早上九点钟我被电话铃尖叫声吵醒！妈妈去接电话，我动手穿上衣服。待她放下电话，屋内气氛立刻紧张起来。导游正在酒店大厅等候我们！我二话不说，赶紧蹬上鞋子，胡乱洗漱了片刻，跟妈妈一起冲进餐厅。新月形面包就着果汁，吭咕郎当一起下肚，哪里顾得上青红皂白？接着，我们随导游顺路去别处旅馆接其他游人，兜了好大一个圈子并重新更换座驾之后，方才正式开始游览活动。

      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!

      圣卢西亚山公园占地面积很大，绿树成荫，景致诱人。据说471年前，智利首都成立于此并逐渐发展成为今天稳定繁荣的城市。我站在山顶伊达尔戈城堡当年印第安民族抗击外来殖民统治战争时用过的大炮上，放眼了望国家图书馆、国家美术馆、拉莫内达宫总统府、智利最高法院等具有历史意义的建筑地标。此时，导游一边讲解，妈妈一边摄影。最不可思议的是，她不管三七二十一，在旁边暗示我摆出稀奇古怪的姿势，毫不含糊抢下各种镜头。

      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.

      正如北京的天安门广场和莫斯科的红场一样，武器广场堪称圣地亚哥的象征，殖民式建筑林立栉比，大都会教堂、市政厅、中央邮政大楼、国家历史博物馆等醒目地点缀着广场。金光闪闪的地图镶嵌在广场鹅卵石路上，我曾试图把它揭开，可它纹丝不动，导游说明缘由之后，我羞愧不已，怎么事先没看出来呢？

      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.

      众所周知，圣地亚哥既是智利共和国首都，也是南美洲第四大名都。有趣的是，它的国民议会并没有设在首都，相反却位于西北部需要开车3个小时的港口城市瓦尔帕莱索。

      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.

      我们沿老城区步行街边看边逛，街道两旁商店琳琅满目，餐馆层出不穷，一个赛过一个。如同美国纽约和费城，这里有的地方同样垃圾成灾，臭气熏天。脏兮兮甚至飘着泡沫的浊水烂泥污染环境，日益侵害横贯全城的马普丘河。

      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.

      我们特意约定中央市场门前下车。这个由半露方柱金属框架建设而成的大楼外表漂亮，内部商家货摊出售各种物品，从智利面饼到病原菌应有尽有，主要的多为鱼虾贝蟹海鲜产品。东德•奥古斯托餐厅不仅吸引我们的眼球，而且还大吊我们的胃口。“酒肉穿肠肚，佛祖心中留”。头台烘烤的智利馅饼打完先锋，我开始饱食熏透的牛肉套餐；妈妈起先对亮晶晶油乎乎的奶油箭鱼寄予厚望，但很快便喜欢上用各种豆类瓜果煲出的浓汤杂烩。同时，她念念不忘智利国饮──皮斯科酸，自打复活节岛品尝“探索酒店”调出的鸡尾酒，她百喝不厌；而我则认为，最来劲的非色香味鲜的草莓汁莫属。说句实说，无论风味小吃还是传统大餐，味道都挺不错，萝卜白菜自有人爱。

      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.

    开过戒后，我们溜溜哒哒四处寻找鞋店。原来我脚上装备的这双太不争气，刚扫荡完复活节岛，鞋底穿帮，鞋面开花，鞋带纠结，几乎成为老鼠梦寐以求的盘中餐！其实身在圣地亚哥闹市区，我们索定鞋店不难，但索定合适的鞋型并非易事。我挑过来筛过去眼都看花了，最后终于相中一双经得起长途跋涉的“北漂”运动鞋。鞋的颜色和质地恰好般配我身上穿的体恤衫，感觉很爽。

      Santiago was a better place than I expected.

      圣地亚哥比我想象得好。 

(二O一二年十二月廿日，澳门回归纪念日)