2018-07-19

【Aiden in English】

        The highlight of the trip, the pinnacle of the summer, the only reason I wanted to come on this surprising cruise...The leaning tower of pizza.

        Or Pisa, whatever. I call it Pizza because it's in Italy and looks cool. Simple thinking for the simple-minded. What's not simple-minded is the geometry of the tower. It is now a whopping four degrees off its center. That doesn't sound so spectacular, especially with how many tourists go there a year. The reason behind the tilting, if you don't already know, is the soft bed of ground its structure sits on between two rivers of the Arno and the Serchio. Not only does the tower continue to sink, but people love watching it do so. One day I'm hoping some tourists are going to tap the side of the tower and have it collapse on them in a massive heap.

        Regardless, terrible planning deals with half the world's attention. Imagine seeing twenty different people of multiple nationalities, shouting different languages, all posing in the traditional, hey-I'm-holding-up-the-tower stance. It's also surprising that we got decent pictures. I mean, when a massive army of Chinese tourists arrives at the scene, you can't expect to have an ounce of breathing space, but we peeked out just in time. It's a miracle in the mud. 

        I will say, once I reached the base of the building, it was much less impressive in person. Some things in life, you over imagine in your head, a painful buildup for when you finally have the opportunity to experience it. That's what happened every time I got the new Pokemon game. Utter disappointment. The same occurred for the Leaning Tower of Pisa. I pictured an absolute skyscraper, tilted forty-five degrees off its axis, and creaking at the seams. While that may seem impossible and stupid, dreams are the only way of experiencing something across the globe, and I have a vivid imagination. 

        However, Pisa cannot be denied from its Epoch-making masterpiece. It is nothing short of spectacular that the tower hasn't crushed some humans yet, so I'll give it props. I'll also say that I'm glad the climbing of the tower is still allowed, although I missed the time slot. It only takes one idiot to slip and fall for that rule to change. Until that day, I'm hoping to return and fully immerse myself with a trek to the top of the tower.

        And that was it. The highlight of my summer. Not exactly how I thought it would go, but I enjoyed it nevertheless. The time around, I'll give myself a few hours to make sure I get a slot to climb since the ground view is only half the picture.

【紅霞譯文】

        這次旅遊的熱門景點亦即今夏首推的地方──比薩斜塔，它是我登上驚喜遊輪的唯一動力。

        乾脆叫它比薩得嘞，直呼披薩也成，畢竟此時此刻我恰好身居意大利，能把兩者混為一談感覺很酷，反正懶人自有懶辦法，只是斜塔幾何學並不一般，現在它已偏離中軸線四度有餘，聽起來沒啥大驚小怪，尤其與前來圍觀的遊客數量相比無足輕重。假如你仍然一頭霧水，那就換個角度來談，塔身之所以傾斜是因為地處亞諾河與塞爾基奧河之間的土質疏鬆，致使斜塔持續下陷，反倒正中遊客下懷，但願有一天有些遊客輕撣斜塔，結果讓它以排山倒海之勢應聲朝人群塌去。

        不管怎樣，這多逆天奇葩狂“引無數英雄競折腰”，試想眼見廿位操持多種語言的諸國遊客較勁喧譁，大家齊聲高呼口號：“嘿 —我— 舉—起—斜—塔”，景象蔚為壯觀。我們抓拍的相片居然效果不錯，要知道成群結隊的國人同胞集結現場，簡直讓你無立錐之地，幸好我們見縫插針，趁機撿了大便宜。

        要我說，只要接近斜塔底部就沒先前那麼震撼了，如同世間某些事情，想象的總比經歷的更加栩栩如生，每次我玩新的《神奇寶貝》均以徹底失望而收場，比薩斜塔也不例外。我拍攝一張完美無瑕的摩天大樓：以45度斜角偏離軸線，接縫處裂痕斑斑，這種取景似乎既非現實也很荒誕，但只有穿越地球親眼目睹之後，我才得以放飛遐思。

        比薩斜塔不失為一部劃時代傑作，迄今雖然尚未倒塌砸傷何人，但依我看絲毫無損於它的壯觀形象。值得一提的是，我慶幸時至今日仍然允許爬高，儘管本人沒趕上合適的時間，但凡有一個笨蛋滑倒跌下來都會影響現有規定，希望在那天到來之前我再度趕來專門攀登斜塔之巔。

        就談這些，今夏熱點話題到此結束，並非事事如願，但我還算玩得盡興。下次我會多拿出幾個鐘頭的富裕時間以確保登塔無誤，地面視角終究比較局限。

Today in History(歷史上的今天):

2017: Best of the Rhine, Germany(德國萊茵河—美味佳餚)

2017: Rüdesheim the Chief Wine Industry, DEU(德國呂德斯海姆—酒城)

2017: Rhine—Trechtingshausen to Bingen, DEU(德國萊茵河—從隼堡到女先知)

2017: Rhine—Lorch to Niederheimbach, DEU(德國萊茵河—從死亡島到桑內克堡)

2017: Rhine—Kaub to Bacharach, DEU(德國萊茵河—從皇宮城堡到維爾納禮拜堂)

2017: Oberwesel—Schonburg & Ochsenturm, DEU(德國上韋瑟爾—申堡與牛塔)

2017: Loreley—Father Rhine, Germany(德國蘿莉萊女妖石—萊茵河之父)

2017: Rhine—Bornhofen to St Goar, DEU(德國萊茵河—從鼠堡到貓堡)

2017: Rhine—Spay to Boppard, DEU(德國萊茵河—從雷司令到葡萄種植園)

2017: Rhine—Koblenz to Lahnstein, DEU(德國萊茵河—從德意志之角到防禦重鎮)

2017: Marksburg—WWII Only Survivor, DEU(德國萊茵河上二戰獨存的馬克堡)

2017: Braubach—Marksburg Castle, Germany(德國布勞巴赫—馬克城堡)

2014: YMCA Camp─Dodgeball-2(基督教青年會夏令營─躲避球之二)

Crosslinks(相關博文):

Italy(出遊意大利)

Europe(歐洲掠影)