2017-08-21

【Aiden in English】

        Today, mom and I entered France. No, Germany. Ehhhh... France. Maybe Germ- no, no. Definitely France. By now, after two world wars, everyone in the city of Strasbourg is tired of switching back and forth between the countries. Luckily, both countries use euros, so whatever nation Strasbourg now falls under will use the same currency.

        Being one of the largest cities in the romantic Rhine, Strasbourg is the hot spot where Germany meets France, blending cultures in great effect. It absolutely offered a bit of variation versus other stops this trip. Location of the European Quarter, home to many institutions of the European Union and the Council of Europe, many expensive neighborhoods could be found in this area. The Petite France district of the old town took immense pride in its history and gave off a picturesque "Paris" vibe. As usual, every narrow street was laid out in cobblestones, making the walks even more treacherous. Along with lots of obstacles and distractions, including bikers racing by and pickpockets, Strasbourg was not a cakewalk.

        We toured the main plaza where the largest basilica of the city, the Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Strasbourg or Cathedral of Our Lady of Strasbourg came into the sight magnificently. A small side-note: every town on the Rhine has a large church of some sort in the center. They are given out specific names, but no one calls them by name. They're all simply referred to as 'the Cathedral'. In this case, the cathedral is the tallest structure built in the 12^th century. Standing at 466-foot/142-meter tall, it loomed over the city and marked the highest medieval architecture in Europe. Strasbourg had no skyscrapers anywhere near the old town. Therefore, nothing was blocking the cathedral's main tower for miles. Essentially, one standing at any edge of the old town could see its spire in clear sight. Like a needle sticking in the sky, it kind of looked lonely. As if to taunt its boring life, architects decided to place an enormous astronomical clock at the south transept, symbolizing the passages of life in front of Jesus. The constant ticking every hour and the music of the stages of life, the ornate clock is designed beautifully. Always ticking, ticking away. Each day, a full rotation occurs within the clock, producing a circle of life. From the morning, cycle after cycle of life after life goes by, hinting god's eternity.

        The second half of the day was spent in the Mercedes-Benz assembly line located in Rastatt, Germany. More than 3 million Mercedes have been built here since the plant opened in 1992. This was my first time ever in a manufacturing facility, and I was glad it's for the best. No, I'm not saying Mercedes is the 'best'. It's just their slogan.

        After watching a very biased introductory video to show, we went into the plant to see how luxury it is made. Inside, no pictures were allowed to respect its proprietaries. Apparently, there is some important secret that the company doesn't want to get out, yet Google has plenty of images lying around. The process was a complex ring throughout the complex, using complex machines and robots to slowly piece by piece assemble a complex puzzle, involving manual labor to check and tend to complex problems and insert finer tasks. The tour took us above the process in a pathway hanging from the ceiling. Directly beside us was a chain of moving carts rigged to a track system transporting pieces of the cars for insertion. Down below, machines were fed parts from conveyor belts like a buffet line, adding them one by one to approaching car skeletons. I could pretty much follow the process step by step until the end, where I lost track of the path the cars took. It's not like I'm going to remember the building of a car anyways.

        Eventually, I finished the tour and saw perfect looking Mercedes GLS550's rolling out of a dark tunnel, shiny and ready to be destroyed in a drunk driving accident by a spoiled underage American kid in a bet with his friends for ten dollars that his friends stole from his wallet three days ago while he was hungover.

【红霞译文】

        今天我和妈妈进入法国境内，不对，德国，呃……法国，也许德…，不对、不对，肯定是法国。自两次世界大战结束以后到目前为止，斯特拉斯堡市的民众对反复更换国籍麻木不仁，幸亏两国全都使用欧元，无论斯特拉斯堡归属哪个国家至少货币一致。

        作为浪漫莱茵河上最大的城市之一，斯特拉斯堡可谓德国遇见法国的热点地方，双边文化密切交融，绝对要比之前所到各处更有特色，不仅欧洲区是欧盟许多机构和欧委会所在地，以至于很多居民区房价昂贵，而且老城的小法兰西区历史底蕴深厚，到处散发着“巴黎”气息。不出所料，这里每条狭窄的巷子胡同均由鹅卵石铺就而成，走在路面禁不住深一脚浅一脚，街上出现不少路障及分散精力的玩意，加之骑单车者和扒手也爱凑热闹，因此游览斯特拉斯堡并非轻而易举的事情。

        我们来到主要广场参观，本市最为雄伟的圣殿──斯特拉斯堡圣母大教堂即刻映入眼帘，附带提示一下：莱茵河上每座城中心无不建有规模可观的教会，并且冠以特殊字号，但没有一个直呼其名，归根结底都是“大教堂”，而眼前这座称雄于十二世纪的大教堂高达466英尺/142米，独居欧洲中世纪榜首。斯特拉斯堡老城附近没有任何摩天大楼，因此即使方圆几里路外大教堂主塔仍然依稀可见，说实在的，无论身处老城何方，人们都能看清高悬其上的钟楼，它宛若尖针直插云霄，显得有点行单影孤。也许对乏味景观嗤之以鼻，建筑师们决定于南耳堂加盖大天文钟，用以象征上帝指定的生命之路，每个小时在音乐不停地伴奏下它展示人生各个阶段，时光循序渐进，生命周而复始，从早晨起不断轮回，暗示上帝永恒。

        下午我们赶回德国参观位于拉施塔特的梅赛德斯─奔驰组装线，新厂自从1992年投入生产以来已制造300多万辆奔驰汽车，这是我首次亲临生产基地，有幸见识天下无双的高端产品，我可没说奔驰是“最棒的”，刚才那词不过借用厂家标语口号而已。

        看完颇有争议的视频之后，我们深入车间实地考察高端奢饰品究竟是怎样打造出来的，因为技术专利，内部一概谢绝拍照，显然公司不想外泄某些重要机密，好在谷歌网站上提供大量备用图片。组装过程是全套复杂的流水工艺，一环扣着一环，利用精密机器和智能机器人把零件一个个安置在盘枝错节的迷宫里面，采取人工检查手段以求针对特殊问题找出合理解决办法。我们沿着倒挂在天花板上的通道行进，身边生产线排满等候安装的车辆，脚下零件先通过一个像自助餐传送线似的运输带递给安装机，然后再被放进空壳车身，我从头至尾几乎一步不落地走完整个流程，末了没太经意车的去向，反正我也记不住车库地点。

        参观终于结束，我看到一辆标致的奔驰越野型GLS550款正从黑色过道疾驰而出，油光锃亮，马上要被宠坏的美国未成年酒驾者撞毁，他正跟手中握有10块大洋的哥们打赌，而这10块美金恰是三天前那帮狐朋狗友趁他喝得酩酊大醉从其钱包里偷来的。

Today in History(历史上的今天):

2015: Forbidden City, Beijing(北京紫禁城)

2014: YMCA Camp─Dodgeball-3(基督教青年会夏令营─躲避球之三)

Crosslinks(相关博文):

France(出游法国)

Germany(出游德国)

Europe(欧洲掠影)