2017-07-09

【Aiden in English】

        The capital city of Vienna is probably the most famous place on our itinerary of Danube Castles and Legends. I've heard about it, you've known about it, mom has seen it, celebrities want to live here, etc. However, Vienna's fame was built on musical notes, performances, and composers. A long history of music in this part of the world has inspired popular worldwide concerts that pretty much have come to define musical performances. Experiencing this will be for tonight.

        The day time is going to be an exploration as well. Vienna, to hold all these great shows, required equally breathtaking halls. From the Vienna State Oprah to the Belvedere, many halls have reached international levels of popularity. With fame came money, growing business and shops, and so here we are now, Vienna maintaining a large seat as the host of the United Nations. By far, Vienna has grown to a point where it has become a staple in European vacations. No cruise can pass without stopping. No tourist can pass by taking a photo. No musician can pass without listening to one of the many musical nightly performances.

        A stroll through the old town of Vienna for mom and I is more of a quick walk. When we tour, we prefer to see more leisurely waltzing through shops. With this in mind, on the strict 45-minute free period, mom and I more or less sprinted through the main streets. What I ended up concluding is that within the little five hundred by five hundred meters of the main landmark Stephansplatz, there were more theaters, commercials for theaters, and salesmen for theaters than I've ever seen. And those salesmen all were dressed as Mozart and Strauss, so Mozart and Strausses essentially made up ten percent of the crowd population. Luckily, most of the sellers worked for the same company, therefore, we received little competition for our attention. All this mess while in front of St. Stephen's Cathedral, the third-largest church in Austria. Recently bombed and burned during WWII, the country pooled together resources to rebuild all damage, restoring it to its previous glory. Now, when we walked through the old town, many of the façades reflected hundreds of years of history. The spell broke once a bike nearly ran me over.

        Outside of Stephansplatz, there were multiple main streets running through the city. However, all of them appeared to die out in popularity outside of the old town. Across the Danube River, one could see the bright sunlight bounce off a skyscraper, towering over the horizon. The river really defines the borders between old and new, symbolizing many divisions occurring for cultures. Austria, while continuing to maintain its history of music, is blending well with modern technology. Furthermore, they used new innovation to broadcast their shows to the world. Salute to Vienna! This is probably also why I'm here now.

        In the end, I still feel bad for Austria. It's difficult to compete against Australia, an entire continent, for the 'Aust-' title. People get confused over Austria and Australia, and they assume Australia because of its size. However, even though it is minuscule in comparison, there's only one Austria, and it doesn't have kangaroos indeed.

【红霞译文】

        奥地利首都维也纳恐怕是我们“多瑙河城堡与传奇”之行呼声最高的地方，以前我略有所闻，你已经见识过，妈妈早就先睹为快，名门望族巴不得到此生活，等等。然而维也纳超群绝伦之处更在于音乐作品、表演艺术及作曲人才，源远流长的音乐王国已然成为孕育国际一流表演艺术家的摇篮，而我们今晚将要欣赏专场音乐会。

        眼下当好，我们白天有空四处转转。维也纳除了高水准音乐会之外还有令人陶醉的宫殿国粹，从维也纳国家歌剧院到美景宮，许多厅堂建筑蜚声海内外，由此招财进宝，商业区购物中心得以蓬勃发展，维也纳还是联合国办事机构重要据点，而我们现在正身临其境。到目前为止，维也纳足以标榜成欧洲人度假胜地，没有哪家游轮不设立一站停泊，没有哪位观光客不拍摄一张照片留念，没有哪个音乐家不观摩一场正式表演。

       我和妈妈与其说来维也纳老城逛街，不如说到这里赶集。随团游览之余，我们偏爱轻步飞舞商家店铺，照这种说法，要想在规定的45分钟自由活动时间内做到随心所欲，我俩只能健步如飞。以维也纳地标景点斯蒂芬广场为中心，方圆五百米之内大小剧院举目皆是，非但宣传剧院的广告铺天盖地，兜售剧院戏票的流动大军更是浩浩荡荡，让我大开眼界。这些推销员不是打扮成莫扎特模样就是扮演施特劳斯角色，基本瓜分10%左右的客流量，幸亏他们多为一家公司效力，否则真叫我们应接不暇，越是靠近奥地利第三大教堂──维也纳圣史蒂芬大教堂，越是忙乎得不亦乐乎。话说第二次世界大战期间，圣史蒂芬大教堂被炸烧毁，战后国家投注大量资金修缮一新，全力恢复了从前的荣耀。如今我们漫步环顾老城，许多建筑外表都反映着几百年来历史风貌。没等看完光景，我差点被骑自行车的人撞倒在地。

        斯蒂芬广场周围多条马路纵横交错，一旦偏离老城就显得没有那么热闹。往多瑙河对岸看去，阳光将高楼大厦折射投影在地平线远方；河岸两旁标示出新城与旧城之分，象征着本土文化多元性，奥地利在继续弘扬古典音乐的同时，正大力引入现代科学技术，并且巧用创新手段把音乐会推向全世界，“向维也纳致敬”！这大概也是为什么我会专程到访的原因。

        游览结束的时候，我内心禁不住有点怜悯奥地利，要知道它很难跟有着同样发音前缀、几乎占据整个澳洲的庞然大国较劲，因为地盘大小，人们总是误把奥地利当成澳大利亚，不过这并无大碍，重要的是天下只有一个奥地利，它根本没有袋鼠。

Today in History(历史上的今天):

2017: Wachau Valley the Queen of Fruits,AUT(奥地利瓦豪谷—水果皇后)

2017: Dürnstein the Lionheart Castle,  AUT(奥地利杜伦施坦—狮心王堡)

2017: Melk Abbey, Austria(奥地利梅尔克修道院)

2017: Wachau Valley Wine Tasting, Austria(奥地利瓦豪河谷品酒)

2016: The Channel Islands, UK(英国海峡群岛)

2016: Guernsey the Donkey Island, UK(英国根西—倔驴之岛)

2016: Guernsey over the English Channel, UK(英国英吉利海峡上根西岛)

2014 World Cup—BRA vs. DEU(巴西对德国世界杯足球赛)

Crosslinks(相关博文):

Austria(出游奥地利)

Europe(欧洲掠影)