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.

【红霞译文】

        我从未去过拉斯维加斯，说句心里话，压根也没打算与家人同行，跟一帮狐朋狗友去所谓的罪恶之城才够来劲，有些哥儿们早已领略过赌城文化，可我对赌博仍无概念，作为初学者，何不一切从擅长赌博的摩纳哥公国开始。

        纵横二个半平方公里，足以涵盖摩纳哥全部国土；方圆二个半平方公里，既没有某些农场宽绰，也不比宾州蒙哥马利镇逊色；面积二个半平方公里，除了梵蒂冈以外，我听说摩纳哥堪称世界最小密度最大的国家，何况赌场又驰骋整个疆域。全国人口约至八千，这可不是胡编乱造的数字。

        首都名叫摩纳哥城，它不仅是本土主要城市，而且还是君主立宪制政体中心，地盘甚小，你若站在楼顶某处直视，眼皮底下是法国，接下去再往远处一点便是意大利，简直不可思议，恍若登上美国四角之巅，殊不知身在千里开外。

        首都不过是王子居住的皇宫而已，而邻城蒙地卡罗可谓维加斯在欧洲的翻版，虽然谈不上提供什么特殊待遇，但赌场别具异国情调，得天独厚的蔚蓝色海岸外加名堂繁多的娱乐活动更叫游人趋之若鹜，当然归根结底离不开花钱消费。

        现在先来描述一下赌场内景，与维加斯相似之处，蒙地卡罗同样不想让未成年孩子浪费光阴，因此对我来说印象最深的莫过于：“妈呀，这些赌徒个个身家殷实”，瞄上一眼他们的座驾，光顾这里的常客衣冠楚楚，派头有点超乎想象，不过单从开的量产车品牌足以表明他们远非等闲之辈。赌场大厅装饰得富丽堂皇，绘画雕塑直接从教堂照搬照拿，这时你恍然大悟为何摩纳哥如此循规蹈矩，于我而言，摩纳哥赌场天花板堪比天主教圆拱屋顶雄伟壮观。

        除赌场而外，摩纳哥还有其它很多地方让你挥霍退休积蓄。如你所知，整个国家依山傍水，内陆离海湾越远地势则越高，海景随处可见，快乐唾手可得，无疑为房价上涨提供了充足理由，日常食品与服务费用节节攀高，所付税额也随之增长，你悟出门道了吧。

        这么一来，像蔚蓝海岸上埃兹这座仅有卅六人的中世纪小镇房价才会出奇地昂贵，当然并非表示本地人全都富得流油，不少居民完全靠基本工资过活，多亏游客、赌徒和退休人士挺身而出，给摩纳哥带来经济实惠。尽管摩纳哥理论上像法兰西海外领地，但实际上却独具其它地方少有的优势，正像维加斯与周围城市不同似的。

Today in History(历史上的今天):

2015: GHCS Camp─Kids Can Be Kids(光华营─孩子毕竟是孩子)

2013: Drama Camp-4(戏剧夏令营之四)

Crosslinks(相关博文):

Italy(出游意大利)

Europe(欧洲掠影)