2017-07-05

【Aiden in English】

        The Sound of Music is probably the greatest American musical movie ever produced. In fact, it in general has accomplished feats only a few movies have done in Hollywood. And no one knows why the movie was that successful. Perhaps, most of it was filmed in Salzburg, Austria.

        Austria isn't the first place one would think for paradise, but only today I did realize how amazing this tiny country is. So far, I've seen the cold, much colder side of Austria, which is famous all around the globe. The musical city of Salzburg is also quite outstanding, providing the world with Wolfgang Mozart, one of the greatest musicians of all time. As the Austro-Hungarian Empire, it even gave birth to a more infamous person the world has seen: Adolf Hitler.

        Now, Austria has to show the vacation side. Besides, I don't want to be on a pure educational trip. That’s what school is for. So, about an hour away from Salzburg, lays the most beautiful body of water I've seen since an exotic island of Mahe, Seychelles. Around the Salzkammergut, there is a section of 76 lakes, each separated by a series of Alpine ranges. The water was crystal clear, given a slight tint of green, turquoise or emerald, and apparently was pure enough to drink, which is unsettling a bit. As our tour guide said, the government strictly regulated pollutants and all chemicals affecting the lakes.

        On one particular lakeside of Mondsee, some famous scenes from the Sound of Music were filmed like St. Michael's Basilica, and I can understand why. This area was surrounded in lush mountains covered with forests. They rise up from all sides, trapping visitors in with the amazing waters. Surprisingly, the lake during winter is cold enough to freeze, and the mountains are all capped with snow. These attributes are hard to imagine when the view looks like a picture on a postcard. Noon, one could probably take a dip into it, although the temperature is not sufficient to swim. But I truly could not tell the difference between this lake to the beautiful tropical oceans.

        In the Sound of Music, Marie and Captain von Trapp were married in this basilica, which we saw. It, unfortunately, it was occupied with a funeral at the moment we visited. In the meantime, our guide slightly spoiled the movie a bit by giving out too much information. For example, the real Marie was not as nice as the Hollywood character. It was actually the captain that was nice to the children, not the other way around. The guide also mentioned how their meeting was much less of a 'babysitter for the family' and more of a 'tutor for the mentally slowed child'. But Hollywood is Hollywood, and movies need the hero to be more than a strict, disliked parent. It wouldn't DO REally ME any favors.

【紅霞譯文】

        《音樂之聲》恐怕算得上美國有史以來最偉大的音樂電影，事實上被公認為好來塢屈指可數的優秀作品之一，沒人說得清這部作品為何如此成功，也許應該歸功於它的拍攝景地奧地利薩爾茨堡。

        奧地利並非人們心目中首屈一指的世外桃源，可是直至今天我才意識到這塊置錐之地風光獨好。在此之前我已領略過奧地利天寒地凍的奇妙，這些景觀無不為世人所傾倒。音樂之城薩爾茨堡名聲斐然，全球最偉大的音樂家之一沃爾夫岡•莫扎特橫空出世；昔日奧匈帝國也曾冒出一個臭名昭著的人物──阿道夫·希特勒。

        現在奧地利當該推廣休閒度假游，反正我不想讓此次出行變成純粹的教育之旅，那些應是上學幹的事情。說來正巧，從薩爾茨堡驅車個把鐘頭，有一片美輪美奐的湖區，我還是第一次見到像非洲塞舌爾馬埃島水何澹澹山島竦峙的地方，阿爾卑斯山脈縱貫其間，將湖區分成大小76個湖泊，湖水清澈透明，淡綠色藍綠色翠綠色紛呈，水質看起來潔淨純化，足以入口飲用，儘管內心未免有點打鼓。另據導遊介紹，當地政府對湖泊污染源及所有化合物的管理相當嚴格。

        月亮湖畔有着別樣的風情，電影《音樂之聲》中某些著名場景都是在聖米迦勒大教堂拍攝的，我知道這正是月亮湖備受遊人追捧的原因所在。小城綠木成蔭，青山環抱，古樹沿着山脊迤邐而行，湖光山影吸引了眾多遠方來客。難以想象的是，寒冬時節天氣冷得使得湖水結冰，巍麗群山到處覆蓋着皚皚白雪，渾然構成一幅明信片式標緻畫面。今天中午太陽當頭，人們來到湖邊逐波踏浪，儘管水溫還沒有熱到適於游泳的程度，但無論怎樣我沒法區分湖水與熱帶海洋之間有何差異。

        《音樂之聲》中瑪麗和上尉馮·特拉普就是在眼前這座教堂舉行的婚禮，我們到訪的時候偏巧趕上葬禮，於是導遊觸景生情，藉機透露一些電影與事實相悖的情節，比方說生活中的瑪麗並非像好萊塢描述的溫文爾雅，實際上特拉普上尉才是對孩子們和善可親的家長。導遊還提到，他們兩人相遇也不是因為“家庭保姆”關係而是出於照顧“智障兒”緣故，但好萊塢畢竟是好萊塢，電影需要高大上標杆形象而非聲色俱厲的父母，不如我所喜歡的《仙樂飄飄處處聞》那麼娓娓動聽。

Today in History(歷史上的今天):

2016: Across Oresund Strait, Baltic Sea(穿越波羅的海厄勒海峽)

2015: Churches in Roma, Italy(意大利羅馬教堂)

2015: Castel Sant'Angelo in Roma, Italy(意大利羅馬聖天使城堡)

2015: Farewell to Rome, Italy(告別羅馬)

2014: Fourth of July Fireworks(獨立節煙花)

Crosslinks(相關博文):

Austria(出遊奧地利)

Europe(出遊歐洲)