早上九點鐘我被電話鈴尖叫聲吵醒！媽媽去接電話，我動手穿上衣服。待她放下電話，屋內氣氛立刻緊張起來。導遊正在酒店大廳等候我們！我二話不說，趕緊蹬上鞋子，胡亂洗漱了片刻，跟媽媽一起衝進餐廳。新月形麵包就着果汁，吭咕郎當一起下肚，哪裡顧得上青紅皂白？接着，我們隨導遊順路去別處旅館接其他遊人，兜了好大一個圈子並重新更換座駕之後，方才正式開始遊覽活動。

      I awoke @ 9:00 am this morning by the sharp sound of a phone RING! I started to get dressed while my mom answered the call. When she hung up, she looked alarmed. The tour guide was already here! I ran to get my shoes on and took a quick sloppy wash. Then both of us dashed to the hotel restaurant and gulped down some croissants with a cup of fruit juice before running to our tour pickup bus. We had to switch buses for our city tour, which took longer than expected. Finally we were able to move onto the right direction and arrived at the first sightseeing spot of the day.

      Santa Lucia Hill was an enormous, green and quite impressive park where the capital Santiago began to build up 471 years ago. I stood on a cannon inside Fort Hidalgo atop and overlooked Natl. Library, Chilean National Museum of Fine Arts, La Moneda Palace at a distance. While the guide talked, my mom beckoned me to do some odd poses, which was weird. But the weirdest was that all of the poses she conducted me to perform flew into her camera!

      聖盧西亞山公園占地面積很大，綠樹成蔭，景致誘人。據說471年前，智利首都成立於此並逐漸發展成為今天穩定繁榮的城市。我站在山頂伊達爾戈城堡當年印第安民族抗擊外來殖民統治戰爭時用過的大炮上，放眼了望國家圖書館、國家美術館、拉莫內達宮總統府、智利最高法院等具有歷史意義的建築地標。此時，導遊一邊講解，媽媽一邊攝影。最不可思議的是，她不管三七二十一，在旁邊暗示我擺出稀奇古怪的姿勢，毫不含糊搶下各種鏡頭。

      As Tian-An-Men Square to Beijing and Red Square to Moscow, Plaza de Armas or Armory Square was the symbolic heart of Santiago. Colonial architectures, such as Metropolitan Cathedral of Santiago, City Hall, Central Post Office, and Chilean National History Museum stood side by side like a showcase. A golden and gleaming map lied on the ground. I tried to pick it up and didn't get it budged at all. The map was engraved as the tour guide told us. I suddenly felt embarrassed.

      正如北京的天安門廣場和莫斯科的紅場一樣，武器廣場堪稱聖地亞哥的象徵，殖民式建築林立櫛比，大都會教堂、市政廳、中央郵政大樓、國家歷史博物館等醒目地點綴着廣場。金光閃閃的地圖鑲嵌在廣場鵝卵石路上，我曾試圖把它揭開，可它紋絲不動，導遊說明緣由之後，我羞愧不已，怎麼事先沒看出來呢？

      It's well known that Santiago became the 4th biggest city in South America and the capital of the Republic of Chile. Interestingly, its Congress was not here but resided in a port city of Valparaiso 3-hour away by car to its northwest instead.

      眾所周知，聖地亞哥既是智利共和國首都，也是南美洲第四大名都。有趣的是，它的國民議會並沒有設在首都，相反卻位於西北部需要開車3個小時的港口城市瓦爾帕萊索。

      We took a long, long stroll passing shops and restaurants in downtown along walking path designed for tourism. The upcoming one seemed better than the last in the old town. Like New York City and Philadelphia in USA, I felt disgusted by the trash pell-mell in some commercial alleys. Brown foamy water penetrated the land and floated down to its landmark Mapocho River.

      我們沿老城區步行街邊看邊逛，街道兩旁商店琳琅滿目，餐館層出不窮，一個賽過一個。如同美國紐約和費城，這裡有的地方同樣垃圾成災，臭氣熏天。髒兮兮甚至飄着泡沫的濁水爛泥污染環境，日益侵害橫貫全城的馬普丘河。

      We asked to drop off at Central Market which made of metalwork pilasters and looked fabulous. It had everything from Hallulla Chilean bread to germs, mostly fish and seafood. We stopped @ Restaurant Donde Augusto to eat lunch. Baked meat empanadas were traditional Chilean bakery and always good appetizers to start with in Chile. I enjoyed a well-done delicious smoked beef, while mom preferred Porotos Granados (a thick stew of whole beans and squash) to oily buttered sword fish. In the meanwhile, mom had addicted to Chilean national cocktail Pisco Sour ever since we stayed in Explora on Easter Island and couldn't help drinking whenever available. I personally liked fresh strawberry juice a lot. Be frankly, they all tasted excellent.

      我們特意約定中央市場門前下車。這個由半露方柱金屬框架建設而成的大樓外表漂亮，內部商家貨攤出售各種物品，從智利麵餅到病原菌應有盡有，主要的多為魚蝦貝蟹海鮮產品。東德•奧古斯托餐廳不僅吸引我們的眼球，而且還大吊我們的胃口。“酒肉穿腸肚，佛祖心中留”。頭台烘烤的智利餡餅打完先鋒，我開始飽食熏透的牛肉套餐；媽媽起先對亮晶晶油乎乎的奶油箭魚寄予厚望，但很快便喜歡上用各種豆類瓜果煲出的濃湯雜燴。同時，她念念不忘智利國飲──皮斯科酸，自打復活節島品嘗“探索酒店”調出的雞尾酒，她百喝不厭；而我則認為，最來勁的非色香味鮮的草莓汁莫屬。說句實說，無論風味小吃還是傳統大餐，味道都挺不錯，蘿蔔白菜自有人愛。

      After an enormously large lunch, we paraded across streets to see if there were any shoe stores because my shoes worn so batteredly from hiking and trekking that almost became a mouse's dinner! We located one shortly. But it took forever to find a pair for me! After debating one to another, I chose one good for hiking called NORTH SIDE at ease. I really liked the color and texture which matched my shirt.

    開過戒後，我們溜溜噠噠四處尋找鞋店。原來我腳上裝備的這雙太不爭氣，剛掃蕩完復活節島，鞋底穿幫，鞋面開花，鞋帶糾結，幾乎成為老鼠夢寐以求的盤中餐！其實身在聖地亞哥鬧市區，我們索定鞋店不難，但索定合適的鞋型並非易事。我挑過來篩過去眼都看花了，最後終於相中一雙經得起長途跋涉的“北漂”運動鞋。鞋的顏色和質地恰好般配我身上穿的體恤衫，感覺很爽。

      Santiago was a better place than I expected.

      聖地亞哥比我想象得好。 

(二O一二年十二月廿日，澳門回歸紀念日)