2016-07-05

【Aiden in English】

        Today marks the halfway point in our tour around Northern Europe, which comes quite surprisingly, as the trip feels already as if it's over. Maybe for the first stretch, it is... 

        The idea of the trip this summer included two Princess cruises, one around the Baltic Sea, the other around the English Isles. Some may say this is too much, but those two only add up to 23 days. As soon as we go across Øresund Strait between Sweden and Denmark, the first 11-day cruise is ending tomorrow morning, back in Copenhagen. From there, we’ll stay with another ship for one more tour. Finishing up that go-around, we somehow go to the Copenhagen Airport (CPH), where a lousy Norwegian Air Shuttle awaits to take us away to Gatwick Airport (LGW). Mom easily managed the time, giving us barely two hours of time to get from the port to the CPH. London, the largest city in Europe, needs some personal time for good touring, so we stay there for another day. It doesn't sound as if we're going to do anything special since the ship calls at nine-thirty in the morning of the next day. 

        The Caribbean Princess that will take us to the English Isles is one of the oldest cruises. The design of the ship is similar, but the size change would take some time to get used to. The current Regal Princess is the newest in its class, made just two years ago in 2014, whereas the Caribbean was made in 2006. The difference seemly is not too much, but the comfort zones of people change with the flow of technology and architecture, with a modern, contemporary style kicking in full force. 

        The second cruise from Southampton takes 12 days, traveling through the Celtic Sea, Irish Sea, Atlantic Ocean, North Sea, and the English Channel. Locations include England, Northern Ireland, Ireland, Scotland, and France. Probably the place that excites me the most would be Paris, the city of love. Many sights there are stunning, like the famous Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Notre-Dame Cathedral, Louvre, etc. Although the first part in the Baltic region was quite splendid, the second cruise looks very promising. 

        Yet I do not say this cruise was blown out from Denmark, Norway, Germany, Estonia, Russia, Finland, to Sweden. The memories of Moscow with its tall spires and ice cream cone roofs and the broken-down wall of Berlin, the symbol of rebuilding from previous scars, all will be remembered throughout my life. The future has yet to come, and it will be great.

【紅霞譯文】

        今天標誌着我們北歐之旅行程過半，心裡感覺跟快要結束似的，出門的日子過得飛快，也許第一段旅遊真到了……

        今年暑假我們計劃乘坐兩次“公主號”遊輪，先北上波羅的海，再東去英倫三島，想必有人會說太過折騰，可兩次遊輪加起來充其量僅有廿三天而已。等穿過瑞典丹麥之間的厄勒海峽，明天清早我們將重返始發地哥本哈根，並結束歷時十一天的航行，隨後將立馬開始下一條航程。我們要從哥本哈根凱斯楚普機場離境，搭乘難得按點飛行的挪威航空快線殺回倫敦格域機場。媽媽三下五除二，從碼頭到機場這段路程僅留出兩鐘頭時間。作為歐洲最大的城市，倫敦有很多好玩的地方值得駐足，因此我們打算提早一天趕到，說來並非安排了什麼特殊活動，而是因為候船時間定為明早九點半。

        即將帶我們週遊英倫三島的“加勒比號”是公主船舶公司資歷最老的遊輪，雖然船體構造與近期下水的相似，但規模大小絕不可同日而語，我們恐怕得多花點功夫來調整適應。目前我們所乘坐的“帝王號”是公主系列最年輕一代，於兩年前2014年投入使用，而“加勒比號”已經航行了十年有餘，兩者從表面上來看並無太大差異，不過在先進科技設備和現代建築造型方面卻有着天壤之別，而這些正是當下人們大力追捧的東西。

        我們的第二條航線將從英格蘭南安普敦啟程，沿着凱爾特海、愛爾蘭海、大西洋、北海和英吉利海峽周轉十二天，途徑英國蘭、北愛爾蘭、愛爾蘭、蘇格蘭和法國，大概最叫我按捺不住激動心情的地方就是所謂的愛之城──巴黎，那裡景點多得驚人，例如：著名的艾菲爾鐵塔、凱旋門、巴黎聖母院、盧浮宮等等，如果說前半部分波羅的海地區美輪美奐，那麼後半部分英法風景名勝準保引人入勝。

        我不得不承認，這回橫穿丹麥、挪威、德國、愛沙尼亞、俄羅斯、芬蘭以及瑞典七國首府之行無不叫我眼界大開，莫斯科市區高聳入雲冰激凌蛋卷式的教堂；推翻柏林牆象徵着德國人決心從戰後傷痕中走出來重建未來，路上所見所聞都讓我難以忘懷。明天正朝我走來，我將滿懷希望踏上美好的旅程。

相關博文：

Middle of Nowhere, Baltic Sea(從德國到愛沙尼亞波羅的海航行)

Middle of Nowhere, Baltic Sea(從德國到愛沙尼亞波羅的海航行)