来个莫斯塔尔一日游，当然不是免费的啦。不过因为只有我们三个人，所以和一般城市游不同，比较“本土化”。Majda先带我们到附近的一个小山上，这里原本有座很大的教堂，但在战争期间被炸毁。当地人原本打算重建教堂，当因为经费不足，中间计划才刚开始就被迫终止了。从这里你可以眺望整个莫斯塔尔，也可以清楚看到一些从战争时期留下来的废墟。
The second day, one of the girls, Rachel and I decided to let Majda bring us on a day trip around Mostar and its surrounding region. Of course, it is not for free, but the tour did not cost much and more importantly, it was just the two of us, so Majda was able to give us a very “localized” day tour. We first went up a hill overlooking Mostar. There used to be a big church here, but it was of course, reduced to rubble during the war. The locals tried to raise money to rebuild the church, but they just could not raise enough money, hence reconstruction plans were abandoned before it could even properly start. From the hill, you can get a good view of the city and it was hard not to notice how many buildings in ruins there are.
紧接着，Majda说要带我们到郊外去野餐。不过在离开之前，我们先到当地一个小餐馆去，购买巴尔干人最爱吃的burek。Majda说，这家餐馆制作的burek是莫斯塔尔最好吃的，餐馆劳保还让我们到厨房去看burek的制作过程。基本上，burek可以当作正餐来吃，里头的馅料可以是马铃薯、芝士或是肉，一片只要2.50新元。我选择了马铃薯馅料的，果然很美味，尤其是我们买的是刚出炉的，整个车子都是burek的香味！
Next, Majda said we will be going for a picnic in the countryside. Since it was supposed to be a picnic, we, of course, need to have some food. Majda brought us to one of the local restaurants and told us that this restaurant served the best burek, a Balkan favorite, in the whole Mostar. Majda asked for permission from the restaurant and we were allowed to take a peek in the kitchen to see how burek as made. One can choose between burek with potato filling, the cheese or the meat type, with each piece of burek costing only 2.50 SGD. As the ones we bought were hot off the rack, we could hardly wait to sink teeth into it as the smell of the burek permeates the whole car. Majda带我们到莫斯塔尔邻近的一个小村子去，原来Majda一家在这里拥有个一度假屋，而屋子就面向一条小河。我们坐在河边，一边吃着美味的burek，一边享受着周边的美景。坐在那片宁静中，你很容易忘记这里在十多年前才刚刚经历战争，直到你回头望着身后的废墟时，你才会被提醒这个国家和人民但是所经历的痛苦。
Majda drove us to a village just outside Mostar. Turned out that Majda’s family actually has a summer house here, directly facing this little river that runs through the village. We sat on the river bank, slowly munching on our bureks while admiring the beautiful scenery at the same time. Sitting in that peaceful surroundings, with the quiet only broken by the chirps of the birds, it is really hard to imagine that this country was in turmoil just less than 20 years ago. But the moment you turn your back against the river, the house in ruins right in front of you reminds one never to take peace for granted.
随后我们又开往另一个小村子，途中我们在一个坟场逗留了几分钟。这个坟场有个纪念碑，纪念在战争时期阵亡的人。仔细研究碑上的名字，会发现一部分的人的名字旁边只有出生日期，没有死亡日期。Majda解释，这些人确实已经不在了，当因为找不到他们的尸首，因为无法列出他们的死亡日期。
After the enjoyable picnic, we then headed for another village. On the way there, we stopped by a small cemetery. The cemetery was not that big, but there was a memorial dedicated to those who perished in the war. On close examination, you will find that on the stones where the names of victims were carved, there were some where their dates of birth were listed, but not their dates of death. Majda explained that these were people who had perished in the war, but because their bodies were never found, nobody was sure when they had died, hence, they had to leave the dates blank.
我们来到的小村子其实是当地的旅游景点之一，因为这里也有个漂亮的小河，周围环境清幽，所以当地人很喜欢到这里度假。我们就碰到了一群学生随着老师到那里郊游，当他们看到我这个亚洲人时都感到很好奇，频频要求与我合照，还问了一堆的问题。
The village that we went to is quite a popular destination for locals as there is a beautiful river running through the village and the surrounding region was quite scenic and peaceful. In fact, we saw a few groups of students on a day excursion to the village. When the kids saw us, they were really excited. They were especially fascinated with this Asian since they hardly get to meet one, and I was bombarded with questions and requests for photographs. 这里吸引游客的另一个理由是，这儿有个拥有400年历史的土尔其屋。这个屋子曾是当地回教徒聚集念经的地方，因为四周被高山围绕着，当年塞尔维亚人轰炸这一带时，这个土尔其屋丝毫不损，因此现在你看到的一切和400年前的一样。因为被回教徒视为神圣地，进入里头参观的人必须依照回教礼仪，穿着得保守，女生则必须裹着头巾。如果事先没有准备，不必担心，你可以向负责人借个头巾。
The main attraction in this village is this Turkish house which is 400 years old. This Turkish house has always served as a place of meditation for the locals. Due to the fact that it was surrounded by high mountains, this Turkish house was able to escape damage during heavy bombing by the Serbs. Since it is considered a holy site by the locals, visitors have to observe Muslim customs and dress conservatively and put on a headscarf prior to entering it. If you do not have a headscarf with you, do not worry. You can get one at the reception for free.
参观完土尔其屋后，我们坐在户外的咖啡座，享受一杯下午茶。先前不是说过波斯尼亚人很喜欢喝咖啡吗？其实在这里喝咖啡还要有一定的学问，不是像我们平时那样，咕噜咕噜地喝下去。波斯尼亚咖啡是一小壶一小壶的，咖啡上要有一层的泡沫才算是好咖啡。随着咖啡一起端上来的是两小块白糖、一小块甜糕点和一杯开水。将咖啡倒入小杯子后，拿起白糖，粘点咖啡，将白糖含在口中，再慢慢喝一口咖啡，细细品尝，直到白糖溶化在咖啡中后，再把咖啡吞入肚。看，是不是很讲究啊？
After the tour of the Turkish house, we sat down for afternoon tea. Remember I said that Bosnians love their coffee? Drinking coffee is actually an art here. One does not down coffee the normal way here. Coffee is served in tiny pots here. Along with your little pot of coffee, which is served with a thick layer of foam (only then is it considered good coffee!), you will get a tiny teacup, two cubes of sugar, a sweet dessert and a glass of water. To start, you first dip a cube of sugar into the coffee. Next, hold the sugar in your mouth. Then take a sip of coffee, making sure the sugar dissolves before swallowing the coffee. This is the true Bosnian way of drinking coffee.
一日游结束后，再到莫斯塔尔古镇以外的地方走走。对这里的其中一条主要街道留下深刻的印象，因为这里在战争时期被视为莫斯塔尔的前线，是塞尔维亚军队轰炸最猛的地方，也就所以你在这里会看到一座又一座破损的建筑。
After the tour ended, we walked around the parts of the town outside Old Town. On one of the main street, you will notice a lot more ruined buildings than other parts of the town. This was where the frontline of the city was during the war. Buildings on this stretch of road were heavily shelled, including schools. 这和莫斯塔尔的新镇形成了很大的对比，在这里你可以看到新颖的咖啡座，时髦的购物中心和超市。原本以为莫斯塔尔是个没有太多人的小镇，后来才发现并不是如此，原来当地人都不到古镇去，而是全都聚集在新镇那里喝咖啡和购物。
This is a huge contrast to the new part of the town where you hardly see any ruined buildings. Here you find modern shopping malls, albeit a bit smaller than those you will find in huge, modern cities. And of course, there are huge supermarkets and up-market cafes and restaurants too. Here is where the huge majority of the locals hang out.
喜欢波黑除了因为它的历史让它变得有趣和它那漂亮的风景之外，更喜欢它的物价。住宿方面，一般只需要掏出10欧元（20新元）就有地方落脚。食物方面，只需区区的1.50欧元（3新元），就可以买到美味的鸡柳、薯条、沙拉和水。和其他东欧国家比起来，这里真的便宜多了。所以说，如果想要“感受”东欧的历史，那来亲切的波黑一游准没错！
Other than its history and beautiful scenery, the other thing about Bosnia and Hercegovina that appealed to me is its cost of living. For just 10 Euros (20 SGD), you will be able to find a bed in a hostel, sometimes with breakfast thrown in. As for food, a mere 1.50 Euros (3 SGD) can buy you a chicken fillet, complete with fries, salad and a drink. Compared to the other Eastern European countries, Bosnia & Hercegovina is much easier on the pockets. So, if you are looking for the Balkan experience, then come to this lovely country!

波黑／Bosnia & Hercegovina（Part 3）

2009-08-06T04:58:00.008+08:00

＊莫斯塔尔／Mostar
从萨拉热窝南下到另一个城市莫斯塔尔去，这里距离首府不远，乘坐巴士只需要三个多小时。这并不是什么大城市，不过这里有座很出名的桥和古镇，于是决定到这里来看看。决定入住的民宿提供免费的接送，主人家Majda亲自到巴士总站去接我，服务非常周到。Majda一家人在战争时期被迫分散，父母被派到挪威，弟弟被送去瑞士，她本身则到英国去。待战争结束，他们一家人回到波黑时，他们的房子已经被他人占领。经过漫长的官司，他们最后终于取回房子，然后将房子改为民宿。民宿整理得很干净，布置也不错，让人感觉很温馨。最棒的是，厨房开放给客人用，结果在那里住了两个晚上，我们每晚都自己做晚餐，大厨就是本人我啦！
From Sarajevo I headed down south to Mostar, which is only a three hours bus ride away. Mostar is not exactly a big city, but nonetheless, it is quite a popular tourist destination because of its famous bridge and Old Town. The guest house I chose was a small family run guesthouse, which even provides free pickups from the bus or train station. I was greeted on arrival by owner Majda, who was a nice and friendly lady. Majda’s family was one of those badly affected by the war. She had to seek refuge in London, her brother ended up in Switzerland and her parents were only accepted as refugees by Norway. Years after the war ended, Majda and her family came home to find that their home has been taken over by others. It took a long court case but they finally got their home back and they then convert it into a guest house. Now you cannot see any sign of the war in the house. Instead the whole house exudes a homely feel and guests get to use the balcony, washing machines and even the kitchen freely. I stayed there for two nights and on both nights ended up whipping a big meal for Majda and the other guests.
因为是淡季，这里并没有太多的游客，即使是民宿也就只有我和另外两个女生罢了。而莫斯塔尔的古镇这个时候也变成了个死城，除了店主们外，几乎没有什么人走动。不过个人觉得这片宁静给莫斯塔尔增添几分魅力，尤其是在夜幕低垂时，这里更加吸引人。
This being the low season, there was hardly any tourists. In fact, there was just me and two other girls staying in the guest house. Naturally, the old town was pretty much dead. Although the shops and restaurants are all open, all you can see are a handful of tourists and bored looking shopkeepers. But for me, a deserted Old Town holds more charm, especially when night falls.
这就是先前说的那座著名的桥，莫斯塔尔的地标。其实这不是原装的，原有的那座桥在战争时期被塞尔维亚人炸毁了。当地人在战争后，按照原有的蓝图，利用了散落在河里桥的原料，采用了原有的技术，重建了这座桥。其实这座看起来不怎么特别的桥之所以出名是因为它离河面有一段距离（21米），在夏天的时候，当地的青年喜欢从桥上跳入河中，显示他们的胆量和疯狂。有些游客为了看这个“壮举”，甚至会付钱给这些青年，让他们“表演”跃入水中一幕。
This is the famous bridge that I’d mentioned earlier, i.e. Stari Most, the main star of Mostar. Actually the bridge you are looking at right now is not the original one. The original one was built hundreds of years ago but got bombed to bits during the war. When the war was over, local authorities decide to rebuild the bridge. Using blueprints of the original bridge, with the remains of the old bridge fished out of the river, and following the methods used 400 years ago, the Mostar Bridge was painstakingly restored. The result? A exact replica of the old bridge, albeit a couple of metres lower than the original one. This bridge may look ordinary in design, but it is famous because of its height. During summer, local young men will challenged each other to plunge into the waters 21m down. Some tourists even pay the young men to take the 30m plunge just so that they can get a good picture on their cameras.

波黑／Bosnia & Hercegovina（Part 2）

2009-08-06T04:24:00.008+08:00

要真正了解萨拉热窝，当然不能只是待在古镇，而是必须到四周去走走，于是就加入了旅舍办的半日游，听听当地人述说这里的历史。波黑其实主要是由塞尔维亚人、克罗地亚人和波斯尼亚回教徒组成，克罗地亚人和波斯尼亚回教徒在90年代初期联手，对抗塞尔维亚国家主义者，结果成功在1991年10月摆脱南斯拉夫的统治，为波黑争取到独立。半年后，内战就开始了。塞尔维亚人利用南斯拉夫军库庞大的资源开始袭击波斯尼亚地盘。由于萨拉热窝坐落在山谷，四周都是高山，塞尔维亚军人利用这个地形，在四周山上放了坦克车对准萨拉热窝，就这样开始了三年围攻萨拉热窝的计划。塞尔维亚每天都用坦克车和手榴弹来炮轰萨拉热窝，另外还安排狙击手来枪杀人。他们根本不管目标是什么或是谁，喜欢就炸，只要会动的就开枪。波斯尼亚人根本没有象样的军队和武器，所以没有还手的余地，能够保命就已经是阿弥陀佛了。问导游，为何塞尔维亚人不直接攻入城内，拿下整个城市，而是这样围攻他们，导游说：“谁知道？也许由始至终他们的目的不在于控制我们，而是要玩弄我们吧。”
Of course, Sarajevo is not all about the Old Town. You cannot say you’ve been to Sarajevo if all you had done is to hang out in the Old Town the whole day. If you want to know what Sarajevo or for that matter, Bosnia & Hercegovina is all about, you have to walk out of the old town. The hostel actually provides a half day tour of the city, which only cost 25 SGD, allowing one to get to know more about the history and the city itself. Bosnia & Hercegovina consists of Serbians, Croats and Muslim Bosnians. In the early 90’s, the Croats and Bosnians stood up against Serbian nationalists, and in October 1991, they managed to gain independence from the Serbians. 6 months later, the big siege started. Serbian forces made used of the huge resources of the Yugoslavian army and moved into Bosnian territories. Making full use of the environment, Serbian forces placed their tanks on the hills surrounding Sarajevo. For the next three years, Serbian forces bombarded Sarajevo with their tanks and grenade. On top of that, they placed snipers on strategic positions on the hills and shot at random. As long as something moved or it was a building that caught the Serbians fancy, it was bound to be hit. The Bosnians do not have huge supply of artillery like the Serbians did, neither was the army as huge as their enemy, thus there was no way they could retaliate. Instead, one could count their lucky stars if they managed to avoid being hit. We asked our guide, why did the Serbians only besieged the city, but not moved in to take control? The tour guide, who was one of those who had suffered under the hands of Serbians, said with an air of resignation,” Who knows? Maybe right from the start, they had never wanted to bring us under their rule, but just want to toy with us.”
我们先到内战时期当地人为了生存而挖的一个地道去看。当时由于萨拉热窝全面被包围，食粮成了最大的问题。最后他们选择了在某个村子的其中一个家挖掘地道，通往到没有塞尔维亚军人攻击的角落，以便能够购买食物和水。挖掘这个地道一点也不简单，因为除了要避开塞尔维亚人的眼目外，地道要通过当地的唯一机场，而这里当然是塞尔维亚军人轰炸最猛的地方。结果当地人花了一年多的时间，才将这个长达800米，高1米60的地道挖好。地道在战争后坍塌了，所以现在只有部分地道开放给人参观。这一家的主人非常慷慨地把房子改成博物馆，让人能够多了解当时的战争和这个地道的作用。除了墙壁上的枪洞外，你还可以在地上看到手榴弹的痕迹，显示就连这里在当时也不安全。
We first visited a tunnel that was dug by the Bosnians during the war. As Bosnia was fully surrounded by the Serbian forces, food became a problem. In the end, they made use of a house in the village next to the air field, and dug a tunnel that went under the air strip, into where Serbian forces cannot reach, and bought food and other supplies brought there by the Croats. Since this area was beside the airport, this of course was heavily shelled by the Serbians. As such, it took the Bosnians more than a year to dig this 800m long and only 1.6m wide tunnel. Part of the tunnel collapsed after the war ended, but the undamaged part is open for public viewing. The owner of the house which was used as the entrance to the tunnel has very kindly agreed to convert the house into a museum, where one can get to understand more about the war. Other than the bullet holes on the wall of the house, you can still see parts of grenade stuck onto the floor, indicating how dangerous it must have been for the men who worked on the tunnel. 之后我们到山上去。从高处往下去，你可以清楚地了解到塞尔维亚人当初为何会选择这样的一个战略，你也可以想象萨拉热窝人是如何度过那恐怖的三年。
Next, we head for the mountains, from which you can see the whole city and get a good idea of how the Serbians could successfully besiege Sarajevo for so long.
看到下列图中左下角那鲜黄色的建筑吗？那就是著名的假日酒店。当年塞尔维亚人拼命地炮轰萨拉热窝，但就只有这家酒店没有事。结果这里就成了世界各地记者的大本营，他们成天窝在这家酒店，将前线的报道传回自己的报馆。他们并不能随便出去走动，因为假日酒店后边的小巷是著名的狙击手巷，塞尔维亚狙击手特别喜爱拿这个巷子当射靶场，凡是在这个巷子会动的东西都会被射中。
See the yellow building in the picture below? That is the famous Holiday Inn where all the foreign reporters stayed in as they reported on the war, as this was the only building left unharmed. However, the reporters could not move around freely in the city as the alley behind the hotel was the famous snipers’ alley, which was the favorite shooting ground of the Serbian snipers. 其实我们所处的位置正是1984年冬季奥运会的比赛场地。对啊，萨拉热窝就是以主办那一年冬奥运为名。我们去的那一座山正是雪橇的赛场。这里以前可热闹了，有漂亮的酒店和餐厅，有个缆车连接萨拉热窝古镇和这里。可是随着战争，这些餐厅和酒店已经成为废墟，缆车早已没有了踪迹，留下的只是支撑缆车的柱子的根基。这里以后也很难再有缆车，因为塞尔维亚人当时在萨拉热窝四周埋下了许多地雷，到今天都还没有清除。当年不少世界闻名的运动员划下的雪橇，现在已经成为当地年轻人涂鸦的地方了。

The mountain where we were on was actually one of the venues for the Winter Olympics in 1984. Yep, you didn’t read wrong. This war ravage city was actually once the host city for the biggest winter sports games. This mountain was the venue for the bobsleigh competition. In its heyday, this mountain was filled with beautiful hotels and restaurants. There was even a cable car connecting the city to the mountain top. Nowadays, all one could see of the hotels and restaurants are just ruins. As for the cable car, one can only see the stumps of the pillars supporting the ropeway. And what became of the bobsleigh arena? It is now a drawing board for “budding” artists.

问导游为何隔了十多年，这些满目疮痍的建筑还在，不将它们拉倒重建？导游说：“还不是因为没有钱！知道我们目前的就业率是多少吗？有多达六成的人是失业人士。”说实在的，要不是有个导游为我们讲解，看着现在的波黑，你根本很难想象那一段黑暗的日子。

We asked the tour guide why is it that so many of the ruined buildings are still left standing more than 10 years after the war. The tour guide replied, "What else but money? Do you know what the unemployment rate in this country is like? As much as 60% of the population is unemployed. Where would we find the money to rebuild everything then?" Frankly speaking, if not for the guide pointing things out and explaining things to us, it is really hard to imagine the dark days of the war, given how beautiful this country is.

波黑／Bosnia & Hercegovina（Part 1）

2009-07-29T05:40:00.007+08:00

还没有来到波斯尼亚和和黑塞哥维那（波黑）之前，真的不知道会看到什么，或是该期待看到什么。再怎么说，对远在东南亚的许多人来说，他们甚至连这个国家的名字都没有听过，对它又会有什么样的了解呢？而我，除了在几年前看到有关这里打仗的新闻外，就真的什么都不知道了。到了之后才知道，经过了十多年，这里仍然处处可见战争的痕迹，但这个国家和它的人民已经渐渐走出了战争的阴影。撇开战争留下来的疤痕，这其实是一个非常漂亮，非常有特色的一个国家，让你一下子就爱上了它。
Before coming to Bosnia & Hercegovina, I wasn’t sure of what to expect. After all, to most people from Southeast Asia, they have never even heard of such a place, not to mention, know where this country is located or know what it is like. As for me, other than hearing about the war that occurred some years back through the media, I know nuts about this country. Only on arriving, did I realised that, more than 15 years after the Serbian forces wrecked havoc in this Eastern European countries, you can still see signs of the war everywhere. But this has not stopped the people from emerging from the shadows of the war. Disregarding the many bullet holes and marks of grenade, you will find that Bosnia & Hercegovina is in actual fact a beautiful country with equally beautiful people. As such, it is easy to fall in love with this country despite its sad history.

＊萨拉热窝／Sarajevo
从卢布尔雅那乘火车到萨格勒布，再从那里转换另一趟火车到波黑首都萨拉热窝。奇怪的是，火车只有三个车箱，而乘坐这一班火车的人多的是，结果每一个车箱都被挤得水泄不通。从萨拉格布到萨拉热窝其实要乘一整晚的火车，因此一上车后就拼命地祈祷这些人会快点下车，那我就不必站一整晚。好在两个多小时后，就快到边境时，真的有很多人下车了，我才有机会坐下。很不舒服地睡了半个晚上，终于抵达了萨拉热窝。
Coming from Mirjana’s home in Ljubljana, I first had to take a train to Zagreb, Croatia, before switching to another train bound for the capital of Bosnia & Hercegovina, Sarajevo. When I first saw the train, I thought this is most probably a not so popular route since the train consisted of only 3 carriages. However, on boarding the train, I realised that this was not the case as there was actually a lot of people on board, with people spilling onto the passageway and even right next to the exits. It actually requires about 12 hours to get to Zagreb from Sarajevo. As such, I prayed for lots of people to get off the train soon. Luckily, my prayers were answered. After two and a half hours, tons of people got off at the stop just before the borders and I was spared the agony of standing outside the smelly toilet for the rest of the night. After a not so fitful sleep, I finally arrived in Sarajevo.

从火车一驶入火车站，我就知道这里绝对与之前看到的会很不同。虽然这是波黑首都的唯一火车站，但整个地方看起来完全没有大城市的架式，看到的是个陈旧、破烂和人烟稀少的火车站。从火车站到旅舍的一路上，看到不少破烂的建筑，每栋建筑都被子弹或是炸弹打中的痕迹清晰可见。老实说，对我们这种在温室里长大，从未经历战争的痛苦的新加坡人来说，这一切真的是个很大的文化冲击。
From the moment the train pulled into the train station, I knew that this was going to be different from the other Eastern European countries that I’ve been to so far. Although this was the one and only train station in the capital city, it absolutely did not look as grand as all the main train stations in the other countries. Instead, what you see is a broken and rundown station, more like an abandoned station that you will find elsewhere. On the way to the city centre from the train station, you can lots of old, dilapidated and abandoned buildings, most of which riddled with bullet holes. In fact, to people like us, who are fortunate enough never to have to witness the cruelty of war, all these come as a big culture shock.
入住的旅舍根本不像之前住过的其他东欧国家旅舍那样漂亮、干净、舒适，反倒像是在柬普寨或是寥国住过的旅舍那样即陈旧又简陋。不过这家旅舍的好处是，从火车站免费载你到旅舍去，床位便宜（只要8.50欧元），又附上免费的早餐，但是最大的好处就是它的正对面就是古镇。
The hostel that I chose to stay in was definitely not fanciful or clean or nice as the other ones that I’ve stayed in so far. In fact, it reminded me of the crappy hostels in Cambodia or Laos that I’ve stayed in before. But the good thing about this hostel is that, they provide a free pickup from the train station. Of course, that is not the main reason I chose this hostel. Rather, it is for the cheap beds (only 8.50 Euros) and free breakfast and last but not least, that it is right across the Old Town.
一般城市的古镇多是游客聚集的地方，当地人很少会在那里活动，但萨拉热窝的古镇却不同，当地人和游客一样喜欢在这里度过散漫的一天。古镇的正“入口”是这个喷水泉。我知道，你一定在想，喷水泉？哪里喷水了？我也一样。一眼望去，还以为是饲养鸽子的地方，看了两天才知道为什么这是个喷水泉。留意喷水泉的下方，有没有看到那四四方方的水盆？看到那上面的水龙头了吗？对，有水出来的地方就叫“喷水泉”。
Most old towns in other cities are now mainly tourists’ attractions and hence, filled with souvenir shops or restaurants. You hardly find locals gathering there. Even if they do, it is probably as a day outing or something like that. However in Sarajevo, this is not the case. Here, the locals enjoy hanging out in the Old Town as much as the tourists do. The main “entrance” of Sarajevo’s Old Town is this fountain. Did I just say fountain? Yeah, this thing which is a favourite perching spot for the pigeons is in actual fact a fountain. So where is the water? Well, if you look carefully at the lower half of the fountain, just above the squarish basin, you will notice a tap. Yep, anything with a tap that has water coming out of it, is considered a “fountain”. 古镇内全是密密麻麻的小街道，就和其他的古镇一样，街道的两旁都是贩卖各种衣物和纪念品的小商店。这里以手工制作品为名，因此大部分的商店都是贩卖首饰的。由于这里曾被土耳其统治超过四百年，所以你看到的很多东西都非常土耳其式。
The old town here is a mish-mash of little streets, all lined with souvenir shops (what else?!), boutiques and restaurants. Bosnians are famous for their handcrafted silverware, as such, you can find many shops selling all sorts of silverware here. And after more than 400 years of Ottoman rule, it is hardly surprising to find a tinge of Turkish influence in almost everything.
和其他古镇不同的是，这里看不到雄伟的城堡或是装潢堂皇的教堂，有的只是矮矮的旧房子和商店，以及简单的回教堂罢了。
One thing that is different from the other old towns, here in Sarajevo’s Old Town, you will not find grand citadels or majestic churches. Instead, what you will see are old cottages, and shops, and a very simple looking mosque.
不过这里的特别之处就是，到处都是非常有特色的咖啡座和餐厅。这里的人都很喜欢喝咖啡，也会制作非常好吃的糕点和甜品。基本上，来到巴尔干国家就应该坐在其中一个咖啡厅，一边慢慢品尝咖啡和糕点，或是抽着水烟，一边对着来往的人们发呆。这不叫浪费时间，而是体验真正的波斯尼亚文化。我向来都不喝咖啡，所以改而品尝土耳其黑茶。小小的一杯茶，只有手指般高，配上甜甜的糕点baklava，啊，简直是人生一大享受。
The unique part about this old town is that you can find many cafés and restaurants with loads of character. Bosnians really love their coffee and cakes. Hence, when you come here, you definitely have to do as the locals do, i.e. sit down at one of these cafes, sip a cup of strong Bosnian coffee, smoke a shisha, have one of the many sweet desserts that the Balkans are famous for and people watch. Do not think that this is a waste of time, for this is real Bosnian culture. I don’t usually drink coffee, and I substituted that with a glass of Turkish tea. Holding the tiny cup in one hand, a spoonful of the sweet dessert baklava on the other, THIS is what life is all about!

斯洛文尼亚／Slovenia（Part 4）

2009-06-04T06:56:00.009+08:00

＊波斯托伊纳溶洞与什科茨扬洞／Postojna and Skocjan Caves
从皮兰、布莱德和波希涅的照片你应该看得出斯洛文尼亚是个非常漂亮的国家，如果要我在这个漂亮的国家中选出我最喜欢的地方，那就应该是它的两个溶洞——波斯托伊纳溶洞与什科茨扬洞。

From the pictures of Piran, Bled and Bohinj, you should have gathered by now that Slovenia is a really beautiful country. But if you ask me to pick out my favorite place out of so many beautiful spots, then it is neither the blue waters of Piran nor the green forests of Bled and Bohinj, instead it is the two karst caves, Postojna Caves and Skocjan Caves, which will top the list of my favorite places in Slovenia.

这并不是我第一次参观溶洞，之前到越南和中国时都有去看那里的岩石洞。不过就像Mirjana说的，看过斯洛文尼亚的溶洞后，你就会觉得其他的溶洞真的是小乌见大乌。
This is not the first time I’ve visited a karst or limestone cave. I’ve visited those in Vietnam and China too. However, to quote Mirjana, once you’ve seen these two limestone caves in Slovenia, you won’t have to visit any more limestone caves.

一般游客通常会花两天的时间来参观这两个溶洞，不过在听取Rasko的意见后，我决定用一天的时间来完成两个溶洞。这并不是不可能的，因为两个溶洞是在同一个方向。但到这两个洞的公共交通不多，只能搭火车，而开往这两个地方的火车并不多，若要在一天内完成两个洞就必须起得特别早赶火车到波斯托伊纳溶洞去，然后在中午时分赶回火车站，赶搭火车到什科茨扬洞去。
Most tourists will spend one day on each of the caves as they as not easy to get to with public transport. However, on the advice of Rasko, I decided to squeeze both caves into one day. This is not impossible as both caves are located in the same direction and since you need to be part of a guided tour in order to see the caves, there is only a limited amount of time you can spend in each cave. You will have to take a train early in the morning to get to Postojna Caves and make it for the first guided tour of the day. By the time the tour ends, there will be just enough time for you to get back to the train station and catch the train after noon to the Skocjan Caves.
说其他的溶洞不能媲美波斯托伊纳溶洞，主要是因为它非常、非常大。从每位游客必须搭乘小火车来参观整个山洞，你就可以想象这个岩石洞到底有多大。这个岩石洞已经有几百万年的历史，当导游告诉我们，这些钟乳石和石笋要每一百年才长一厘米，你不得不惊叹大自然的奥妙。这些钟乳石和石笋非常有趣，有些长得像纸张，有些长得像意大利面。因为相机的闪光灯会“杀死” 这些钟乳石和石笋，因此洞内严禁拍照，只有在特定的地点允许拍照，因此也就无法给你们看这个岩石洞到底有多雄伟。
The one big reason to choose to visit Postojna Caves over the other limestone caves is that this is a really huge network of limestone caves merge into one. Just from the fact that they actually have a mini train running through the caves is a good enough statement of how big the caves are. These caves have been in existence of millions of years. When we were told that it actually takes one hundred years for these stalactites and stalagmites to “grow” 0.1cm, one cannot help being amazed at the wonders of Mother Nature. The stalactites and stalagmites in these caves are really interesting, forming all kinds of shapes, with some resembling pieces of paper and others looking like spaghetti. As the flashlight from cameras will “kill” the stalactites and stalagmites and caused them to stop “growing”, photography is not allowed in most parts of the caves. You are only allowed to take pictures at specific points, which mean that you will not get to see how impressive these caves are unless you go to Slovenia yourselves. 什科茨扬洞虽然也是岩石洞，但却与波斯托伊纳溶洞不同。在波斯托伊纳溶洞，从你踏入洞内的那一刻起，你看到的除了钟乳石之外，就是石笋。什科茨扬洞的钟乳石和石笋“规模”没有波斯托伊纳溶洞那么壮观，可是我还是很喜欢这个岩石洞，因为它与后者一样大，你不必坐小火车参观山洞，而是自己不行。刚开始时，我们一直往下走。上上下下后，你就会来到一到河，必须走过一道桥才能到山洞的另一边去，实在像足到世界的中心去探险，真的很特别。所以如果你问我，这两个溶洞应该参观哪个好？我会告诉你，虽然门票是贵了一点，但两个都去，包你不会后悔！！
Although the Skocjan Caves are karst caves like Postojna Caves, it is distinctively different from the latter. Upon entering the Postojna Caves, what greet you are just stalactites and stalagmites, and more stalactites and more stalagmites. In the Skocjan Caves, you do not see that many stalactites and stalagmites, neither do the ones here look as impressive. However, I do like these caves because although they are equally big as the Postojna Caves, you do not take a mini train to tour the caves, instead you trek through the caves for more than an hour. The trek brings you deep into the caves, many times going down and down and down, giving one the feeling that you are journeying to the center of the earth. There is even a huge river that flows in the middle of the cave, where you will have to use a bridge to cross to get to the other side of the river. If you ask me, which of the two caves should you visit, I would say do both! You will not regret it! Although entrance fees for the two caves are not cheap and they are not easy to get to, but they are such interesting caves, that they are definitely worth your effort. And since both caves are different in their own ways, you won’t get the feel that you are seeing the same things even if you visit both of them.

斯洛文尼亚／Slovenia（Part 3）

2009-06-04T06:54:00.012+08:00

＊布莱德与波希涅／Bled and Bohinj
其实说到斯洛文尼亚，一般游客一定会去的地方除了卢布尔雅那外，就是布莱德和波希涅了。这两个旅游景点距离卢布尔雅那只有两个小时车程，而两个地方的共同点就是它们都有一个湖。
If you are heading to Slovenia for a tour, chances are other than Ljubljana, you will have Bled and Bohinj on your itinerary. These two towns are only about two to three hours drive from Ljubljana and both are lake towns, which make them popular tourists destinations.

波希涅就坐落在一个国家公园内，因此这里经常有人来远足。天气那么冷，我们当然没有去远足，而是到附近的小镇去走走，顺便品尝当地的食物。
Bohinj is located within a national park, and hence many people come here for hiking. This being the middle of October, it was of course too cold for us to go hiking. In the end, we just walk around the lake for a bit, before heading to the town nearby for some local food.
两个地方中，布莱德较为著名，这是因为这里的湖泊中央有个小岛，而小岛上有个小教堂。夏天的时候经常会有游客租小船划到小岛去，据说摇一摇教堂内的大钟可以带来好运。
Of the two places, Bled is the more famous one. The main attraction here is the little island in the middle of the lake where you can find a church. In the summer, it is the IN thing to hire a boat and row yourself across the lake to visit the Assumption of Mary Pilgrimage Church and ring its bell for good luck.

斯洛文尼亚／Slovenia（Part 2）

2009-06-04T06:52:00.010+08:00

＊皮兰／Piran
乘着周末他们不必上班，Mirjana和Rasko开车载我到海边小镇皮兰去走走。既然是个小国家，斯洛文尼亚的岸线自然不长。不过碧蓝的天空，清澈的海水，这真的渡假的好去处。这里其实非常靠近意大利，彼岸就是意大利，因此这里不只经常有意大利游客，这里的人很多都会说意大利语，镇上也有不少意大利语招牌。这里并不像一般沿海地带那样，有着一堆高级酒店或是渡假屋，这里依然是个小镇，穿梭在狭窄的街道中，你可以体会到何谓斯洛文尼亚小镇生活。
When the weekend came around, Mirjana and Rasko offered to take me on a drive to the other parts of Slovenia and we headed south of Slovenia for the coastal area of Piran. Slovenia, being a small country, naturally does not have a long coastline. However, with beautiful blue skies and crystal clear waters, this is really the area to go to if you are looking for a place to relax in Slovenia. Since Slovenia is close to Italy, you can actually see part of Italy from the shore. And of course, it goes without saying that you can find lots of Italian tourists here and many Slovenians here are able to speak Italian and there are also many signboards in Italian. Unlike coastal towns elsewhere, you will not find big, up-market hotels or resorts here. Instead, what you find is a typical Slovenian small town, which is great for strolling around. 回家途中，Rasko带我们到一家非常特别的餐厅吃晚餐。这家餐厅还真有趣，坐落在鸟不生蛋，狗不拉屎的小山上，方圆几公里什么也没有，如果不是当地人，绝对不会知道有这样的一个地方。因为这一带以出产香菇为名，这家餐厅的招牌自然是香菇，所以第一道菜当然是这个牛油香菇。
On the way home, Rasko brought us to a very special restaurant for dinner. This is a really interesting restaurant as it is located in the middle of nowhere, miles away from the nearest town. Unless you are a local or have been there before, there is no way that you will be able to know that there is actually a restaurant in this mountainous area. This region is famous for special mushrooms, so it goes without saying that the specialty of the restaurant is mushrooms. First up is a dish of mushrooms, fried in butter. It may look simple, but I must say, it is the best mushrooms I ever had! 主菜是自家制作的面食，口味当然是香菇味啦！当然还少不了欧洲人爱吃的火腿和芝士。
The main course is home-made pasta, cooked with mushrooms, of course! And not forgetting the European favorites of cheese and ham.

斯洛文尼亚／Slovenia（Part 1）

2009-06-04T06:48:00.013+08:00

当初游中国时，在阳朔的青年旅舍认识了来自斯洛文尼亚的Mirjana，这也是我结交的第一个斯洛文尼亚朋友。当她知道我打算从中国游到东欧时，她就交代我一定要到斯洛文尼亚玩，好让她介绍她的国家给我认识。原本斯洛文尼亚并不在我的计划之内，但无法拒绝她的盛情，最后就答应了。
While touring China at the start of this trip, I got to know a girl from Slovenia, Mirjana while in Yangshuo. This is actually the first time I got to know of someone from Slovenia. When she heard that I will be travelling from China to Eastern Europe, she insisted that I drop by Slovenia so that she can show me around. Slovenia was not on my plans originally, after at Mirjana’s insistence, I thought, “Why not?” and hence made a promise to see her in Slovenia.

就和其他东欧国家一样，对斯洛文尼亚的认识并不多，只知道它曾经是南斯拉夫的一部分，根本不知道这是什么样的一个国家。去了之后才知道，这其实是个非常漂亮的国家，摩登、新潮，感觉上与西欧国家没有什么两样，尤其是这里使用的是欧元，物价可以媲美西欧国家。
Just like my knowledge of the other Eastern European countries, I know nuts about Slovenia. All I knew about this country prior to arriving there was that, it used to be part of Yugoslavia. Only upon arrival, do I know that this is actually a beautiful, modern and well developed country, just like the Western European countries. The fact that Slovenia uses Euros as its currency meant that cost of living here is high, which makes it all the more closer in culture and living to its western counterparts.

＊卢布尔雅那／Ljubljana
Mirjana就住在斯洛文尼亚首都卢布尔雅那。不过我抵达斯洛文尼亚的当天，她正好与朋友约好了到郊外“野餐”，于是她和男朋友Rasko开车到边境接我，然后带我参加他们朋友的聚餐。
Mirjana is originally from the northern parts of Slovenia, but is now living and working in the capital city, Ljubljana. On the day I was arriving in Slovenia, she actually had a date for picnic with her friends. In the end, she and her boyfriend, Rasko, drove to the borders to pick me up, where I was arriving by train via Zagreb, Croatia, and brought me to join them for the picnic.

原来所谓的“野餐”是到友人在郊外的渡假屋去聚餐。除了我之外，其他的客人还包括了一名在斯洛文尼亚工作多年的韩国人，以及正好来探访她的好朋友。晚餐是欧式拼盘——鸡肉、马铃薯、番茄等全放入一个大锅，然后在户外烘烤，美味！
The “picnic” was actually a gathering at the summer house of one of Mirjana’s friend. There were other foreign guests other than me, i.e. a Korean girl who was visiting her best friend who is working for the South Korean Embassy in Slovenia. Dinner was a big platter of chicken, potatoes and tomatoes, which was then cooked outdoors, oven-styled. It was really delicious and definitely a good introduction to the Slovenian way of life! 不知道是不是斯洛文尼亚的空气不太适合我，才刚到就病倒了，结果到那里的头几天一直都躲在Mirjana的家里，哪里都没有去。直到身体稍微好一点，才到卢布尔雅那市中心去走走。
However, before I can get to enjoy more of Slovenia, I came down with flu and cough. In the end, my first few days in Slovenia were spent in Mirjana’s house, admiring the “scenery” from the windows. Only when I felt better after a few days rest was I able to take a walk in Ljubljana’s city center. 卢布尔雅那虽然是斯洛文尼亚的首都，但因为斯洛文尼亚本来就是个小国家，卢布尔雅那也就没有其他欧洲首都那样的喧闹和拥挤，反到是整个城市有种小镇的感觉。路上行人不多，即使走在卢布尔雅那市中心的主要街道上，你也不会看到拥挤的人群。
Although Ljubljana is the capital of Slovenia, it is not as congested or as bustling as the other European capital cities. Because it is one of the smallest countries in Europe, you do not see crowds of people in the streets. In fact, the whole city exudes a small town feel, which makes it really pleasant to stroll around in. Even walking down the main thoroughfare of Ljubljana, there is not much hustle or bustle, making shopping here a pleasant experience. 这是卢布尔雅那的城堡。和之前看到的城堡比起来，当然逊色多了，但很喜欢城堡周边清幽的环境。
This is the castle in Ljubljana. Of course, compared to all the castles I’ve seen before, this castle is really nothing to crow about, but I do like the quiet surroundings of the castle.
Mirjana并不是卢布尔雅那人，而是来自斯洛文尼亚北部，而北部的食物与其他部分有点不一样，所以有一晚Mirjana带我到一家餐厅去品尝她家乡的食物。Mirjana的家乡菜以猪肉为主，所以这里的所有食物都是各式各样的猪肉食。虽然我不是特别喜爱猪肉，但这些食物还真不赖。
After a few days of eating at home while trying to recover from my illness, Mirjana decided to bring me for some proper Slovenian food. She brought me to a restaurant in the city, where the restaurant owner is actually from the same region as her, and hence, does food that you can find in Mirjana’s hometown. Apparently, people eat more pork in the north, and as such, all the dishes contained pork. Although I don’t normally like pork that much, I must say this pork meal is one of the most delicious that I had.

匈牙利／Hungary（Part 3）

2009-06-04T06:45:00.021+08:00

＊凯斯特海伊／Keszthely
在匈牙利的最后一站是西部的一个城市凯斯特海伊。这里因为有个大湖，因此虽然没有太多的旅游景点，却还是吸引不少游客到来。当然，既然我去的时候是十月，并不是在湖上游泳或划船的季节，湖边当然看不过人群，街上也没有什么人来来往往。
My last stop in Hungary is a city in the west Keszthely. This being a lakeside city naturally attracts loads of tourists. Of course, this being October, it was too cold to be swimming or boating on the lake, so the town and lakeside was pretty much dead when I was there. 这里也有个皇宫，不过既然皇宫已经看得够多了，所以也就没有进去参观，只是从外面欣赏建筑的美。
There is actually a palace here, but having seen many palaces already, I had no wish to pay to see another. So it is just taking pictures from outside for me. 在主要街道的最尾端发现了一个很有趣的小餐馆。餐馆的主人明显是意大利球队罗马的球迷，整个餐厅以罗马为主题，墙壁上全是罗马的旗帜、围巾和球衣等，就连电视机也是播着罗马的球赛。
At the end of the main street, I found an interesting restaurant. The restaurant owner is obviously a huge fan of Italian football club AS Roma, with the restaurant being named Roma restaurant and the insides of the restaurant full of Roma’s biblical. From scarves to flags to jerseys to trophies, everything just screams “AS Roma”. Needless to say, the television was showing one of Roma’s match when I was there. 凯斯特海伊之所以受欢迎的另一个原因是因为从这里只要乘坐15分钟的公车，你就可以来到匈牙利著名的黑维兹温泉湖。这里的湖水平均温度在28至32度之间，所以即使是在冬天，你也可以来这里泡水。因为是温泉湖，湖水当然含有不少矿物，据说很有疗效，因此这里你会看到不少老人家。如果你认为冬天时在户外游泳还是太冷了，那可以待在建在湖中央的澡堂，因为澡堂内有楼梯通到湖水，但因为周围被围起来，因此水的温度比户外稍微温暖。
Another reason why Keszthely attracts so many tourists is that it is located right next to a thermal lake. One just has to take a 15 minute bus ride, and you will come upon the thermal lake town Heviz. The water in Heviz Lake has an average temperature of 28 to 32 degrees. As such, even in the middle of winter, you will find people swimming in the lake. This being a thermal lake, the water contains a lot of minerals which is said to have some medicinal value, hence you find quite a lot of senior citizens relaxing here. If swimming outdoors in the middle of winter is not your cup of tea, you can swim in the bath house right smack in the middle of the lake. The bath house is built such that there are steps leading down to the lake water, with little doors and plastic walls separating the waters, such that the waters within the bath house is warmer than that outside.

匈牙利／Hungary（Part 2）

2009-06-04T06:42:00.033+08:00

＊圣安德烈／Szentendre
从布达佩斯其实只要搭一个小时的火车，就可以到郊外一个靠河的小镇圣安德烈去走走。因为环境清幽，又有许多博物馆和画廊，这里基本上是个游客区，因此四处可见针对游客的餐厅和商店。如果你想要购买匈牙利纪念品的话，那这里就是购买纪念品的最佳地方。不过因为去的时候已经是淡季，没有几个游客，所以并没有游客区的感觉，反倒感觉得出典型匈牙利小镇的风味。If Budapest is too much for you to take, you just have to take a local train to the suburbs and visit one of the many little towns. I chose to make a trip to a riverside town, Szentendre, which is about one hour away from Budapest. Szentendre is well-known for its museums and galleries and hence, this is more or less a tourist town, with tons of shops selling all kinds of souvenirs and Hungarian handicrafts, and also lots of touristy looking restaurants. If you want to get your souvenir shopping done in one shot, this is the place to go. Luckily for me, it was off peak season when I was there; hence there were not so many tourists around, giving the town less of a touristy feel. In fact, if you wander away from the main streets and into one of the many little alleys, you can get the Hungarian small town feel. 在圣安德烈品尝了当地的一个小吃——langosok。基本上与我们咸酥饼非常类似，最普通的吃法就是在上面涂上蒜头，不然也可以配芝士或酸奶。即便宜，又好吃，是个不错的点心。
If you do come to Szentendre, don’t forget to try out some of the local snacks. The one I did try was the langosok. Basically, it is oil fried yeast dough. You can have it plain with a bit of garlic spread on it, or you can put cheese, sour cream or other toppings on it. It is definitely one of the better and cheaper snacks that you can find in Hungary. ＊佩奇／Pecs
在布达佩斯悠哉地度过了几天后，再度上路，这一次来到了大学城，也是匈牙利第五大城市佩奇。真不愧是淡季，整个青年旅舍居然一个客人也没有，一个人睡在一个大房间，难得不用担心会被其他游客吵醒，真是爽！
After a few days of chilling out in Budapest, it is time to move on. Next stop is the University City, Pecs. There is no doubt that October is the off peak season, as I was the only guest at the hostel. Having spent a long time sleeping in dormitories and getting woken up by others early in the morning, it felt really good to have the whole big dorm to myself and sleeping till I wake up naturally.

佩奇虽然是个大城市，但却很有小镇的感觉，尤其是它的古区。这里有不少古老的建筑，包括这个曾经是回教堂，如今却改成教堂的建筑。这里有不少街道是不允许车子经过的，无论是走在宽大的街道上，或是坐在街边其中一家餐馆或咖啡座，感觉非常轻松和舒服。
Pecs is actually a big city, yet it has more of a small town feel, especially the old part of the town. Here you can find many old buildings, including this building which used to be a mosque but is now a church. The main streets here do not allow cars to pass through, so it is really nice to be wandering around the town. If you get tired, you can just sit by one of the many cafes or restaurants by the street and watch the world at large pass by.
当然，像其他欧洲城市一样，这里你也会看到历史悠久的教堂。
Of course, just like any other European city, you can find at least one big church here.
有趣的是，在佩奇的一些小角落，你会看到某个某个围栏上堆满着各种各样的锁头。原来这里的人也和我们东方人一样，深信在某个地方锁上刻有名字的锁头，有情人就可以终成眷属，爱情可以长长久久。
The interesting thing in Pecs is that, in some corners you can find fences loaded with locks of all shapes and sizes. Apparently, the people here have the same beliefs as some Asians, i.e. if a couple puts a lock with their names carved on it at some auspicious place, the couple will be able to stay together forever. Sounds cheesy, huh? 佩奇其实有不少有趣的博物馆供人参观，其中就包括了这个出名的陶瓷博物馆。匈牙利以制作陶瓷为名，这个博物馆就仔细道出陶瓷在这个国家的历史。此外，你还可以看到各式各样的陶瓷艺品，从花瓶到汤匙到瓷砖，真的很漂亮！可惜博物馆内是不允许拍照，我最后只是偷拍了几张。Pecs actually has many interesting museums, including this porcelain museum. Hungary used to be the centre of porcelain production. If you want to understand the whole history of porcelain in Hungary, and see some lovely porcelain, then you definitely have to visit this museum. It’s a pity that photography is not allowed in the museum. All I have is these fews picture which I sneaked when the museum staff is not looking.
正常来说，艺术博物馆并不是我的那杯茶，不过佩奇的艺术博物馆正好是免费的，所以决定去看一看，结果发现还真不赖！
Under normal circumstances, I won’t visit an art gallery, since I am not so into arts. But the art museum here in Pecs has free entry, so I decided to check it out. It turned out to be a good decision as the paintings on display are really nice.

匈牙利／Hungary（Part 1）

2009-06-04T06:19:00.042+08:00

第一次知道有匈牙利这个国家是因为它的英文名字，因为匈牙利的英文发音就和“饿”的英文发音几乎相同，当时还以为真的有一个国家叫“饿”。当然，和一般人一样，本人对匈牙利的了解就止于它的怪名字。更何况，刚刚才游完不怎么精彩的布拉堤斯拉伐，因此对匈牙利也就不敢抱任何期望。不过，原来匈牙利比想象中有趣多了，结果不知不觉就在那里待了将近两个星期。
（1新元=138匈牙利福林／1美元=200匈牙利福林）
Oh yes, for those of you who still don’t know, there IS a country called “Hungary”. Not “HUNGRY”, but “HungAry”. Reminds me of the program “Are you smarter than a 5th grader?”, where there was this woman who was asked to name the country of which Budapest is the capital city and on hearing the answer, she went, “What?!! HUNGRY? You mean that is a country?!” Like you, I don’t know anything about Hungary, except that it does sounds like being “hungry”. So I wasn’t really expecting anything when I arrived in the country, especially since I was coming from Bratislava which was such a disappointment. However, Hungary turned out to be way more interesting than Bratislava and I ended up staying there for almost two weeks without realizing it.
（1 SGD = 138 Hungarian Forint／1 USD = 200 HUF）

＊布达佩斯／Budapest
原本只想在布达佩斯待两三天，结果在那里待了五天。其实也不是因为布达佩斯太大，只是整个城市给人很轻松、很悠哉的感觉，让你不想急着离开，因此普通来说花两天就可以完成的行程，我分成四天来完成。
When I first read up on Hungary, I thought that two or three days will suffice for Budapest, capital of Hungary. In the end, I spent five days there. No. Budapest is not that big. It’s just that the whole city has such a relaxed feel about it that you don’t feel like hurrying through your itinerary. So what usual will take me two days to complete, took me four days in all.
根据旅游指南，到匈牙利游玩一定不可以错过这里的温泉浴，于是抵达之后，最先做的就是去看看这些温泉浴到底有多好。选择了布达佩斯最出名的温泉浴――塞切尼温泉浴来做“实验”。温泉浴坐落在城市公园内，抵达温泉浴之前得先经过英雄广场。
According to the guidebook, one of the things that one must not miss out in Hungary is a visit to the thermal baths. So naturally, one of the first things I did upon arrival was to check out the baths to see if they are really worth the hoo-ha. Chose the most famous thermal bath – Szechenyi Medicinal Bath, in Budapest as the “guinea pig”. The bath is located within the City Park. Before you hit the park, you will first come across a big square known as the Heroes Square. 因为温泉浴就坐落在城堡附近，所以在去温泉浴前先到城堡周围走走。
Nearby the bath, you will find the castle. 温泉浴的入门票一点也不便宜，普通的入门票就要3000匈牙利福林！好贵啊！唯一的好处是，门票是没有时间限制的，因此你要在温泉浴内待多久都可以。在购买门票时，售票员会问你需要储物柜还是舱室。因为不懂得两者的分别，售票员安排了个舱室给我。原来舱室是个小厢房，让你能够在里头更衣。换上泳装后，你可以把私人物件全部留在厢房内，看所员会帮你锁上门，你就可以两手空空去享受温泉浴的设备。这个温泉浴还真大，里头分为几个部分，有不同的泳池，每个池的水温不一样，你可以选择你喜欢的温度来泡澡。另外，也有很多三温暖，每个的温度也不同。如果你嫌在这些温池和三温暖内泡得不够爽，你还可以到这里的户外游泳池去游泳。匈牙利温泉浴果然是名不虚传！
Entrance to the baths is not cheap. An ordinary ticket will set you back by 3000HUF! The good thing is there is no time limit for your ticket, so one can stay in the baths for as long as he likes. You will be asked if you need a locker or a cabin when you are getting your ticket. Since I did not know the difference between the two, the cashier just gave me a cabin. Turned out that cabins are actually little cubicles where you can change into your swimwear, then leave your belongings there, and head for the baths empty handed. The bath is actually pretty big. There are a few different sections with pools of water of varying temperatures. You can also find saunas of different temperature ranges and styles, where you can choose to sit and steam for as long as you want. If the indoors doesn’t suit you, you can head for the outdoor pools too. No wonder they say a trip to the thermal baths is a must for any visitor to Hungary! 布达佩斯其实分为两个部分——布达和佩斯，两个部分之间隔着多瑙河。市中心和旅舍，以及先前提的温泉浴等都是在佩斯部分。布达部分属于山区，因此要眺望整个布达佩斯的风景，就得到布达去。从这里你可以看到佩斯最雄伟的建筑，也是布达佩斯的标志之一，即它的国会大厦，这个可是世界上第三大的国会大厦。
Budapest is actually made up of two parts, separated by the Danube River. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out, one part is called Buda and the other is Pest. The city centre, most budget hostels and the abovementioned thermal bath are all located in the Pest side. The Buda side of the city is hillier and as such, if you want a good view of the whole city, you will have to head for this side of the city. From here, you will get a great view of one of the iconic buildings of Pest, i.e. the Parliament House. This massive Parliament House is viewed as one of the landmarks of Budapest as it is the third largest Parliament House in the world.
布达分为上半段和下半段。上半段是城堡山，这里最受欢迎的旅游景点是它的渔人堡，因为从这里可以眺望彼岸佩斯的风景。
There are two parts to Buda. One part is known as Castle Hill, where the most popular attraction is the Fisherman’s Bastion as you can get a good view of Pest from here. 渔人堡的后面是个大教堂，去的时候正好在装修，所以没有进去参观。
Right behind the bastion, there is a big church which was under renovation at the time I was there.
这里的另一个旅游景点是布达皇宫。布达皇宫自13世纪以来见证了许多战争，已经成为布达佩斯的地标，如今这个皇宫已成为国家图书馆、匈牙利国家画廊和市博物馆。
The other major attraction on the hills here is the former Royal Palace. Here is where major battles and wars have been taking place since the 13th century. As such, it has always been seen as the symbol of Hungary. Currently, the former Palace houses the impressive National Library, the Hungary Art Gallery and the City Museum.
布达的下半段有另一个温泉浴，泡一次温泉浴不够过瘾，所以乘到布达参观时，又去了另一次澡堂。这个澡堂比先前的那个贵一点（3100福林），规模比较小一点。这里虽然也有不同温度的水池让你泡澡，但却没有户外游泳池，三温暖的设备也没有先前那个的多。
Walking downhill towards the lower half of Buda, you will find another thermal bath – the Gellert Baths. This one is no less popular than the first one I went to, but the ticket is slightly more expensive (3100HUF). It is smaller in size with lesser pools to choose from and not that many choices when it comes to saunas. Neither can you find outdoor pools here. 布达佩斯的堡垒就坐落在温泉浴旁边的小山上。堡垒本身并不怎样，但周边的风景就实在很不错，从这里观赏布达佩斯的夜景比在布达上半段更棒。
On the small hill right next to the thermal bath, you will find the citadel. The citadel here is nothing to crow about, but the surrounding view more than make up for the disappointing citadel. And the view of the opposite side is even more beautiful from this part of Buda.

斯洛伐克／Slovakia

2009-06-03T20:23:00.017+08:00

＊布拉迪斯拉发／Bratislava
如果说到目前为此有什么城市是我不喜欢的，那应该就是斯洛伐克的首都—布拉迪斯拉发了，因为这里真的没有什么好看的。
If I have to pick a place that I didn’t like so far, then it has got to be Bratislava, the capital city of Slovakia. In simple terms, there is really nothing to see here.

城堡并没有什么特别，去的时候更是在装修，里头到底怎样完全不知道。想从外头拍张照片，却只看到四处都是施工架。
The citadel was nothing to crow about. As the citadel was undergoing renovation works when I was there and was not opened for visitation, I had no idea if the inside was more impressive than the outside. Then I tried taking a nice picture of the whole castle, only to find that three quarters of the outside is covered by scaffolding.
再来，想从山上拍下全城的风景，可是整个城市笼罩在一片浓雾下，什么都看不见。看得较清楚的地方又看不到有什么特别之处。
I tried to see if I can do the place some justice by getting a nice overview picture of the whole city from the top of the hill of the citadel, only to find the whole city shrouded in a cloud of fog. Although there are some small parts where you can get a clearer view of the city, but the view is nothing special.
到岸边走走，看不到清澈的河水，也没有漂亮的岸线，更没有任何咖啡座等东西可以吸引人。
Taking a walk along the river, you will not find crystal clear waters nor will you see usual beautiful shoreline lined with cafes or restaurants.
古镇内虽然是有些旧建筑，但老实说，看过了那么多有味道的古镇或古城后，布拉迪斯拉发的这些旧建筑真的不算什么。
The Old Town does indeed have some old buildings and staring at these “oldies”, you do get a vague feeling of “old”. But compared to those I’d seen in Prague, these buildings are really nothing special. 不过必须承认，再无聊的地方也会有一点小东西让人感到有趣。喏，就是这些散布在古镇四处的铜像。
I must admit though, however boring a city or town may be, there is bound to be a small, wee bit that is interesting about it. In this case, it is these interesting statues that you will find littering the streets of the Old Town.

奥地利／Austria（Part 3）

2009-06-02T18:27:00.031+08:00

＊维也纳／Vienna
作为奥地利首府，维也纳当然比其他城市来得还要大，可以看的东西自然也多。你可以乘船欣赏著名的多瑙河的美，也可以花一天的时间看偏这里的旧建筑，或者是走在它的主要街道山，感受这个城市的朝气。如果你是个艺术爱好者，那你绝对会爱上维也纳，因为这里每天有一堆的表演让你欣赏。当然这些表演都不便宜，只有少数表演，你可以很侥幸地买到区区几欧元的戏票。
As the capital of Austria, Vienna (or Wien as the locals call it) is naturally the biggest and most populated city. And this of course means that there are tons of things for one to see or do here. You can take a cruise down the beautiful Danube, or you can spend a day admiring the many old buildings or wandering in the streets to experience the vibrant city. If you are an arts lover, then you are definitely in seventh heaven. There are loads of museums and performances that one can check out. Of course, these performances do not come cheap. But if you are lucky, you can get a standing room ticket at a low cost. I am not much of an arts lover and also did not manage to secure a cheap ticket, and hence missed out on the performances. 维也纳最吸引人的旅游景点之一是这个拥有1440个房间的夏日皇宫。之前看了那么多皇宫，对这个皇宫自然没有多大的兴趣，更何况还要付入门票。可是在天气好的时候，到皇宫境内晃晃其实是个不错的主意。
One of the biggest attractions in Vienna is that of the 1400-roomed Schloss Schonbrunn, or the Summer Palace. Having already seen so many palaces and with the ticket for this particular palace way to high for my liking, I did not bother entering the palace. But what I did was to stroll around the huge grounds of the palace together. 之前到幕尼黑出席啤酒节的时候认识了几位奥地利人，于是到了之后就联络他们，之后就在他们的带领下，到郊外一个少为人知的酒吧看了一个摇滚表演。
While at Oktoberfest a week earlier, I got to know a few Austrians and upon arriving in Vienna, I contacted them to meet up with them. One of the first few places that they brought me to was this mini rock concert at a little known pub way out of the city. 隔天，他们带我四处看看，包括到这里著名的教堂和游乐园。
The next day, I was shown a few sights of Vienna, including taking a walk along the Danube, this huge church and the Prater amusement park.

奥地利／Austria（Part 2）

2009-05-31T20:31:00.030+08:00

＊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）

2009-05-18T22:50:00.026+08:00

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.

德国／Germany

2009-01-12T05:37:00.013+08:00

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

荷兰／The Netherlands（Part 4）

2009-01-09T01:16:00.017+08:00

＊阿姆斯特丹／Amsterdam
因为Siu Kee白天得上班，所以一直没有什么机会与他外出。所以回到阿姆斯特丹后，乘星期天与他一起骑脚踏车，以当地人的眼光来看看这个城市。
Back in Amsterdam, because Siu Kee has to work during the daytime, I hardly get to go out with him. Since it was a Sunday the day after we got back from Paris, Siu Kee suggested us going cycling and I got to see Amsterdam the local way. ＊布雷达／Breda
在游布拉格时，认识了一位新的荷兰朋友Marleen。乘着这次到荷兰，到她的家乡布雷达去拜访她，顺道在那里小住了一夜。布雷达是个非常小的城市，没有什么特别的旅游景点，没有什么伟大的建筑，不过整个地方却给人一种清幽的感觉。Marleen给我来个非常当地人的布雷达一日游，先到郊区的一个农场去参观。
I got to know a Dutch girl, Marleen, in Czech Republic and she invited me to visit her when I get to Netherlands. So I made arrangements to stay over at her place for one night. Breda is a very small city, with little in terms of sights. But this also means that you do not get much of a tourist crowd like that in Amsterdam, and so it was pretty nice to walk around. Marleen gave me a localised day tour of Breda, bringing me first to a farm. 之后我们到她父母家坐坐，然后再到镇上走走。吃了美味的雪糕后，才依依不舍与Marleen道别。
We then went over to her parents’ place before heading back to the city centre for walk. After a yummy ice-cream, I had to say goodbye to Marleen and Breda. ＊阿姆斯特丹／Amsterdam
在荷兰待了一个星期，才发现我还没有机会吃到真正的荷兰餐，所以Tu带我到当地一家小餐厅去品尝当地食物。这家餐厅还挺特别的，餐厅以“母亲”为名，四面墙壁上全是食客带来的母亲照片。而餐桌用具也很特别，不是老板自己买的，而是开幕当天要求来宾自己带餐具来，因为你看到的餐具什么样的款式都有。
I was in Amsterdam for a week before I realised that I had not had any real Dutch food yet, so Tu brought me to this local restaurant for a meal. This uniquely decorated restaurant is called Mom’s Restaurant and true to its name, every picture on the walls of the restaurant is that of somebody’s mom. Not only that, the cutlery used in this restaurant is special too. You will not see nice or beautiful sets of cutlery here. Instead what you get is cutlery of all shapes and sizes as these are cutlery brought by the guests on the day the restaurant opened. 荷兰餐以肉食和马铃薯为主。这个是前菜。
Dutch cuisine (if it can be called cuisine in the first place!) mostly consists of potatoes and meat. This here is our starters. 这是隔壁桌点的主菜，全都是典型荷兰食物。
This sumptuous looking meal is the main course that the two guys in the next seat ordered. This is actually a set meal of mini portions of all the Dutch specialities. 这是我们点的主菜，都是薯泥和肉。
This is our main course. And surprise, surprise, it’s all meat and potatoes. 然后就是我最喜欢的点心！一个是苹果派，另一个是mousse。
And then comes my favourite part of the meal – desserts! We had an apple pie and mousse.觉得阿姆斯特丹最有趣的除了它的红灯区外，就是性爱博物馆了。有趣的是，这里看到的全部都是女人，我们去的时候没有看到男人在参观，就连售票的也是女人。居然是性爱博物馆，里面的展览当然是一切与性有关的东西啦。有各种各样与性有关的雕像、杂志、漫画和玩具等。还有一个以白雪公主和七个小矮人为主题，但却带有性爱含义的电视房，播放着黄色卡通。另外，还有阿姆斯特丹妓女工作时的模型。以下图片儿童不宜，请确保你是十八岁以上，才可以看哦！
I guess the most interesting part about Amsterdam other than the red light district, has got to be the sex museum. Interestingly, all you see here are women. There was no man about when we got there and even the one selling tickets is a woman. Since this is the sex museum, you of course, can expect to find everything related to sex here. There are all kinds of statues and sculptures, comics, magazines and toys of sexual nature. There is even a room with a Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs theme, albeit with a sexual connotation to it, where you can sit down and watch sexual cartoons. And there is a model showing you how the Amsterdam model works. Since I could not take a picture of the real thing, I had to make do with this. Warning: the pictures below are of adult nature. If you are below 18, please seek parental guidance before you look at the pictures. =p 让阿姆斯特丹出名的还有另一样东西，即“咖啡店”。这些咖啡店可不是一般的咖啡店或酒吧，因为这些咖啡店都有售卖大麻。荷兰应该是全世界唯一能够合法吸和售卖大麻的国家，因此在这里你可以看到很多专门兜售大麻的酒吧或咖啡店。听说大麻除了可以当烟抽外，还可以放在比萨或是派内，当甜点来吃。这家Bulldog咖啡店生意可是好到可以开连锁店，甚至开酒店和纪念品店，真是有够夸张的。不用问了，我可不知道大麻是什么味道，或吸大麻是什么感觉，因为我是乖乖女，没有去尝试！
The other trademark of Amsterdam is the many “coffee shops”. These coffee shops are not the typical coffee shops that we have back home. These ones are those where you can find marijuana (or weed as some call it) on the menu instead of the normal coffee. The Netherlands is the only country in the world where smoking or consuming marijuana is legalised, as such you see many coffee shops like this all over the place. Apparently, not only can you smoke marijuana in these coffee shops, you can also buy pies or pizza with marijuana fillings from these coffee shops. This coffee shop, Bulldog, is one of the long standing establishment in Amsterdam. Business is so good that they not only have a few branches, you can even find a Bulldog Hotel and Bulldog souvenir shop. No. Don’t bother asking me what marijuana is like. I AM a good girl, so of course I didn’t try it. Ha… 在阿姆斯特丹的最后一个节目是到体育场去，亲身体验欧洲足球的气氛。看的是一场欧洲足联杯外围赛，是埃杰克斯人对塞尔维亚球会查查克。因为埃杰克斯人在首回合已经取得4比1的领先优势，所以我看的次回合比赛没有那么精彩，但赛情如何是次要，重要的是我很享受第一次在欧洲观看足球赛的经验。
The last thing to do before I leave Amsterdam was to attend a football match. It’s always been my wish to attend a football match in Europe. Siu Kee, knowing how into football I was, proposed bringing me to one of Ajax Amsterdam’s football matches. Unfortunately, tickets for the Dutch league was either too difficult to get or too expensive, so we ended up catching a UEFA qualifying match between Ajax and FK Borac Cacak from Serbia instead. As Ajax had gotten a 4-1 lead in the first leg, it was a pretty dull match. But the match itself was secondary as it was the atmosphere that I was going for in the first place. 原本是千万个不愿意到荷兰去，我想应该是Tu与Siu Kee和他们家人的盛情，以及太久没有与朋友欢度时光吧，最后真的很庆幸我决定到荷兰去。要不是因为怕打扰人家太久，还真想在那里待久一点呢！下次再去吧！谢了Tu和Siu Kee!　　～伟
The Netherlands was never in my plans. But the warmth from Tu, Siu Kee and their family made me really glad that I made the detour in the end. I said goodbye to Tu , Siu Kee and Amsterdam with reluctance, but I know I will be back. Thanks a million for everything, Tu and Siu Kee! 　　～wei

荷兰／The Netherlands（Part 3）

2009-01-02T21:15:00.012+08:00

＊巴黎／Paris
晚上终于抵达巴黎。Tu一家原本来自越南，在法国的亲戚也都是越南人，所以他们对这里的越南人区非常清楚。我们一到巴黎后，就到越南人区去吃晚餐，然后再随Tu的表姐到她的家过夜，隔天他们就带我游车河。
After a few more hours on the road, we finally arrived in Paris. Tu’s family were originally from Vietnam, and so were her relatives in France. As such, the first place we headed for was the 13th Quarters, the Vietnamese district of Paris, where we had a great Vietnamese meal. We spent the night at Tu’s cousin’s place and the next day, we went on a driving tour of Paris.

到巴黎当然要去看埃菲尔铁塔啦。选择了最便宜的方法，从外面拍照就好，不花钱上塔去。
The one thing which all tourists to Paris never missed is of course, the Eiffel Tower. We chose the cheapo method of seeing the tower, i.e. taking pictures from outside instead of spending a bomb to go up the tower. 然后也到了塞纳河边的著名博物馆罗浮宫。这里原是法国的王宫，现在是收藏超过40万见艺术收藏的博物馆。
We walked around the grounds of the Louvre Museum, the world’s most visited art museum, located on the right bank of the Seine River. This place was originally the palace, but now houses more than 400 000 art pieces. 当然，还看了一堆其他的旅游景点，像是巴黎圣姆院、凯旋门、香榭丽舍大街和圣心堂（或白教堂）等。
Of course, we took in other sights too. Like Notre-Dame de Paris, Arc de Triomphe, Avenue des Champs-Elysees and Le Sacre-Coeur (The White Church) etc. 乘机会约在日本认识的法国朋友Didi出来喝茶。我们已经两年没有见面了，要不是这次Tu的父母建议来巴黎，还真不知道要等到何时才会见到Didi呢。
I took the chance to catch up with Didi, whom I met during my trip to Japan, over a cup of tea too. It’s been two years since we last met. Really thankful to Tu’s parents for suggesting this trip, or else it will be ages before I can meet up with Didi. 出来游玩已经三个月了，远行前剪了很短很短的头发，不过头发长得太快，一下子又长了。刚好Tu也想理发，于是我们两人就到越南人区一个商场内去理发。帮我剪头发的是个中国人，技术还真不赖，结果Tu的妈妈看到我的新发型后非常后悔没有和我们一起理发。本以为会很贵，怎么知道一个人才22欧元（约44新元），而且Tu又不让我付钱，所以基本上我是免费剪发。不过又忘了拍照，所以你们看不到我的新发型。
I cut my hair real short before I set off on this trip, but three months on, the hair has grown into a mess. Tu wanted a haircut too, so we decided to get our hair cut in a salon in 13th Quarters. My hairdresser was actually from China and he did a great job on my hair. It made Tu’s mom regret not joining us for the haircut. I was expecting the haircut to be really expensive, but it turned out to be only 22 Euros. On top of that, Tu insisted on paying on my behalf, so essentially, I got a free haircut. But I forgot to take pictures again, so no before-and-after pictures here.

荷兰／The Netherlands （Part 2）

2008-12-28T03:00:00.009+08:00

＊布鲁塞尔／Brussels
看在我难得到西欧，他们正好有空，Tu的爸爸建议开车带我到浪漫之都巴黎去，顺道在比利时首都布鲁塞尔逗留几个小时。于是到荷兰才两天，我和Tu与她的父母就往法国去。
Tu’s dad happened to be on leave when I was in Netherlands, so he suggested driving us to Paris for a visit, stopping by Brussels along the way. Hence, after only two days in Amsterdam, Tu and I hopped into her parents’ car and off we went to Paris.

还真不知道荷兰那么小，距离比利时和法国那么近。才开两个半小时的车，我们就已经离开荷兰了，没多久就到了布鲁塞尔。因为他们在法国有亲戚，经常开往这一条路，因此Tu的爸爸知道哪里是游客该去的地方。最先带我去看的是矗立在皇家公园内这个著名的原子能塔。原先以为这个外貌新潮塔应该是新建的，怎么知道已经有半个世纪的历史了，是在1958年比利时为了研究原子能发展和纪念布鲁塞尔国际原子能展览而健的。
I didn’t realise how small Netherlands was. Within two and a half hours, we were already across the borders, into Belgium itself. After a short drive, we arrived in Brussels. This is not the first time Tu’s dad has acted as a tour guide; he often brings relatives down this way. As such, he knew where to go and what sights to show me. First up was a visit to Heysel Park, where we got to see the interesting Atomium. At first sight, I thought this must be built not too long ago. But reading the signs around the park, I realised that this monument was built way back in 1958, for the then Brussels World Fair. It is 102m tall and has nine steel spheres connected so that the whole forms the shape of a unit cell of an iron crystal magnified 165 billion times!皇家公园是为了1958年的世界博览会而特地建造的，因此除了原子能塔，还有其他有趣的东西。像是这个黄色建筑，我们研究了很久，才发现原来整栋建筑是用啤酒箱筑成的，现在是个小小博物馆。
In actual fact, the whole Heysel Park was created for Expo ’58. So not only can you see the Atomium, you can also find other interesting structures like this yellow building. It took us quite a while to figure out that this mini museum is actually fully made out of beer crates.之后到布鲁塞尔市中心去。布鲁塞尔古镇有非常多的老建筑，而且大多都很庞大，与荷兰的不相上下。站在古镇广场中心望着这些老建筑，除了说“哇”之外，就无法再说什么了。
We next head into Brussels city centre. Walking into the heart of Brussels Old Town, the sight of so many huge old buildings rendered me speechless.
然后我们就开始“寻找布鲁塞尔市标行动”，即小于连（或是撒尿小童像、尿尿小童）。找了老半天，一直找不到，最后决定跟随其中一把伞（带团的导游手中都会持一把伞，然后一直高举着伞，团友们只要认伞跟着走就行了）。嘿，结果真的就这样被我们找到了。看到这个铜像的时候，还真有点失望。原以为会有多大，怎么知道原来只是个小不点。才半米高的小铜像怎么会是比利时最赚钱的“工具”呢？实在令人费解。小于连的由来有很多说法，其中一个就是有个小孩半夜起来尿鸟，看到另均等房子伸出一条燃烧中的引信，小孩找不到水源扑灭，灵机一动撒尿救火，救了受困的人。夸张啦，不过却是游客爱听的故事。一堆人在那里拼命拍照，旁边有人兜售各种各样的小于连画，布鲁塞尔的所有纪念品店也一定会有贩卖与这个小不点有关的纪念品和明信片。
We then embark on our mission to find the “landmark” of Brussels, i.e. the Manneken Pis (Dutch for Little Piss Man). We were wandering around without any success, when we decide that we should just follow one of the umbrellas (all the tour guides here seem to love using umbrellas as markers. They will raise the umbrellas in their hands up high and those in their tour group just have to keep a lookout for the umbrellas and they won’t get lost.). True to our expectation, this umbrella that we followed “brought” us to the Manneken Pis within three minutes. I must say, I was quite disappointed when I finally caught a glimpse of the Manneken Pis. I mean, come on! How can this tiny little statue, half meter tall, of a boy pissing, be the icon of Belgium? I see nothing special about this little pissing man. There are many legends regarding the Manneken Pis. One of which is that, a little boy got up in the middle of the night to use the loo, but saw some sparks. Not being able to locate water to put out the fire, the little boy decided to piss on the fire and thus saved the whole city. It’s too much of an exaggeration but is exactly what tourists love. Thus this place is perpectually surrounded by tourists and you can constantly hear the cameras clicking, while touts try hard to sell paintings of all sorts of the Manneken Pis in the background. Of course, this also means that you can find Manneken Pis of all shapes and sizes in the souvenir shops all around Belgium. 比利时最出名的两样零食是松饼和薯条，不用说啦，我当然都尝试了，味道真的是一级棒哦！不过忙着吃，忘了拍照，哈……
Belgium has great snacks like the Netherlands too. The two snacks which should not be missed by any visitor are the waffles and French fries. Needless to say, I tried both at the first chance I had. I must say, they were the best waffles and French fries I ever had. But I was too busy eating, and forgot to take a picture of the food. Ha… …

荷兰／The Netherlands (Part 1)

2008-12-23T05:10:00.023+08:00

原本只计划游东欧就好，而不到欧洲其他地方去，因为西欧国家的消费实在是太高了。可是去年在游寮国时认识的荷兰朋友Siu Kee和Tu知道我已经到了波兰和捷克后，说：“你都已经那么靠近我们了，怎么可以不来探望我们呢？！你不必担心消费的问题，吃、喝、住全包在我们身上，反正我们那次去新加坡，你那么热情招待我们！”他们都这么说了，我又怎么好意思推辞呢？结果只好临时买张火车票到阿姆斯特丹去（还真贵！要135欧元！）。可是最后非常庆幸有接受他们的邀请，因为在荷兰度过非常愉快的一个半星期，还有机会到巴黎和布鲁塞尔去，另外还可以与另外两位朋友碰面。
When I first decided on doing this trip, I did not include Western Europe in my itinerary as it is too costly. But Siu Kee and Tu from Netherlands, whom I met last year in Laos were aghast to learn that I was not dropping by to visit them even though I was in Poland and Czech Republic. As Tu said in her email, “You are so close to us and you are not visiting us? It won’t cost you anything since you are going to stay with us and we will feed you! We have to return you the favour for the hospitality you showed us when we were in Singapore earlier this year.” How can one bear to say no to such an invitation? As such, I bought a train ticket at the last minute (Gosh! 135 Euros! So expensive! ) and set off for Amsterdam. In the end, I was so glad I went to visit them after all. Not only did I get to see them and meet up with two other friends, I get to visit Paris and Brussels too!

＊阿姆斯特丹／Amsterdam
最后一次看到熟悉的脸孔已经是两个月前的事情了，所以一下火车就看到Tu真的是开心得不得了。她非常贴心，知道我为了省钱已经很久没有吃好料了，所以我到阿姆斯特丹后，她就第一时间带我去吃。不用我多说，看我吃草莓塔的那副德行，你就可以猜到我看到这里有这么多零食吃有多开心啦！
It’s been two months since I last saw a familiar face, so I could help smiling when I saw Tu’s face in the crowd as the train pulled into the station. Tu is such a sweet girl. She knew that I hadn’t had good food for a while, since I was scrimping, so the moment I arrived, she brought me out for food. One look at my face on seeing the strawberry tart, you can guess how starved of goodies I was. 之前到过的东欧国家大多都没有什么路边小吃，有的也只是比萨或面包之类的东西，当然看不到类似老曾记的小吃店啦。荷兰毕竟是西欧国家，当然不同啦。除了咖啡坐内的糕点让我垂涎三尺外，还有像这个到处可见的Febo小吃店。这里的食物都是炸的（我的最爱！！），摆放在小小的“抽屉”里，只要投入硬币，就可以打开“抽屉”，取出你想要吃的小吃。
Eastern European countries are not big on snacking. Even if you do see snack stalls along the streets, 99% of the time, they just sell fast food like burgers or pizzas. No Old Chang Kee or what. But it’s different in Netherlands of course. Other than the pastries in cafes and bakeries, snack bars like Febo also kept me drooling all day. Febo offer a range of deep fried snacks (my favourite!), which is placed in shelf with little drawers. All you have to do is to slot in the right amount of coins, you will then be able to open the drawers and take out whichever snack you want. 吃足了就在阿姆斯特丹市中心内到处逛逛，从旧市政府庭到花市到商店，到处都是人，这可真是个朝气蓬勃的城市！
After fixing the snacking urge, we took a walk around the city center. From the old city hall to the flower market to the shops, there are just so many people everywhere. Amsterdam is definitely a lively place! 之前Tu和她的父母到新加坡时，我给他们来个特别夜游，带他们到我们的红灯区去参观。阿姆斯特丹以它的红灯区为名，Tu当然要回敬我。我们等Siu Kee下班后，就在他的带领下参观了阿姆斯特丹的红灯区。看着那些只穿着内衣内库和六寸高的高跟鞋，前凸后翘的妓女在一个一个的透明门后等待顾客，对我来说真的是大开眼界。不过因为怕被人打，所以就没有拍照了。=p
When Tu and her parents visited Singapore earlier this year, I took them on a special night tour after a chilli crab dinner, i.e. a tour of our red light district. Tu was looking forward to returning this “favour” since Amsterdam is most famous for their red light district. We waited for Siu Kee to knock off from work, then went to check out sexily dressed (read: almost see through underwear and six inch high heels shoes only) prostitutes of all shapes and height, standing behind see through boxes cast in pink lights. It was really an eye opener for me. I did so want to take pictures of them. But I was afraid that some muscleman will appear to snatch away my camera the moment I raised it, so I gave up the idea. 隔天Tu的父母就载着我们到阿姆斯特丹附近的景点去看看。到荷兰怎么可以不去看风车呢？所以最先去的是一个小小的观光景点赞斯安斯村。这个拥有“荷兰风车博物馆”之称的小村子坐落在北荷兰省赞代克附近，那里不只有不少的古式风车，还有一个小村子，供游客参观。
The next day, Tu’s parents took me on a tour to sights in the surrounding region. No visit to Netherlands is ever complete without seeing a windmill, so first stop was Zaanse Schans. This little tourist village near Zaandijk, has a collection of well-preserved historic windmills and houses. 这是荷兰著名的超市连锁店Albert Hein的第一家店面。里面已经改成一个小小的博物馆，让人可以了解Albert Hein如何开始和发展。
This ordinary looking house is in actual fact the first shop ever set up by supermarket chain, Albert Hein. It is now a mini museum where visitors can get to see how the first Albert Hein store looked like and how this tiny shop evolved into the supermarket giant it is today.之后到芝士工厂去参观。在这里不但可以了解芝士的制作过程，还可以品尝和买到各种各样的芝士。
There is a cheese factory here, where you not only can get to know the cheese making process, but can also get to sample and buy cheese of all shapes, sizes and tastes. 荷兰另一个“招牌”就是木鞋，而这里就正好有个木鞋工厂。里面除了展示各式各样的木鞋之外，还有专人示范制作木鞋的整个过程。
Other than windmills, the other trademark of the Netherlands is wooden clogs. Here in Zaanse Schans you can also find a clog factory. Other than displaying clogs from the old days and selling clogs of all kinds, you can sit down and watch a live demonstration on the making of clogs. 参观完这里后，Tu的父母就带我们到福伦丹去。这个靠海的小镇人口仅有2万2000余人，主要行业为捕鱼和旅游业。既然是以捕鱼为主要行业，这里的海鲜当然比任何地方还要新鲜啦，所以第一任务就是品尝荷兰最出名的平民料理之一——鲱鱼。这个鲱鱼是可以生吃的，先用盐巴腌鱼，再撒一点生洋葱在上面，然后捉住鱼尾巴，仰头把鱼放在嘴内，这才是真正的荷兰人吃鲱鱼方法。来到荷兰，没有这样吃鲱鱼，就等于你没有来过荷兰。其实我到阿姆斯特丹后，第一个吃的就是这个鲱鱼，可是那个鲱鱼怎么比得过福伦丹的新鲜呢？
Next we headed to Volendam, a small town along the coast, with about only 22, 000 inhabitants. Being right by the sea, it is of no surprise that fishing and tourism is the main industry here. Of course, this means that the seafood here is fresher than what you get elsewhere, so the first thing we did was to try the local delicacy, i.e. the herring. Herring has always played a major role in historical and economic development in the Netherlands since the 14th century. Thus it makes sense that the Dutch has a special way of eating the herring. The fish is first washed in salt solution. Then you sprinkle some raw onions on it, hold the herring by its tail, throw back your head and swallow the fish whole and raw! It is said that, if you do not eat herring this way, it is as if you have never been to the Netherlands. Actually, the first food I had when I arrived in Netherlands was the herring. But that was bought in a little food stall on the streets of Amsterdam and did not has the freshness or sweet taste as this one had. 吃完鲱鱼，又吃了另一个好料。喏，就是这个炸鱼柳。这可跟一般的炸鱼柳不同哦，这个可是用新鲜鱼炸的，味道特别甜美！
After devouring the herring, we next bought some kibbeling. Do not dismiss these as some ordinary fish nuggets or fish fillets because these are made from fresh fish and have such a fresh and sweet taste that no other fish nuggets or fillets can rival. 好像一直都在说吃的hor？还不是因为我刚到阿姆斯特丹的时候跟Tu和Siu Kee说，才走了三个月就稍微瘦了，牛仔库已经快掉下来了。因此他们就说要好好养肥我，把接下来一年的好料全部给我补上，也要满足我的亚洲食物瘾，除了喂我一堆的小吃外，还带我去吃中餐、日本餐、韩国餐和越南餐等，每天都不同。结果花三个月才松掉的裤子，才短短三天又变窄了。
Hmm… … I seem to be going on and on about food. But that is only because Tu and Siu Kee made it their project to stuff me with food before I leave Netherlands. After three months on the road, my jeans have actually started to loosen as I did not eat as much as I used to. Tu and Siu Kee said that they will make sure they feed me the next one year’s worth of goodies, so that my jeans will not loosen till I get back to Singapore. With all the eating going on, it took only three days for the jeans to feel tight again.

捷克／Czech Republic （Part 3）

2008-12-09T07:27:00.013+08:00

＊特尔曲／Telc
特尔曲其实就像是另一个克鲁姆洛夫，一样是个小镇，一样有着许多16世纪的建筑，一样被一水包围着。可惜我到的时候正好是星期天，又已经过了旅游旺季，池塘上看不到夏天经常会有的人群，看不到人划船，看不到人们在水中戏水，广场上看不到任何街头表演。再加上天气异常地冷，我坐在广场内使用电脑上网才短短的10分钟，手指就差点变成冰，因此街上几乎没有几个人走来走去。
Telc is actually a carbon copy of Cesky Krumlov, equally small in size, similarly surrounded by water, with the same type of tranquil surroundings and tons of 16th century buildings. It’s a pity though that I arrived in mid September, way past the peak season. There were no buskers on the streets, no rafts or canoes to be seen in the waters, neither can you see people splashing about in the ponds. On top of that, the weather was so cold that my fingers started freezing within minutes of me sitting in the town square to use the laptop, as such, there was hardly anyone walking about.

就连平常挤满人的城堡，这时一个外国游客也没有，只有几个捷克人才那里参观。
Even the castle which is usually crowded is devoid of tourists, with the only visitors being Czechs from other region and this lone Singaporean. 我入住的民宿主人就告诉我，我去的前一个星期，天气还很热，有35度那么高，所以还有不少的游客。可是前几天气温下降，现在只有区区的1度，大家当然是有多远避多远，所以我也就无法像其他游客那样享受到特尔曲的美。如果你有机会在夏天来到捷克，千万不要忘了来特尔曲一趟。
The lady owner of the pension I was staying at told me that, just the week before, the temperature was as high as 35 degrees. However, the temperature dropped sharply, with the thermometers hitting as low as 1 degree just the day before I arrived, so all the crowd has disappeared. If you ever do come to Czech Republic in the summer, make sure you drop by Telc and check out the beauty of this sweet little town. ＊奥洛穆茨／Ollomouc
奥洛穆茨是个大学城（这里的大学是捷克第二老的），因此整个城市非常有年轻的感觉，但在这里你还是会看到“老”的东西。像是很有味道的市中心广场内，就有一个设计精巧的天文钟，论特别度，绝对不会输给布拉格广场的天文钟。
Olomouc (pronounced ‘Olla-moats’) is a large university town (the university here is the second oldest in Czech Republic), as such, there is a youthful feel to the whole place. But as in the rest of Czech Republic, you can still find signs of “age” here, like the old astronomical clock with intricate designs, which is second in fame to the one in Prague. 虽然这里没有什么漂亮的城堡，也没有克鲁姆洛夫或特尔曲那样有味道，但奥洛穆茨四周有不少老建筑和教堂。
Although you will not find ancient castles here, nor is it as charming as Cesky Krumlov or Telc, Olomouc does have many ancient buildings, statues and churches.这里还有一个博物馆（星期天免费！），里面的展示非常有趣，值得一去！　　～伟
There is an interesting museum here (free on Sunday!), which is worth a visit.　　～wei

捷克／Czech Republic（Part 2）

2008-12-09T07:24:00.019+08:00

＊库特拉霍拉／Kutna Hora
捷克的主要旅游景点看了七七八八后，决定到捷克周边去看看，于是去了一个叫库特拉霍拉的小镇。这个小镇以俗称“人骨教堂”的塞德莱茨为名。这个教堂的坟墓被视为圣坟，尤其是在14至15世纪，有不少人被葬在这里。后来因为墓地数量有限，教堂又被装修，这些人骨都被挖掘，一堆一堆地摆放在教堂内。而在1870年，一名木雕师傅被委托处理这些人骨，结果他干脆用人骨来布置教堂，前后采用了大约四万至七万人的遗骨进行教堂的室内装饰。
After catching most of the sights in Prague, I next head for a small town called Kutna Hora, about a one hour train ride from Prague. This biggest attraction here is the Sedlec Ossuary, otherwise known at the “Bones Church”. The Sedlec Ossuary contains approximately 40 000 to 70 000 human skeletons which have been artistically arranged to formed decorations and furnishings for the chapel. The cemetery in Sedlec was considered to be a desirable burial site and hence many thousands were buried here between the 14th and 15th centuries. Later, the whole site underwent reconstruction and the bones exhumed were simply stacked in the newly built chapel. In 1870, a woodcarver, Frantisek Rint, was given the task to put the bone heaps in order. The macabre result of his effort speaks for itself. You can see chandeliers made from bones, piers and monstrance of human bones flanking the altar and even a coat of arms of bones.

原本还想参观库特拉霍拉的一些博物馆，可是提议与我结伴来这里的美国姐弟比预定时间完了一个多小时到火车站，结果一拖再拖，待我们参观完人骨教堂，已经接近五点，所有的博物馆几乎都关门了。最后只好随便在空荡荡的市中心走走，找东西吃。好在最后无意间发现了一个中国餐厅，吃了自离开中国以来最好吃的一顿中餐，我才没有觉得浪费时间到库特拉霍拉来。
I had planned on visiting some of the museums in Kutna Hora, but the American brother and sister pair who had wanted to do the trip with me was late by more than an hour. In the end, by the time we reached Kutna Hora and were done with the Bones Church, it was nearly 5pm. By then, most of the museums have closed. In the end, we could only wander around the nearly empty town center to look for something to eat. Luckily, we chanced upon a Chinese restaurant and I managed to have the best Chinese meal I had since leaving China, hence I did not feel as if I wasted my time in Kutna Hora.

＊克鲁姆洛夫／Cesky Krumlov
我想除了蒙古之外，人口仅有1万4000的捷克小镇克鲁姆洛夫应该是我到目前为止最爱的地方了。捷克人将克鲁姆洛夫形容为第二个布拉格，但我觉得这里比布拉格更有老的味道，更有特色，更吸引人。小小的一个镇，没有人群，没有吵闹的车子，整个镇被伏尔塔瓦河包围着，河边全是特色小餐厅和咖啡座，再加上那16世纪的城堡，这简直是个童话故事里才会有的村子!
If I have to rank the places I have visited on this trip so far, then Mongolia is definitely top of he list of my favorite places, followed closely by Cesky Krumlov, a small town in the South Bohemian region of Czech Republic. Some people described this place as a second Prague, but to me, Cesky Krumlov has more charms and is definitely way more appealing than the capital city. A tiny town with no crowd, no blaring horns of vehicles, surrounded by the Vltava River, with tiny cafes and restaurants dotting the banks of the river and a charming 16th century castle, this place feels just like something out of the fairy tales. 这里没有所谓的古镇或新镇，整个镇自18世纪后就没有太大的改变，房子和商店都非常有中古时代的味道。连吃东西也会有古代的感觉，像是这个波希米亚大餐。既然是大餐，当然是什么都有，菜、马铃薯和烤肉等。肉方面，你可以选择鸡肉、猪肉或是兔肉（对！是可爱的小白兔）。下一张照片卖的是香桂面包。
There is no such thing as the Old Town or New Town here. The whole town has pretty much remained the same since the 18th century, with the houses and shops all having a medieval touch to them. Even food here feels medieval, like this Bohemian feast. Since it is a 'feast', of course there is everything in it, i.e. vegetables, potatoes and meat. For the meat part, you get a choice of roasted chicken, pork or rabbit (yes, that cute flurry animal!). The next picture is of a shop selling cinnamon rolls.到克鲁姆洛夫，一定要到这里的城堡走走。城堡内饲养了几只大熊，而从城堡内可以眺望整个克鲁姆洛夫。
The one place which everyone has to visit in Cesky Krumlov is the fairy tale like castle. At the entrance to the castle, you can see a few bears. From inside the castle, you can get a great view of the whole town. 与同宿舍的人结伴租了个筏艇到河上游玩。一边喝着啤酒，吃着薯片，一边欣赏周边的美景，让河流慢慢推动着筏艇，呵，呵，简直是人间最大的享受！划艇划累了，我们就靠岸，卖杯啤酒，吃些香肠。不过捷克的天气很怪，虽然只有9月，但太阳一被云朵遮盖，气温就迅速下降。我们没有料到终点距离起点那么远，因此太阳快下山时，我们仍在拼命地划船，结果被冻得半死。虽然结尾不完美，但大家都一致认为，在河上度过那么完美的一天，即使到后来快变成“冰人”，但却是值得的。
Teamed up with the other travelers from the hostel and rented a raft to go down the river. This is the thing to do if you are ever here in Cesky Krumlov. Letting the river push your raft along gently, as you sip beer or wine and munch on your chips, THIS is what travelling is all about!! When we got tired with rowing the raft, we found a place to beach up and had a break. Not only did we get beer and sausages, the friendly shop owner even lit up a campfire for us. However, things were a little spoilt by the weird Czech weather. Although it was only September, once the sun went behind the clouds, the temperature quickly fell. We did not expect the ending point to be far from where we started, and hence took our time with resting and rowing. In the end, when the sun was setting, we were still rowing furiously with our half frozen fingers, trying hard to look for the ending point. Although by the time we got back to our hostel, we had almost become “iceman”, everybody agreed that it was worth braving the cold for such a lovely outing on the river.

捷克／Czech Republic（Part 1）

2008-12-09T07:18:00.042+08:00

对捷克的认识，就像我对其他欧洲国家的认识一样多，即只对捷克足球有所了解。不过常常听人提起捷克，而韩剧《布拉格恋人》和蔡依林那首《布拉格广场》也让我对捷克有所向往，感觉布拉格是个浪漫的城市，捷克是个迷人的国家。结果到了之后真的爱上了布拉格，不知不觉就在那里待了一个星期。而布拉格以外的捷克，我更爱。
My knowledge of Czech Republic is about as much as my knowledge of the other European countries, i.e. I only know of their football. However, hearing others talk of Czech Republic all the time, watching drama series like that of the Korean drama “Lovers in Prague”, and hearing songs like Jolin Tsai’s “The Square of Prague”, made me concoct this vision of a romantic and alluring country. In the end, I did fall in love with Prague like I thought I would, and stayed there for a week without realizing it. And what about the parts of Czech Republic outside of Prague? I loved them even more than Prague.

＊布拉格／Prague
本以为在波兰看到的旧建筑和老街已经够多了，怎么知道布拉格的老房子、老建筑和老街比波兰还要多。最多老建筑的地方自然是古镇啦，而这里的古镇还真不小！从旧市政厅那招牌的天文钟，到周边那些巴罗克建筑，还有那些弯弯曲曲小巷子内的小店和餐厅，样样都很有特色，让你可以在这里待上一天，而去了一次，还会想再去第二次。
I had been impressed by the number of old buildings and old streets in Poland. But the number of “oldies” in Prague was even more dazzling. And the place where you can find the largest concentration of old buildings and streets is of course, the Old Town. This has got to be the biggest Old Town I’ve been to so far. From the trademark astronomical clock on the Old City Hall, to the baroque buildings, to the winding cobblestoned streets filled with tiny shops and restaurants, everything in this Old Town has character. You can definitely stay here for one full day and still wish to go back a second time.

布拉格的这个天文钟是世界上最著名的天文钟之一，钟的核心部分于1410年完成。钟盘上画着代表地球和天空的背景，并有四个主要移动的圆盘，分别是黄道十二宫圆盘、老捷克时间表、太阳和月亮，后来在1870年，在钟的下方加了一个日历盘。这座钟在第二世界大战期间几乎被纳碎人摧毁，之后被修复。根据当地古老的传说，如果这个钟没有妥善维护，这个城市就会面临灾难。The astronomical clock in the square of Prague’s old town is one of the most famous clocks of this type in the world. The central portion was completed in 1410. The background on the face of the clock is that of the earth and the sky. There are four rotating dials, one representing the position of the sun and moon, one depicting the zodiacal ring, one indicating Old Czech Time, and the last, which was added in 1870, that of a calendar dial, with medallions representing the months. This clock, known as the Prague Orloj, suffered heavy damage during WWII, but was eventually repaired. According to an old legend, misfortune will befall the city if the clock is not maintained in order. 所谓的巴罗克建筑就是这些外观七彩缤纷的建筑；巴罗克艺术指的是在16世纪后期开始在欧洲流行的一种艺术形式，因此在这个时期的建筑外观大部分都有巴罗克绘画。
Baroque buildings refer to buildings like these with a unique style of paintings or decoration on them. Baroque art refers to a style of art popularize in the late 16th century. As such, buildings built during those them are usually covered in paintings like these.与之前去的古镇一样，在布拉格古镇四处可见贩卖各种纪念品的商店、装潢独特的精品店，或是有特色的餐厅和咖啡座等。另外，其中一条街布满了小摊位，在这里你除了可以买到新鲜的蔬菜和水果外，还可以买到各种各样的布拉格风景画，或是独特的纪念品等。
Just like the old town in the other cities, you can find little stalls and shops selling all sorts of souvenirs in the Old Town in Prague. There are also many cafes and restaurants, each with its own character. There is a street dotted with little stores, selling fresh produce, on top of the usual knick knacks for tourists. 走出古镇，你还是可以看到很多老建筑。这些建筑大多都很庞大，外墙上的雕刻都很精致。
If you venture out of Old Town, you can still see many old buildings, many of which are huge in size with intricate carvings on the outside walls. 另外，还有这个历史悠久的旧城门。
And then, there is this ancient looking gate. 到布拉格的犹太人区，也会看到许多设计独特的建筑。当然也少不了犹太人教堂。
There is a Jewish quarters here, where you can see many unique buildings and a few synagogues. 这是布拉格的电视塔。对这个单调的塔感兴趣纯粹因为它的外观，仔细看了一看才发现塔外的装饰是……宝宝。够诡异吧？
This here is the TV tower. This boring building captured my attention only because of the “things” on the outside of the tower. On closer examination, I realised that these were actually crawling babies. Weird, huh?走着走着，突然发现布拉格一个小小的角落里居然有新加坡的味道。喏，就是这个陈美的海报。虽然对陈美不太认识，但能够在遥远的地方看到这位在新加坡出世，但现在已经是英国公民的著名演奏家海报，接触到与新加坡有一点点关联的东西，多少觉得其实离家并不远。
Strolling along the streets, I suddenly found a touch of Singapore in a small corner of Prague i.e. a poster of born-in-Singapore violinist Vanessa Mae. Although I don’t know much about Vanessa Mae and her music, but to be able to see something with a hint of Singapore in it in such a remote corner, it felt as if I was not too far from home. 晚上再兜回古镇去，看看夜晚的古镇与白天的有多不同。
When night fell, I went back to Old Town again to check out how the place looked at night. 相信每一位曾到布拉格的游客相簿里一定少不了一张相片，即查尔斯桥的相片。这座桥可老啦，是在1357年建成，一直到1841年它是布拉格的唯一一座桥。桥上有30樽18世纪的雕像，可惜我去的时候桥正在装修，什么都看不见，就连平时会有的小摊位也寥寥无几。
One photo which will definitely be in every tourist’s photo album for Prague is that of Charles Bridge. This bridge was built in 1357 and until 1841; it was the old bridge in Prague. The 516m long bridge is decorated by a continuous alley of thirty statues and statuaries, erected in the 18th century. Unfortunately, the bridge was undergoing reconstruction when I was there, so I could not see the actual beauty of the bridge, nor the many little souvenirs stalls that usually crowd the bridge. 走过查尔斯桥，就会来到布拉格的另一部分，这里最著名的旅游景点之一就是布拉格城堡。这可是世界上最大的城堡之一，走进去感觉就像是处于一个小镇似的，里面有教堂、宫殿、楼台等。不过入门票可是贵到极点，所以选择了不必花钱的方法，即晚上才去。虽然不能进入任何一座建筑参观，但从外面拍照也不错。站在城堡外，你可以欣赏到布拉格的漂亮夜景。
Going across the bridge, you will come to the other half of Prague, where you can find the iconic Prague Castle, which is one of the biggest castles in the world. Here you can find churches, palaces, towers and other buildings. Since it is the biggest tourists’ attraction in Prague, entrance fees are of course, really expensive. I opted for the free method, which was to walk around the grounds at night, forgoing viewing the insides of the castle, but it was still interesting nonetheless. From the outside of the castle, you can catch a wonderful night view of the city.在桥的这一边另一个受欢迎的旅游景点是卡夫卡纪念博物馆。在这里你可以看到与这名世纪德语小说家有关的一切，有他写的日历、信件和书刊等。另外，你也可以了解到卡夫卡的一生，知道这名在布拉格出世的犹太人与他父亲的关系，他和他的女人，以及他是如何度过他生命中的最后几个月。博物馆的外面还有个非常有趣的喷水泉。留意人像的下盘，那其实是会动的喔！
On this side of the city, you can also find another popular attraction, The Franz Kafka Museum. Kafka, born into a middle class German-speaking Jewish family in Prague, was one of the major fiction writers of the 20th century. Here you can see his diary, letters and books on display, and you can also get to read about his life, his relationship with his father, his women, and the last few months of his life. The museum is tastefully done and outside the museum, there is an interesting fountain. If you look carefully at the picture, you will notice that the pelvic part of the human fountain is actually moveable. 之后到布拉格旧要塞去走走。这座要塞坐落在古镇南边的小山上。这里最引人注目的是这座11世纪的彼得与保罗教堂，教堂旁边还有葬了不少捷克名人的坟场。教堂旁边有个开放给人野餐的小公园。从要塞的围墙，你可看到捷克的环景。
Next up was a visit to Prague’s ancient hilltop fortress, Vysehrad, located to the south of Old Town. Dominated by the 11th century twin towers of SS Peter & Paul Church, Vysehrad was rebuilt in a neo-Gothic style in the 19th century. The cemetery besides the church contains the graves of many distinguished Czechs. There is a nice garden for you to stroll around or have a picnic, and you can have a panoramic view of Prague from the citadel’s battlements. 离旧要塞不原有一带有着非常特别的建筑，即带有立体主义的建筑。这一类型建筑是布拉格独有的，在其他地方是看不到的。
Not far away from Vysehrad, you can find a small group of unique buildings, i.e. cubist architectural buildings. These buildings are unique to Prague and cannot be found elsewhere in the Czech Republic.傍晚时分，到伏尔塔瓦河去看日落。在等待日落的当儿，对着河中游来游去的白鹅发呆，结果发现了其中一只白鹅的脖子是畸形的。
Sat by the Vltava River as evening approached. While waiting to catch the sunset, I amused myself by watching the swans swimming in the river, and found a poor swan with a crooked neck. 在捷克又与之前在俄罗斯经常碰面的Michael见面，不过这一次我们是约好见面的。晚上到他的宿舍去，与其他人一起煮晚餐吃。晚餐之后，就到酒吧去，这还是我这次旅行以来，第一次到酒吧去。
Met up with Michael whom I met several times in Russia. But this time round, we met by appointment, not by coincidence. We cooked dinner at the hostel with other travelers and then went to check out the pubs after that. Believe it or not, this is actually the first time I went to a pub on this trip!

波兰／Poland（Part 2）

2008-12-01T04:05:00.024+08:00

＊克拉科夫／Krakow
华沙虽然不小，但想要看的景物在一天之内就已经看完了，所以隔天就乘火车到下一个城市，即这次波兰行的焦点克拉科夫去。
Warsaw is not that small a city, but I’d more or less covered the sights that I wanted to see in a day, so the next day, I took a bus to the next destination, Krakow.

克拉科夫原本是波兰的首都，直到1596年才失去了首都的身份。正因为它是古代的首都，这里有不少建筑和街道是从中古时代保留下来之今，整个城市非常有“老”的感觉，因此每年吸引的游客远比华沙多。
Krakow was originally the capital of Poland, until 1596 when the capital city was moved to Warsaw. Since this was the ancient capital, you can find lots of old buildings and old streets. As such, lots of tourists are attracted by the ‘old’ feel here, with this city getting more visitors each year than that of Warsaw.

克拉科夫最大的旅游景点就是第二世界大战时纳碎人的种族清洗屠杀场奥斯威辛集中营，也正因为在《辛德勒的名单》里头看到了这个集中营的故事，我才会对波兰感兴趣，因此到了克拉科夫之后，最先去参观的就是这个埋葬了100至150万人性命的地方。
The biggest draw for visitors to Krakow has got to be the site of the Holocaust, Auschwitz. This was what drew me to Krakow too. Naturally, the first stop was to this place which witnessed the deaths of between one to one and a half million people during the Second World War.

参观奥斯威辛集中营有两种方式，一个是跟团，另一个当然是“自己来”。几乎所有的青年旅舍或酒店都可以安排你参加团到奥斯威辛去，这种团的好处是有人全程帮你讲解这个地方的历史，当然这些团一点也不便宜。不过其实不跟团，自己去也可以，因为奥斯威辛集中营本身就有安排导游帮你讲解。即使付了导游费，再加上车费，你最终花的钱还是会比跟团的少将近30欧元（约60新元）。自己乘车一点也不麻烦，因为克拉科夫的巴士总站有直通车到奥斯威辛集中营。
There are two ways to tour Auschwitz. One is to join a tour and the other is of course, DIY. Almost all hostels or hotels can arrange for you to join tours for Auschwitz. The good thing about tours like these is that, not only do you not have to worry about the transportation aspect; you get a guide to explain to you the full history of the place. Naturally these tours do not come cheap. If you do not wish to join a tour, you can actually visit Auschwitz by yourself. There are direct buses from the bus station in Krakow to Oswiecim, which drops you right outside the Auschwitz Museum. And in Auschwitz itself, you can sign up for guided tours. Even after paying for the guided tour, you will still be spending about 30 Euros (about 60 SGD) lesser than if you joined a tour from Krakow.

奥斯威辛集中营原本是波兰军人的兵营，不过在1940年被纳碎人用来囚禁波兰犯人，最后却成了灭绝犹太人的屠杀场。奥斯威辛的入口上面写着“Arbeit Macht Frei”（工作让人自由）。进去之后看到的是一栋又一栋的营房。这些营房是很多犹太人度过他们生命中最后几个月的地方，有一小部分营房是纳碎人的“办公室”，如今这些都成了展示二战之间发生的种族清洗的展览厅。
The Auschwitz was originally a Polish military camp, but was used to imprisoned Polish prisoners by the Nazis from 1940. It was eventually converted into the biggest ‘slaughterhouse’ history has ever seen. At the entrance of Auschwitz is this sign “Arbeit Macht Frei” (work makes one free). Upon entering, what greet you are rows and rows of barracks. This is where many Jews spend the last few months of their lives. A few blocks were used by the Nazis as their “offices”. Now these barracks have been converted exhibition halls, detailing the horrors that went on behind these walls during the Second World War. 有一部分的房间展示了纳碎人在屠杀人之后，从尸体上取下的东西，包括衣服、鞋子、皮箱、眼镜等等。最让人毛骨悚然的是有一座山那么高的头发，据了解纳碎人在杀人后，将这些人的头剃光，将收集的头发制成布。因为感觉对死者有些不敬，所以我就没有把这些拍下了，想看的话自己去体验吧。
One block of barracks displayed items which the Nazis had stripped off from the dead bodies, including clothes, shoes, luggage and spectacles etc. What really chills one to the bones is this huge glass cabinet displaying human hair. Apparently, after gassing and killing the people, the Nazis shaved all the dead bodies and collect the hair to be made into cloth. It just did not feel right or respectful to the dead to take pictures of these things, so you won’t get to see any here. It is best that you go witness all these yourself.

这些铁筒就是当年用来装谋杀这些人的毒气的筒。
These metal canisters were the containers for the gas which was used to murder the innocent victims. 展览厅的走廊上全都是罹难者的照片，照片下面都写着他们进入奥斯威辛的日期，以及他们死亡的日期。仔细一看，到这里的人全部都活不超过半年，有些甚至在抵达奥斯威辛不到几个星期后就被谋杀了。最让人感到沮丧的是看到一些被当作实验品的小孩的照片。
Along the walls in the corridor, you can see rows and rows of pictures of those who perished here. If you looked carefully at the dates that these people entered the Auschwitz and the dates that they died which is below each photograph, you will realized that nobody survives for more than half a year upon entering this place. Some died within weeks of coming here. The most depressing photos have got to be those of deformed children. Apparently, they used the children as guinea pigs for experiments.

这是处决犯人的地方。注意到墙壁上子弹留下的痕迹吗？
This is the execution place for prisoners. Noticed the bullet marks on the wall? 而纳碎人折磨犯人非常有办法，包括建造只有30公分宽，30公分长的小监狱，让三到四个囚犯挤入那小小的空间。地方那么小，连转身的位置都没有，更别说是要坐下。这些囚犯就被迫站一整晚，到了白天就被迫出去工作，当然很多很快就受不了死去了。
Since the Nazis are no angels, of course there were tortures going on. One of which, was to make three or four prisoners squeeze into cells which are only 30cm by 30cm big. Of course, which such a tight space, there is no way one can sit or lie down. The prisoners are made to stand the whole night, and when morning came, they were forced to go out to work. Of course, not many could take the torture, and many died within a week.

当然也到了毒气房去。一眼望去，这看起来只是普通的房间，但这里没有任何窗口，唯一的洞口就是纳碎人释放毒气的洞口。在毒死这些人后，纳碎人就将尸体推到这里焚烧。
Then we were shown the gas chambers where most Jews met their fate. At first glance, these were just ordinary rooms with four walls. On close examination, you will find that there are no openings at all here, except for the holes where the gas is dropped. After killing them, the Nazis will then send the bodies to be cremated. 这个绞刑台是在二战之后，用来处死奥斯威辛集中营指挥官鲁道夫·胡斯的。在他谋杀上万人的地方被绞刑，也算是罪有应得了。
This gallow was specially built for executing the Director of Auschwitz, Rudolf Hoess, who was hanged for his crimes after the war. It was definitely a befitting end for someone who masterminded the loss of so many lives. 纳碎人后来还在奥斯威辛不远的地方建造了奥斯威辛二号——比克瑙。这里比奥斯威辛大多了，有300多个营房，四个毒气房和焚烧场，在这里遇害的有大约100万犹太人、7万5000波兰人、同性恋者和1万9000吉普赛人。虽然纳碎人撤退时摧毁了不少的建筑，但单从这里有多大，你可以想象在这里遇害的人到底有多少。
The Nazis later built Auschwitz II, also known as Birkenau, not far from Auschwitz I. Birkenau was much bigger than Auschwitz, with more than 300 barracks, four gas chambers and furnaces. It is estimated that more than 100, 000 Jews, 75,000 Polish and homosexuals and also 19, 000 gypsies lost their lives here. Although the Nazis tried to destroy the camp when they were retreating, just by looking at the perimeters of the fence, you can imagine the extent of the horrors that went on in this place. 参观完奥斯威辛真的让人感觉很沮丧，真不明白为何人类能够对自己的同类作出这么残忍的事情。为了摆脱那沮丧的心情，隔天到没有那么令人沮丧的旅游景点去参观，即利奇卡盐矿。这个盐矿是波兰的第一盐矿，游客可以到深达135米的地方参观。里头尽是一些用盐雕塑出来的雕刻，其中一部分讲解了这个盐矿是如何被发现，他们是如何采盐。
The visit to Auschwitz was really depressing. It really makes one wonder how humans can be so cruel to other humans. In order to shake of that sense of depression, the next day I chose to visit a more light hearted sight, i.e. the Wieliczka Salt Mines. This is the first salt mine in Poland. Visitors are brought to a depth of 135m where you can see many sculptures made from salt, which tells the story of how the salt mine is discovered and how they mined the salt.不过最吸引人的要数里头的教堂。对，在深至135米处，居然有个教堂。而这座教堂最特别之处是它是由盐块雕刻出来的，所以无论是楼梯、地上、耶稣的雕像，或是墙上的装饰，全都是盐做的。
But the most interesting part of the salt mine has got to be the church. That’s right. You can find a church 135m below ground level. What is even more amazing is that, this church is fully sculpted from salt. Be it the staircases, the marble-like flooring, the statue of Jesus or the decorations on the wall, everything here is carved from salt.研究完克拉科夫周边的景物，当然要花点时间研究这个城市本身啦。说了这曾是古代首都，所以旧建筑和老街多得是，在街上看到的中古时代建筑是到目前为止最多的一个城市。
After exploring the surrounding sights of Krakow, of course I had to devote some time to Krakow itself. Since it is the ancient capital, there are many well preserved old buildings, especially churches. Definitely the city with the most number of old buildings and old streets I’ve been to so far. 当中，最有中古时代味道的要数华威城堡了。城堡里面有不同的部分开放给公众参观，不过每一处都是各自售票的。如果是像我这样不想花那个钱，那不进去各个展示庭，在外头走走也可以，风景幽美又不必花钱。　　～伟
Amongst the many old building, the most interesting one was the Wawel Castle. The castle is of course, open to public, but each exhibition hall requires a different ticket. If you are a cheapo like me, then skip the halls and just walk around the grounds. It is free and the scenery is still stunning.　　～wei