2018-07-20

【Aiden in English】

        I've never been to Las Vegas. In total honesty, I don't feel like going with my family either. Sin City is better experienced with a bunch of dumb friends. While some of my friends have already touched the Las Vegas culture, I've yet to venture out into the gambling world. For starters, let's begin with the Principality of Monaco, a country made for gambling.

        It's 2.5 kilometers squared. That's how large Monaco is. Two-and-a-half square kilometers. The size of some farms. The size of Montgomery Township in PA. The size of two-and-a-half kilometers squared. Outside the Vatican, it is the smallest and most populated country I've ever heard of. And it's also two-and-a-half kilometers squared of casinos. There are about eight thousand citizens in Monaco, which not so coincidentally is also the estimated population of the country.

        The capital, also the main city, also the center of the constitutional monarchy, is called Monaco-Ville. It's extremely small. By standing on a certain angle on a building, you can see France, and a little further, Italy, in the same view. That's nuts. You thought the Four Corners was the pinnacle of borders. You are wrong.

        Other than the palace where the Prince resides, Monte Carlo next to the capital city really is the European version of Vegas. While it may not have prestige, tourists are mainly attracted to the casinos where are located in its neighbor, Monte Carlo. I suppose this is a bit different from Vegas, where people also come for the spectacular views and other events in the region of French Riviera, but the ideals are the same: spend money.

        Now, it would've been cool to describe what the inside of these casinos looked like. Like Vegas, Monte Carlo doesn't like having underaged kids waste their lives away. Therefore, my largest takeaway was "wow, these people have a lot of money." Just by looking at special editions of their cars, I witnessed the class it took to gamble in these casinos. That also somewhat surprised me as well. For the luxury presented in the cars, the casinos hardly looked like the type you would find the upper class to be in. But when you enter the grand hall, you see its beautiful decoration with paintings straight from a church, and you understand why Monaco is so pristine. I also find it ironic that the paintings on Monte Carlo Casino roof resemble a Christian dome.

        In addition to the casinos, Monaco presents many other ways to burn through your retirement savings. As you know, you can essentially see the bay from every part of the country. It's by the water, and the more inland you go, the higher the elevation, so a view of the water is always available and beckoning. Great excuse to raise housing prices. With that, food and service prices rise as well. Then taxes go up. You get the gist.

        Therefore, for small medieval towns sparkled in the French Rivera like èze, with a population of thirty-six people, housing is ridiculously high. It doesn't seem as if the country is full of rich people, and many are actually working at minimum wage. But the tourists, along with the gamblers and retired folks, give the country its structure. And although theoretically, this place is just an extension of France, like a territory, it holds a certain uniqueness that truly separates itself from another count, much like how Vegas is different from its fellow cities.

【紅霞譯文】

        我從未去過拉斯維加斯，說句心裡話，壓根也沒打算與家人同行，跟一幫狐朋狗友去所謂的罪惡之城才夠來勁，有些哥兒們早已領略過賭城文化，可我對賭博仍無概念，作為初學者，何不一切從擅長賭博的摩納哥公國開始。

        縱橫二個半平方公里，足以涵蓋摩納哥全部國土；方圓二個半平方公里，既沒有某些農場寬綽，也不比賓州蒙哥馬利鎮遜色；面積二個半平方公里，除了梵蒂岡以外，我聽說摩納哥堪稱世界最小密度最大的國家，何況賭場又馳騁整個疆域。全國人口約至八千，這可不是胡編亂造的數字。

        首都名叫摩納哥城，它不僅是本土主要城市，而且還是君主立憲制政體中心，地盤甚小，你若站在樓頂某處直視，眼皮底下是法國，接下去再往遠處一點便是意大利，簡直不可思議，恍若登上美國四角之巔，殊不知身在千里開外。

        首都不過是王子居住的皇宮而已，而鄰城蒙地卡羅可謂維加斯在歐洲的翻版，雖然談不上提供什麼特殊待遇，但賭場別具異國情調，得天獨厚的蔚藍色海岸外加名堂繁多的娛樂活動更叫遊人趨之若鶩，當然歸根結底離不開花錢消費。

        現在先來描述一下賭場內景，與維加斯相似之處，蒙地卡羅同樣不想讓未成年孩子浪費光陰，因此對我來說印象最深的莫過於：“媽呀，這些賭徒個個身家殷實”，瞄上一眼他們的座駕，光顧這裡的常客衣冠楚楚，派頭有點超乎想象，不過單從開的量產車品牌足以表明他們遠非等閒之輩。賭場大廳裝飾得富麗堂皇，繪畫雕塑直接從教堂照搬照拿，這時你恍然大悟為何摩納哥如此循規蹈矩，於我而言，摩納哥賭場天花板堪比天主教圓拱屋頂雄偉壯觀。

        除賭場而外，摩納哥還有其它很多地方讓你揮霍退休積蓄。如你所知，整個國家依山傍水，內陸離海灣越遠地勢則越高，海景隨處可見，快樂唾手可得，無疑為房價上漲提供了充足理由，日常食品與服務費用節節攀高，所付稅額也隨之增長，你悟出門道了吧。

        這麼一來，像蔚藍海岸上埃茲這座僅有卅六人的中世紀小鎮房價才會出奇地昂貴，當然並非表示本地人全都富得流油，不少居民完全靠基本工資過活，多虧遊客、賭徒和退休人士挺身而出，給摩納哥帶來經濟實惠。儘管摩納哥理論上像法蘭西海外領地，但實際上卻獨具其它地方少有的優勢，正像維加斯與周圍城市不同似的。

Today in History(歷史上的今天):

2015: GHCS Camp─Kids Can Be Kids(光華營─孩子畢竟是孩子)

2013: Drama Camp-4(戲劇夏令營之四)

Crosslinks(相關博文):

Italy(出遊意大利)

Europe(歐洲掠影)