2017-08-14

【Aiden in English】

        Once again, Day One of another crazy adventure through one river. One moment ago, I was still standing in line waiting to board one tiny AA plane to fly across one not so tiny ocean from one place to another. Granted, one would not really care as much as we do about one continent if the continent wasn't Europe. The Rhine River is one of the biggest rivers in the world. Its importance lies not within the waters but on the shores to us.

        The second river cruise trip within a month if the previous seems awfully illogical. Fresh with the Danube Castles and Legends in my memory, the Rhine Getaway can easily compare and contrast the two major European rivers. However, unlike the last cruise, we are beginning from the mouth of the river, near the North Sea. Immediately, I realized the sheer cultural difference the Rhine River would have compared to the Danube River. The Rhine's destinations are seemly well-known towns and cities, and its cultural stops have depicted the hearts of Europe since the Holy Roman Empire. The pre-cruise began at a major position on the north coast of the Rhine. Today, we flew in Amsterdam feeling quite drowsy, and you know what goes well with a tired mind? A museum of art. To be honest, I hate museums. Unless it's like the Please Touch Museum, I don't really carefully seek out every minute detail of every painting. However, it is a museum dedicated to Vincent Willem van Gough (1853-1890), a Dutch native artist throughout his entire life. The museum consisted of his many self-portraits and scenic works, accompanied by a darker theme of the peasant life.

        Admittedly, I dozed off during a few audio speeches, but mom understood that jet lag and the lack of sleep had their moments. However, I was unhindered for the second half of the museum immediately after I was hit by a strong urge to use the restroom. The museum began as a grave exhibit, showing dying peasants and tough labor. I merely glanced at each one, as one thing they all had in common: poverty. As van Gough progressively approached his later years, the paintings moved away from sorrow and closer to the natural wonders surrounding us. There were some astounding highlights about the Potato Eaters, the Yellow Houses, Sunflowers, Almond Blossoms, Wheatfield with Crow, etc. Trees, forests, and other plants took up a large section of van Gough's life, essentially until his suicide in 1890. In the end, he saw many similarities between man and plant, both deeply rooted within society (pun intended).

        Amsterdam is the largest capital city in the Netherlands, but the old town is small enough to walk. Mom and I traversed it within the day, but more information will be given tomorrow during a walking guided tour via Viking. As I said before, there already is a difference in culture. For one, there aren't giant churches all with amazing facades on every block. The sense of religion is much subtler. A light gong here and there. A casual sing at twelve o'clock at noon. This city is quite pleasing to see, reminding me much of Copenhagen, Denmark. Bikes everywhere, as well as an extensive canal system, and weather that always seemed to get better but never did. Luckily, the weather was okay for today, which surprised many locals. That's what happens when Aiden comes to town!

【紅霞譯文】

        又是穿越一條河進行瘋狂冒險的第一天。剛才我還在排隊準備登上一架不太大的美航飛機從不太小的海洋一邊飛到另一邊，恐怕沒人像我們對歐洲大陸這麼上杆子，萊茵河雖算得上世界長河之一，但對我們來說，更為重要的不是流域多少而是沿岸各地。

        莫非上次我們玩得不夠過癮，以至於一個月內重又殺回河流遊輪。正因為“多瑙河城堡與傳說”仍然記憶猶新，“萊茵河之旅”很容易拿來比對這兩條主要歐洲河流，不像上一次河游，這回我們從瀕臨北海的河口逆流而上，所以一踏入這方水土，立馬讓我感覺出萊茵河與多瑙河之間風土人情迥然有別。萊茵河流域城鎮鄉村似乎遐邇聞名，以前曾是神聖羅馬帝國的風水寶地，現在可謂歐洲文化心腹重鎮。乘遊輪前我們先進駐萊茵河北岸，今天抵達阿姆斯特丹時感覺暈暈乎乎，你知道什麼對疲勞有好處？藝術博物館。說句心裡話，我討厭博物館，除非像費城觸摸博物館之類的場所，用不着每時每刻仔細端詳繪畫的每個細節。然而，這是專門為荷蘭土生土長藝術家文森特·威廉·梵高（1853生—1890卒）興建的藝術殿堂，裡面展覽很多出自他筆下的自畫像和景物作品，外加反映農民生活的深黑色主題。

        當然，我在聽個別錄音講解時打起盹來，想必媽媽對時差和缺覺深有體會，要不是急於解手，恐怕我的後半段時間絕不會困意全無。博物館基調深沉，用來表現快要死去的老農和辛苦勞作，打眼一看，所有展品的共同特點：貧窮。隨着梵高逐漸進入臨終的日子，繪畫由悲情暗淡色轉向更為接近生活的自然景觀，其代表作有《吃馬鈴薯的人》、《黃房子》、《向日葵》、《盛開的杏花》、《麥田群鴉》、等等。樹木、森林以及其它植物充斥着梵高大部分生活，直至1890年自殺為止，最後他看到人與植物之間有很多相似之處，兩者都深深地植根於社會（雙關語）。

        首都阿姆斯特丹是荷蘭最大的城市，但老城面積很小，足以靠徒步走遍大街小巷，我和媽媽僅用一天功夫就轉了八九不離十，但具體詳情還要仰仗明天維京遊輪導遊的步行觀光。前面我提及過，文化差距十分搶眼。值得一提的，不是每條街都有正面獨特的巨型教堂，宗教意識相當淡薄，遠處不時傳來教堂鐘聲，正午十二點匯集成一曲大合唱。阿姆斯特丹景色宜人，令我禁不住想起丹麥首都哥本哈根，騎單車的人無處不在，運河系統四通八達。天氣狀況似乎趨於好轉，但始終未能真正好轉起來，幸虧今個兒天公作美，結果讓不少當地人受寵若驚。兒歌駕到，氣象萬千!

Today in History(歷史上的今天):

2014: YMCA Camp─Day @ Home(基督教青年會營─賦閒在家)

2009: 孩子手記(Kid's Writing)

Crosslinks(相關博文):

Netherlands(出遊荷蘭)

Europe(歐洲掠影)