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.

【紅霞譯文】

        首都布拉迪斯拉發是我們途徑斯洛伐克唯一駐足的地方，遺憾的是逗留時間僅有三個鐘頭，這麼一來，我和媽媽在動身前往匈牙利之前只能抓緊行動。我承認斯洛伐克共和國值得多花些功夫，它與最近分道揚鑣自立門戶的捷克共和國不相上下，兩國文化大同小異，但在意識形態上迥然有別，比方說兩個聯邦政體之所以各奔東西是因為種族分歧；至今捷克仍然以克朗為貨幣，而斯洛伐克早改用歐元。

        比起維京·海神號河流遊輪此行所到各處，布拉迪斯拉發壓根兒算不上最火爆的地方，不過它依舊不失為我們人生旅程中不可多得的寶貴經歷。我和媽媽藉助徒步近觀與驅車遠遊兩種方式，儘量多走多看，好在布拉迪斯拉發規模很大，有不少好玩的景點任我們隨意獵奇。

        從總體上來說，歐洲城市通常分成兩個部分：老城與新城，沒人喜歡新城，因此遊客呆的地方不是鵝卵石之徑就是堅如磐石的城堡教堂。布拉迪斯拉發古城布局平平，只待稍加定位，我和媽媽便立刻上路。對我倆而言，多走幾里地如同家常便飯，其實如若沒有更多富餘時間，一般情況下我們每到一個地方起碼要走上個把鐘頭，在這裡也不例外，蜿蜒曲折的石徑引領我們走近歷史穿越時空。

        有幾件新鮮事物值得一提，除了令人恐怖的雙關語“想死你”（起先我蠻以為“噎出毛病”），布拉迪斯拉發堪與歐洲其它各大都市相比擬，城市規模宏宏，幾乎快趕上維也納，儘管人口僅有維也納的三分之一，也就意味着街上很多民眾不是當地人而是觀光客，街道兩旁的商店要麼餐廳要麼咖啡館或禮品店。布拉迪斯拉發一共有五座橋梁，於是人們浮想聯翩，乾脆稱它為五橋之都，還好沒被叫成“一百八十家餐廳之城”。

        與多瑙河上所有地方一樣，排除酗酒成性者以外，斯洛伐克人喜歡喝葡萄酒、啤酒、白蘭地、香檳、白酒以及自己製成像酒似的咖啡，並為酗酒找出不少開脫的理由，譬如：葡萄酒充滿智慧（含水）、啤酒富有自由（含水）、水少不了細菌，千萬別疊加在一起，不過水（誰）怎麼着都成，對不？

        最後將美景如畫的布拉迪斯拉發歸納如下：異想天開的酒鬼從咖啡廳跑出來衝下大橋跳入不太藍的多瑙河。說正經的，斯洛伐克首都太大，一天絕對逛不完，因此當務之急就是攝影留念，別擔心，媽媽差不離一鍋端下。

Today in History(歷史上的今天):

2016: Dublin the Pale, Ireland(愛爾蘭都柏林蒼穹)

2016: Dublin the Fair City, Ireland(愛爾蘭都柏林集市)

2016: Avoca—IRL's Oldest Weaving Mill(愛爾蘭最老的紡織作坊—阿沃卡)

2016: Glendalough Monastery, Ireland(愛爾蘭格蘭達洛修道院)

2016: County Wicklow the Garden of Ireland(愛爾蘭花園—威克洛郡)

2014: Bug Show @ Soccer YMCA Camp(昆蟲到訪基督教青年會夏令營)

Crosslink(相關博文):

Europe(歐洲掠影)