早上我們錯過旅遊大巴，只好萬里長征始於足下，徒步自游巴西利亞，一座1956年才開始從荒蕪人煙的巴西中部高原建立起來的現代化首都。 

      We missed the tour bus in the morning. So mom and I decided to set foot on our own and look around Brazilian capital created ex nihilo in the center of the country in 1956. The glaring sun burned my neck as mom and I walked around the Monumental Axis of Brasilia.

      Like the newly built Anzac Parade of Canberra in Australia we visited 3 years ago, the Monumental Axis became the heart of the Brazilian political power: Plaza of the Three Powers (Legislative, Executive Presidential Office, and Judicial), Esplanade of the Ministers, and Ministry of External Relations. All landmarks lined up one after the other in a showcase. This was largest city in the world that did not exist at the beginning of the 20th century and was designed by the most famous Brazilian principle architect Oscar Niemeyer (1907-2012). Because the innovative and imaginative elements, Brasilia remarked a UNESCO heritage site in 1987.

      與兩年前我們實地拜訪過的澳大利亞新建首都堪培拉閱兵廣場相似，巴西紀念大道同樣是全國政治心臟：三權廣場(總統府、聯邦最高法院、國會參眾兩院)、政府各部大廈和外交部，依次展示在我們面前，這是世界上自20世紀以來由巴西著名建築師奧斯卡•尼邁爾(1907-2012)主持設計的最大城市，其標新立異的創作手法結合超越時空的想象力，使得巴西利亞於1987年榮登聯合國教科文組織《世界遺產名錄》。

      It was a nice and sunny day, but we learned not to trust weather in the past week. Brasilia, in particular, could rain a sunny day shining down like water.

      今天天氣不錯，晴空萬里，但我們臨時練就了一顆紅心兩手準備，尤其在巴西利亞，老天翻臉不認人，傾盆大雨說下就下，不僅讓盛夏火爆的驕陽掛不住臉面，更令我們這些遠方來客措手不及。

      We took an elevator to the top of the TV Tower across our hotel- Melia Brasil 21 and overlooked at much of distance. The Cultural Complex of the Republic- National Library and National Museum, Cathedral of Brasilia, the artificial Paranoa Lake and the JK Bridge were located on the one side toward southeast. There was the Conference Center and the JK Memorial a little bit further ahead on the other side toward west. By the way, JK, i.e. Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira, was the president who initiated to build the new capital city in Brasilia.

      下榻梅里亞巴西21酒店對面正是電視塔，我們登上至高點鳥瞰全城，國家圖書館和國家博物館所在的文教區、巴西利亞大教堂、帕拉諾阿人工湖和JK橋位居城東南；會議中心和JK紀念碑面朝西方。順便提一下，JK是儒塞利諾•庫比契克•德•奧利維拉的簡稱，當年時任總統，並下令遷都建城。

      It took a little time to identify what we saw. We were able to view along the Monumental Axis from the intersection with the Highway Axis to the government buildings of the Ministries on each side of the Esplanade!

    我們沒花多少時間就能辨認出所要參觀的景點，幾乎全部座落在紀念大道與高速公路大道垂直交叉線以南。

      Once memorized our destinations to the historical places, we began with the hard walk. Our first stop was at an enormous hyperboloid Indian crown. If that wasn't strange enough, right under the Cathedral of Brasilia was Dom Bosco Sanctuary with curved columns. Three angles hung from the rainbow ceiling. It looked gorgeous, but the temperature inside was just as hot as the outside. The humidity almost killed us with no hesitation.

      確定了旅行坐標之後，我們開始正式出征。第一站便是巨大無比呈雙曲面形的印第安人“王冠”──巴西利亞大教堂。論設計，構思自然，風格獨特；論美觀，波浪式斜柱烘托出圓拱形鮑思高聖殿，三位天使凌空懸掛彩虹屋頂之下，看上去非常優雅。教堂內部的溫度跟外面沒什麼兩樣，但濕度囂張到足以叫我們死無藏身之地。

      The National Theatre in the shape of a truncated Aztec pyramid became the biggest architectural center in Niemeyer's works.

      國家劇院據稱為尼邁爾作品中最大的建築中心，其形狀猶如削掉頂部的印第安阿茲特克金字塔。

      外交部大樓是尼邁爾另一部不朽作品，大理石牆、花園、雕塑各由其他三位傑出的創造家、設計家和藝術家鼎力合作，使這個號稱伊塔瑪拉蒂宮的建築大放異彩。

      Pigeon's House had a 66-ft/20-m high concrete sculpture next to the largest flag in the world to be flown continuously at the Plaza of the Three Powers.

      鴿子屋是一個66英尺／20米高的鋼筋水泥雕塑，座落於三權廣場中央，旁邊矗立着世界上最大的連日飄揚的國旗。

      Plateau Palace functioned as the working office of the President of the Republic, including the offices of the Vice-President and of the Chief of Staff.

      高原宮不僅用作巴西總統官邸，同時還是副總統和總統府發言人辦公所在地。

      Supreme Tribunal Federal was not only the highest court in Brazil, but judged the constitutionality of laws passed by the National Congress. The facade Ministry of Justice had 6 balconies decorated with running water. The Office of the Attorney-General was one of few buildings not in white color.

      最高聯邦法院是巴西獨立於國會的最高審級和審判機關；斜對面司法部大樓帶有6個流水平台，旁邊檢察院長辦公樓則是少數幾個非白色建築之一。

      The Congress consisted of the Senate House (81 members) on the small cupola down and the Chamber of Deputies (513 members) on the large inverted cone up. 

    聯邦議會大廈集合了參議院(81席)和眾議院(513席)，前者小圓拱朝下，後者大圓拱朝上，各有不同寓意。

      I ran into a boy who just shared the same age as I was 9-year-old at the time. He collaborated with his mom who held a jumping pole at hand to get mangoes and avocados down from the trees at the Esplanade of the Ministers. Because of the language barrier, we did not talk much to each other verbally and communicated only with gestures or bodily expression instead.

    眼前這位老弟與我同為九歲，在政府部委大廈前我倆不期而遇。當時他正和媽媽分工合作，媽媽手握長杆，試圖將樓道兩旁高樹上結滿的芒果和鱷梨打下來；而他則負責把掉落在地的芒果和鱷梨一個個地收集到桶里，帶回家去。因為彼此語言交流不暢，我們不好意思地只能靠手勢互致問候。

      Before we knew it, we were under the searing hot sun again. Just as the heat got into us, we entered Nation's Pantheon of JK with historical pictures in the dark. The pictures were worth a thousand words because all the descriptions in Portuguese appeared absolutely meaningless to us. In the form of a dove, this national monument was dedicated to honor the memory of Brazilian national heroes who represented ideals of freedom and democracy.

      繼續走着，不覺我們一次又一次赤裸裸地暴露在烈日驕陽之中，任其生吞活剝。好在這個接骨眼上，JK國家紀念館閃現眼前，我們頭也不回地鑽了進去。裡面黑乎乎的，僅能看清牆上歷史圖畫，而這些圖畫絕對勝過千言萬語，因為我們如同文盲，對葡萄牙文大字不識一個。國家紀念館外形像和平鴿，用以紀念為爭取自由和民主而捐軀的愛國志士。

      At noon, we started to focus on an eatery where we were supposed to dine out for lunch. There were no formal restaurants commercially available in the Monumental Axis. We were cautious to experience vendors on the street. No doubt the National Congress came on the top of our selections. Once briefly passed the security X-ray gate, we asked for the direction to a restaurant. No one seemed to know how to tell us in English until a gentleman voluntarily took us there. After a large feast, we toured the Senate House with a tour guide who could only speak in her mother tongue. We didn't understand anything until the color changed from the Green Hall to the Black Hall. Up to now, we realized that the local people typically didn't speak English at all. A tourist would benefit if he or she knew Portuguese or even Spanish. Unfortunately, we hardly understood anything in both languages.

      中午時分，我們需要就地解決吃飯問題。紀念大道未設正式餐館，而我們又不情願隨便把自己交待給小商小販。無疑，眼前國會大廈成為我們最佳選擇。簡單地通過X光安檢掃描之後，我們隨即詢問餐館去向，可現場大部分人不會說英語，好在一位工作人員見義勇為，主動送我們去職工食堂。水足飯飽之後，我們遊覽參議院。因為當時會說英語的人手有限，我們大膽報名參加了葡語小組，導遊的深情解說其實都是對牛彈琴，從綠色大廳轉到黑色大廳，我們如聽天書，硬着頭皮霧裡看花。說句實話，若到巴西旅遊，最好會說葡萄牙語，哪怕連蒙帶猜懂點鄰家通用的西班牙語也好應酬。信不信由你，在巴西英語幾乎沒有用武之地！如今事到臨頭，我們只能大眼瞪小眼，小眼亂轉悠。

      Before we left the National Congress, mom asked if she could cash US dollars from the Bank of Brazil. Sadly the ATM card was out of security fashion and could not be recognized in this country. Mom would like to find out where we could use our ATM card. A lady who worked in the Congress with bilinguals overheard the conversation between mom and a banker and voluntarily approached to us as our interpreter. We were redirected to the Central Bank of Brazil, the only place where we might be able to cash out US dollars. She helped us to hire a taxi and told the Portuguese-spoken driver to take care of us all the way from the central bank to our hotel. But even in the Central Bank of Brazil, we couldn't cash US dollar but Brazilian currency REAL instead. Disappointedly, we walked back into the sunlight except the sun was gone. It started to rain and gallon after gallon of water came down from the sky. By the time we ran into the hotel in a short distance after getting off the taxi, we were wetter than fish. I felt like a starving stray dog once again.

      離開國會大廈之前，媽媽想起取點美元零花，可是隨身攜帶的美國銀行取款卡非常落伍，當地取款機器根本無法確認識別。於是，媽媽去地下室巴西銀行分所碰碰運氣，且不說能否辦理，沒有一位工作人員能用英語告訴媽媽“行”或者“不行”。就在我們迷惘之際，一位就職於國會眾議院的女顧客挺身而出，好心給我們擔當翻譯，並建議巴西中央銀行也許能讓我們如願以償。我們坐上她安排的出租，遵照指定路線飛離而去。等趕到巴西中央銀行才知道，在巴西任何外國遊客都不允許直接提取美元，倒是我們可以隨意換用巴西貨幣雷亞爾。嗨！幾經折騰，我們終於走出室內重見天日。不過此時天氣轉陰，瓢潑大雨傾注而灌。等下車跑回酒店，幾步之遙，我們不光渾身上下被淋得濕漉漉的，我肚子也開始咕嚕咕嚕發起內訌。