中國有句諺語：“一日之計在於晨”；對我而言，稱心如意的早餐永遠是每天良好開端的標誌。炒雞蛋夾烤麵包看起來極其平常，吃起來口感不錯，草莓汁味道新鮮可口。吃罷早餐，我們打點行李準備結賬離開酒店，此時，我默默道別酒店和首府聖地亞哥。 

      In Chinese proverb, an hour in the morning is worth two in the evening. To me, it's always pleasant to start a new day with a scrumptious breakfast. I had fried eggs and toasted bread with strawberry juice. The eggs with white bread looked plain, but yummy. The juice tasted fresh and very berry. As we loaded up our luggage and checked out, I made a French silent farewell to the hotel and the great city of Santiago.

      When the tour group finally met together, we started out to a garden city called Vina Del Mar on Pacific coast. A nickname was given to it as Vineyard by the Sea due to a Colonial hacienda whose vineyards faced the ocean. The Flower Clock made the entire city in bloom.

      只待旅行團集結完畢，我們立刻朝太平洋花園之都維尼亞德爾馬駛去。這座城市最早因一殖民莊園主的葡萄園面向太平洋而被稱作“海上葡萄園”，市中心的“花草時鐘”可以印證。

      There we paid a visit to a tiny Fonck Museum where it provided the best insight to the ancestral history of its inhabitants and natural sciences. A giant Moai stood at the gate not only symbolically to the city but to the nation because he was the only one outside Easter Island. It reminded of us how great we made our pilgrimage to his hometown a few days ago. The exhibition on the 2nd floor held a complete collection of arthropods and animals which we would find their footprints while we traveled in Chile in the following week. Some poisonous insects were kept in cages carefully. When I passed through this section, I made a quiet oath never to sit on the floor before dusting it.

      方克博物館小巧玲瓏，為我們了解智利土著祖先生活史和自然科學打開了窗口。館外摩艾石像是唯一遠離復活節島而落戶智利大陸的真品國寶。一看到它，我們禁不住回想起前不久朝拜其故居文化的愉快場景。二樓展廳有從全國採集的節肢動物和哺乳動物整套標本，相信在未來一周所到之處，我們將會實地探訪這些動物的足跡。鑑於有些俱毒的昆蟲被小心存放在密封的盒子裡，我暗下決心，今後如若再經過此類地方，一定不能隨便席地而坐。

      Outside the entrance to Palacio Carrasco municipal library as Cultural Capital, the sculpture of "La Defensa" by Auguste Rodin was declared as a National Historic Monument. A flag of culture in China hung on the top. Currently, it was under renovation. Therefore, we could even take a look inside.

      素有“文化之家”美譽的卡拉斯科莊園市圖書館門前矗立着英雄國家紀念碑，這是法國著名雕塑家羅丹的作品。樓頂屋檐下大幅標語張貼着“中國文化”字樣，可惜圖書館正處在維修階段，謝絕參觀，不然真應該進去看個究竟。

      An earthquake stuck the city severely in Feb, 2010. A visible crack left in the facade of Palacio Vergara of Fine Arts Museum and its recovery was still on track after nearly 3 years. Nearby Vergara Amphitheater hosted the Vina Del Mar Intl. Song Festival every summer and Elton John will perform "Rocket Man" in 2013.

      2010年2月地震嚴重破壞了維尼亞德爾馬城市建築，維加拉藝術博物館深受其害。時過將近三年，正面牆上的裂縫至今尚未修復。附近維加拉圓形露天劇場每年夏季都要舉行規模盛大的國際歌詠比賽，2013年英國樂壇常青樹艾爾頓•約翰將親臨現場演唱《火箭人》。

      Away from downtown, Renaca Beach laid beautiful and wide expanses of sand looking out to the Pacific. However, the water remained cold and the Humboldt Current constantly welled up it from the ocean floor. We'd rather stay off shore. Interestingly, the same current also accounted for the marvelous seafood. This was one of the reasons why we came here.

      離開鬧市區走近太平洋，仁納卡沙灘像一條寬大白色玉帶，優雅地鑲嵌在一眼望不到邊的海岸線上。洪堡洋流從南極冰川流經南美西部海岸，使得當地的海水涼得寒心，海風颳得刺骨。我們情願躲到風吹不到水打不着的人間天堂，溜溜彎兒，壓壓馬路，曬曬太陽，僅此而已。有趣的是，海洋生物反倒逆太平洋寒流而入，帶來豐盛的水產資源，吸引了天下遊客來此大快朵頤生猛海鮮。

      At lunch, the BBQ beef steak I ordered seemed too tough to chew. I doubted even a chainsaw would be able to cut it. But I was amazed to have almond-chocolate ice cream with a strawberry smoothie served for my dessert. The ice cream gave me tons of brain-freeze and the smoothie tasted similar to sour-patch juice. Mom had her own entree and also tried Pastel de Chocio served in a traditional earthenware bowl from a newly met friend across our table. She did not get used to ground meat topped with corn puree and baked because it tasted too much sugar.

      午餐上，我點來火烤牛排，沒想到肉質硬得根本嚼不動，即使鋼鋸鐵銼恐怕難以將它切開。好在我有杏仁巧克力冰激凌和草莓冰沙做後盾，雖然冰激凌害得我腦袋發僵，但冰沙酷得我味覺發嗲。媽媽吃完自己的主餐不算，還惦記周圍別人盤中智利名菜佳餚。當嘗過鄰桌“肉末玉米脆餅沙鍋”之後，她竟耐受不住高糖含量配方。

      In the afternoon, we drove to its twin city Valparaiso and bought the tickets to Nobel Literature Laureate Pablo Neruda's house- la Sabastiana where it transformed to a museum in memory of the famous Chilean poet. "Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair" was on display. This wooden house located on the side of steep hill and looked out over the Pacific Ocean. Pablo designed the interior on his own and his 2nd artist wife painted all the pictures. Green ink color often popped on his poems as his personal symbol for will and hope with his poetry. He liked to invite friends over and enjoyed hearing any new jokes, although he wasn't a very good joke teller. Indeed he would laugh and giggle even when the joke wasn't so funny.

      下午時分，我們隨車來到姊妹城瓦爾帕萊索──西班牙語中的“天堂谷地”，首先拜訪了諾貝爾文學獎獲得者智利詩人巴勃羅•聶魯達的塞巴斯蒂安娜故居，現已改成博物館供遊人參觀，他的著名詩集《二十首情詩和一支絕望的歌》陳列其中。這個木樓依山傍海，內部全部由詩人設計，他的第二位藝術家妻子作畫，綠色詩跡記錄了他對理想的追求和對詩歌的熱愛。詩人好客，喜歡聆聽朋友講笑話，雖然自己並不擅長插科打諢，但卻欣賞各種品味的趣聞軼事。

      After climbing back on our tour bus, my mom gave the driver a tip of $11 US dollars. It meant a lot to him because $1 US dollar converted to $500 Chilean pesos. So $11 dollars were equal to 5,500 pesos! The driver tended to drop us off at the hotel in the middle of steep hill. But the street was too narrow for the bus to go through and the slope appeared sharp enough for us to hike. By the time we arrived there, my legs felt on fire! I thought I was climbing Mount Everest. As soon as I got to my boutique room, I hopped onto bed and tried to think when I slept in a proper bed last time.

      我們終於看完景點返回旅遊大巴上。這時，媽媽遞給司機$11美元小費，對他來說非常可觀，因為按國際貨幣交換時價，$1美元可以折算智利現金$500比索，所以他總共收到$5,500比索外快！司機原打算送我們直接去酒店，但是，不僅馬路太窄，大巴根本過不去；而且山路又陡，我們只能一點一點向前蠕動。勝利到達酒店時，我兩腿酸軟腳底冒火！真以為自己剛剛從喜馬拉雅山凱旋而歸。等我一踏進精緻房間，我連滾帶爬撲上床去，好像很久沒有睡過囫圇覺了。

                  夜被擊碎

                  而藍色的星在遠處顫抖

                  晚風在天空中迴旋歌唱

──巴勃羅•聶魯達《今夜我可以寫》

(二O一二年十二月廿一日，冬至)