2017-07-10

【Aiden in English】

        The capital city of Bratislava, the only stop in Slovakia this trip, was unfortunate to only have us for three hours. Therefore, mom and I were going to make the most of our time docked before sailing to Hungary. I will say, the Slovakia Republic deserves much more appreciation than this, as it must have somewhat equal status as its recently divorced partner, the Czech Republic. Many cultures between these two countries are the same, but there are major differences. For example, the splitting of the country was due to ethnic differences, and their dissolution carried onwards from there. Up to date, Czech held the koruna as its currency, while Slovakia accepted the euro.

        Certainly Bratislava, compared to other stops on our river cruise of Viking Ingvi, was not the most exciting. However, this is most likely a one-and-done situation. Even if city walking tours and panoramic drives were available, mom and I would still make sure we would use up every minute on land. Fortunately, Bratislava is quite a large city, which means lots of nooks and crannies to explore.

        In large, European cities, there are commonly two sections: the old and new town. No one likes the new town, so most tourist-target the cobble roads and stone Schloss Kirche. After being set down from a short walk through town, featuring nothing, in particular, mom and I took off. To us, walking another few miles around town is not rare. In fact, we usually take about an hour or more on our own every stop if the tour gives extra time. Therefore, we spent a good hour twisting and turning our way back to the port.

        A few notable items in the city. Apart from the terrible "nice to meet you" pun (which I thought was a mis-steak at first), much of the city was like any other old European metropolis. Bratislava is actually a big city, nearly equaling Vienna, despite only having one-third of its population. This means there aren't many locals in the streets, just tourists. Furthermore, most of the side shops are either restaurants and coffee houses or souvenir shops. Bratislava also has five bridges. Based on extreme creativity, people gave the city the nickname: City of Five Bridges. At least it wasn't 'City of One Hundred and Eighty Restaurants'.

        Like anywhere else on the Danube, the city is half alcoholic, minus the addiction part of it. Slovaks like to drink wine, beer, brandy, champagne, liquor, and coffee which is a type of alcohol on its own. Therefore, people make up excuses to exceedingly drink alcohol. For example, wine has wisdom (and water), beer has freedom (and water) and water has bacteria. Doesn't really add up, but WATevER, right?

        And that about sums up the amazing city of Bratislava: Creative alcoholics running out of coffee houses and off bridges into the not-so-blue Danube River. But with all joking aside, the capital city of Slovakia is much too big a city to explore in one day, so all we can get is a snapshot. Don't worry, mom got many of those.

【红霞译文】

        首都布拉迪斯拉发是我们途径斯洛伐克唯一驻足的地方，遗憾的是逗留时间仅有三个钟头，这么一来，我和妈妈在动身前往匈牙利之前只能抓紧行动。我承认斯洛伐克共和国值得多花些功夫，它与最近分道扬镳自立门户的捷克共和国不相上下，两国文化大同小异，但在意识形态上迥然有别，比方说两个联邦政体之所以各奔东西是因为种族分歧；至今捷克仍然以克朗为货币，而斯洛伐克早改用欧元。

        比起维京·海神号河流游轮此行所到各处，布拉迪斯拉发压根儿算不上最火爆的地方，不过它依旧不失为我们人生旅程中不可多得的宝贵经历。我和妈妈借助徒步近观与驱车远游两种方式，尽量多走多看，好在布拉迪斯拉发规模很大，有不少好玩的景点任我们随意猎奇。

        从总体上来说，欧洲城市通常分成两个部分：老城与新城，没人喜欢新城，因此游客呆的地方不是鹅卵石之径就是坚如磐石的城堡教堂。布拉迪斯拉发古城布局平平，只待稍加定位，我和妈妈便立刻上路。对我俩而言，多走几里地如同家常便饭，其实如若没有更多富余时间，一般情况下我们每到一个地方起码要走上个把钟头，在这里也不例外，蜿蜒曲折的石径引领我们走近历史穿越时空。

        有几件新鲜事物值得一提，除了令人恐怖的双关语“想死你”（起先我蛮以为“噎出毛病”），布拉迪斯拉发堪与欧洲其它各大都市相比拟，城市规模宏宏，几乎快赶上维也纳，尽管人口仅有维也纳的三分之一，也就意味着街上很多民众不是当地人而是观光客，街道两旁的商店要么餐厅要么咖啡馆或礼品店。布拉迪斯拉发一共有五座桥梁，于是人们浮想联翩，干脆称它为五桥之都，还好没被叫成“一百八十家餐厅之城”。

        与多瑙河上所有地方一样，排除酗酒成性者以外，斯洛伐克人喜欢喝葡萄酒、啤酒、白兰地、香槟、白酒以及自己制成像酒似的咖啡，并为酗酒找出不少开脱的理由，譬如：葡萄酒充满智慧（含水）、啤酒富有自由（含水）、水少不了细菌，千万别叠加在一起，不过水（谁）怎么着都成，对不？

        最后将美景如画的布拉迪斯拉发归纳如下：异想天开的酒鬼从咖啡厅跑出来冲下大桥跳入不太蓝的多瑙河。说正经的，斯洛伐克首都太大，一天绝对逛不完，因此当务之急就是摄影留念，别担心，妈妈差不离一锅端下。

Today in History(历史上的今天):

2016: Dublin the Pale, Ireland(爱尔兰都柏林苍穹)

2016: Dublin the Fair City, Ireland(爱尔兰都柏林集市)

2016: Avoca—IRL's Oldest Weaving Mill(爱尔兰最老的纺织作坊—阿沃卡)

2016: Glendalough Monastery, Ireland(爱尔兰格兰达洛修道院)

2016: County Wicklow the Garden of Ireland(爱尔兰花园—威克洛郡)

2014: Bug Show @ Soccer YMCA Camp(昆虫到访基督教青年会夏令营)

Crosslink(相关博文):

Europe(欧洲掠影)