泰晤士河上的明珠

There are cities, and then there are cities, places whose names resonate around the world, conjuring a dream landscape for the listener. Amongst these without a doubt standing shoulder to shoulder with the best is London. With a population of over seven million people in Greater London alone, and with over 300 languages spoken by its mixed population you will not find a more cosmopolitan city in the whole of Europe. The problem with travelling to such an exceptionally diverse city is that you will never have enough time. You can literally live a lifetime there and still barely scratch the surface. So spending just three and a half days in the capital city of the United Kingdom with my girlfriend Xiaomin would require some serious planning. Unfortunately apart from booking our hotel and getting a 50% discount thanks to the internet, I didn't really do any. You don't want to make this mistake.

無論什么地方都有城市,那些名字在全世界回響的城市,為聽者變幻出一個個夢境般的圖景。毋庸置疑的是,這其中首當其選的城市就是倫敦。僅僅在大倫敦區(qū),人口就超過了700萬,這里還有各種各樣的人說著超過300多種語言。在整個歐洲范圍內,你無法找到一個比倫敦更具有世界性的城市。在這樣一個無與倫比而又豐富多彩的城市游玩,存在的唯一問題就是:你的時間永遠不夠。你哪怕一輩子呆在那卻仍然只是接觸到一點皮毛的東西。因此,要和女友曉敏在這個聯合王國的首府度過僅僅三天半的時間,確實需要認真計劃一番。不幸的是,除了通過網絡預訂獲得以五折的價格入住酒店之外,我沒能好好地安排行程。我想你應該不想犯這樣的錯誤吧。

Arriving on a rainy late Friday afternoon our train pulled into the iconic Paddington Station. Fighting through the crowds we made our way via the underground; emerging from Kensington station we made a dash for the hotel arriving a little bedraggled and happily collapsed in our room. Taking the Underground during rush hour in any major city whilst carrying luggage is always a bad idea. The London Underground has the extra joy of having various stations and lines shut temporarily almost everyday for maintenance; so that quick route might not exist. After a brief rest we half-heartedly glanced through the tourist pamphlets liberated from the hotel lobby. Our plans decided for tomorrow, we decamped to a local restaurant for sustenance. Surprisingly, apart from the underground everything proved to be fairly cheap thanks to the recession and with the weak pound we could afford to spend a little more.

在一個下著雨的周五下午,我們的火車抵達標志性的帕丁頓車站。我們努力穿過擁擠的人群穿過地下通道,從肯辛頓站一出來就我們衣衫不整地沖向酒店,開心地倒在房間里。無論在哪個大城市,提著行李在高峰時間坐地鐵都不是什么好主意。倫敦的地鐵非常樂于每天臨時關閉一些站和線路來進行維護,所以一些快捷路線很有可能就不存在了。短暫休息以后,我們隨意瀏覽了擺在大廳的一些旅游冊子。第二天的計劃安排妥當之后,我們去一家當地餐館吃了頓好的。讓人驚訝的是,由于經濟不景氣,除了地鐵以外,所有東西都非常便宜,加上英鎊走低,我們可以負擔更多費用。

Rising early we headed off for the British Museum. The first thing we learned was, do not trust maps on the back of pamphlets. A few minutes walk just down the lane turned into a couple of hours of walking and we were still nowhere close to the museum. My constant comments that I knew where I was going hadn't endeared me to Xiaomin. Diving into a newsagent, I returned carrying my newly purchased A-Z of the London streets and after receiving some harsh glares from Xiaomin, humbled, I consulted the map and led the way to Covent Garden instead. The mood swiftly improved though as we strolled around the surrounding lanes watching some amazing street performers plying their trade: Living statues, magicians, comedians, escape artists, musicians and jugglers all competed for your attention n and your money. With feelings of regret we pulled ourselves away and with my navigational skills restored we slowly travelled across London's heart.

我們起了個大早向大英博物館出發(fā)。我們得到的第一個教訓就是千萬不要相信小冊子背后的地圖。本來在小巷走幾分鐘就到的路程我們走了幾個小時,然而還是連大英博物館的影子都看不見。雖然我老是說知道正往什么地方趕,但是曉敏卻沒有因此而對我鐘愛有加。我跑到一個報刊亭,帶回一本新買的小冊子,這本冊子囊括了倫敦以字母A開頭到以Z開頭的所有街道。曉敏恨恨地看了我一眼,我灰溜溜地看了地圖,然后帶她轉而向科芬園走去。不過,當我們在周圍的小巷漫步,看那些讓人驚嘆的街頭藝術家表演:活雕像、魔術師、喜劇演員、會脫身術的藝術家、音樂家以及變戲法的人,他們都在競相吸引你的眼球和錢包,心情很快就變好了。我們戀戀不舍地離開,此時我的方向感已經恢復,我們緩緩地游經倫敦的心臟。

From a tourist shop in Leicester Square we wandered down the streets savouring the beautiful Georgian architecture of Piccadilly Circus and Regents Street, fully lost in admiration for the skill of the architects' and builders'. Finally arriving at my favourite place in London, a 249 years old toys and sweets store called Hamleys. We shamelessly filled two bags full of sweets before hurrying on to our next goal St.James Park. The park itself is nothing too special but its gates are impressive to say the least with their extravagant display of golden crests and black iron which tower over you. The reason for these over the top gates is due to the house next door, more commonly known as Buckingham Palace. We couldn't see the royal flag flying from the roof, so the queen was not at home but we did get to see the famous guards standing motionless, immune to all distractions. By now the toll of walking so much was starting to show and my backpack was feeling like someone had thrown in some large boulders for fun. I was ready to return to the hotel but my arm was twisted by a certain lady desiring one last stop, and as it was nearby I gave in.

我們從萊斯特廣場的一間旅游商店沿著街道走,欣賞著漂亮的喬治王時代風格的建筑——皮卡迪利廣場和攝政街,完完全全地沉浸在對設計師以及建筑者們技巧的崇拜之中。最后,我們來到了我在倫敦最喜歡的一個地方——一個擁有249年歷史的玩具糖果店——哈姆利斯。在去另一個目的地圣詹姆斯公園之前,我們厚著臉皮把兩個袋子都裝滿了糖果。雖然公園本身并沒有什么特別之處,但至少,公園的大門是讓人印象深刻的。大門上有奢華的金羽冠,還有高懸在頭頂的黑鐵。之所以要在大門上懸掛這些東西,都是因為旁邊的一所房子——它更為人熟知的名字是白金漢宮。我們沒看見皇家旗幟在屋頂飄揚,也就是說女王不在家。但是我們看見了那些對任何事物都不感冒的、紋絲不動地站著的皇家衛(wèi)士。此時,因為走得太久身體開始抗議了,感覺好像有人往我的背包里扔了一些大石塊捉弄我。我準備回酒店,但是卻被一位態(tài)度堅決的女士挽住了手臂,要求再去最后一個目的地。因為那個地方并不遠,我妥協了。

Harrods, perhaps the most famous store in London where the rich shop, lived up to its reputation; security informed me I was not allowed to carry my backpack on my back only in my hand. I think it was to let me blend in amongst the rich without offending them or some such rubbish. Anyway a quick look at the prices, 50 pounds for a simple hair band on sale at half price instantly made me extremely careful not to knock anything over. You break it, you buy it! One accident and you might have to sell your house to raise the money. The sight of the hotel that night nearly brought tears to my eyes as like a crippled old man I eased myself into bed and passed out.

哈洛德百貨公司,可能是倫敦最負盛名的百貨商店,富人經常光顧此地,它確實名副其實。保安告知我不能把背包背在背上,只能用手提著。我想,我應該要融入到這些有錢人當中去,不能冒冒失失的,雖然這樣做的原因簡直是胡說八道。不管怎么說,當我看到一個簡單的發(fā)夾以50英鎊的半價出售時,我馬上變得格外小心,不要撞倒什么東西。弄壞照價賠償!稍不小心,你就可能要傾家蕩產來湊錢賠償。那晚,當我看到酒店的那瞬間幾乎要喜極而泣了,我就像一個跛腳的老頭一樣,倒在床上酣然大睡。

The next day dawned and with renewed vigor we once again set our sights on the British Museum, this time finding it without any problems. Paying extra for an audio tour we slowly made our way around each exhibit humbled by the craftsmanship, ingenuity and history contained in the various artefacts. If you can't afford the time or money to travel the world, a visit to the British Museum would probable suffice. No country or civilization seems to have been left out of the collection no matter how obscure. You won't find all the items on display as it's only a tiny fraction that is made available to the public for viewing at any one time. To display all the items in the collection together would take considerable more museums and cost a fortune. We only managed two of the vast floors as our bodies had yet to recover from the marathon the day before and the numerous stairs proved just too much for us. Leaning on each other for support we made it to a little sandwich shop and carrying our food settled down in Russell Square Gardens for an impromptu picnic. Turning to each other we decided that was enough sightseeing for the day and feeling a little guilty caught the tube.

第二天破曉時分,我們帶著新的活力再次向大英博物館進軍。這一次,我們不費吹灰之力就找到了。我們多花了些錢租了個隨身導覽講解器,然后在每一個展館前慢慢觀賞。我們?yōu)楦鞣N各樣蘊含著工藝、精巧的設計和歷史的手工制品所折服。如果你沒有足夠的金錢和時間去環(huán)游世界的話,來一趟大英博物館或許也已經足夠了。不管一個國家或者一種文化有多么不引人注目,你都能在這里的收藏中見到他們的蹤跡。并不是所有的文物都會展出,因為只有一小部分是可以在任何時間都向公眾開放的。要想把所有的文物展覽出來,需要相當多的博物館和相當大的一筆經費。由于我們剛從前一天的“馬拉松”中恢復過來,而且有又得爬很多層樓梯,所以我們只逛了奇寬無比的兩層。我們相互攙扶著來到一間小三文治店,然后買了些吃的到羅賽爾廣場花園,來了一場即興的野餐。經過商量,我們決定今天的觀光活動就到此為止了,同時也為(這么早)坐地鐵回去感到慚愧。

Instead of heading straight back to the Hilton, to assuage our guilt we carried on to Westfield, the largest in-town shopping centre in Europe. A sudden transformation came over Xiaomin, as when confronted with hundreds of shops, all with 50-75% discounts on all goods, she caught her second wind and with a sudden burst of adrenaline and a cheerful wave ,' I'll see you at the entrance in three hours', she was gone. Sadly or more accurately happily I made it a few meters to the nearest cafe and settled down with a hot chocolate and a good book to wait. After three hours had passed, a quick phone call made me realizes that if we were ever going to leave I would have to hunt her down and carry her out. I have to admit the place was impressive and finally with a promise to return the next day, we returned to the hotel a mere four hours later, almost hidden beneath an array of presents for the relatives back home.

我們并沒有直接返回希爾頓酒店,而是為了減輕內心的愧疚之情,來到了歐洲最大的購物中心——西田。當面對幾百家均打折低至五折到七五折的商店時,曉敏一下子就像變了個人一樣,興奮雀躍得不得了,又掀起了第二輪的購物風潮。“三小時以后我們在入口見吧?！眲傉f完她人就不見了。帶著些許傷心和竊喜,我來到幾米開外最近的一家咖啡店坐下,叫了一杯熱巧克力,然后看著一本好書,等著曉敏。三個小時過去了,接了一個短暫的電話以后我意識到,如果我再不把曉敏找到并帶出去,我們就走不了了。我必須承認這是一個讓人難忘的地方,并且答應曉敏第二天再來一次。大約四小時以后,我們回到了酒店,幾乎要埋在那一大堆帶回去給親戚們的禮物里邊了。

Our final day had arrived. So keeping my promise, we revisited Westfield and then set off for the picturesque sites of Westminster Abbey, Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. How stone can be made to look so delicate and detailed is beyond me. All I could do is stare in wonder and try and imagine the monumental task it must have been to build. I did notice a lot more Chinese tourists here than I had seen elsewhere in London taking photos of Big Ben and Xiaomin was no exception. After we returned home I complained to my parents that we had been standing there for what seemed like hours taking photos. I'm happy taking photos, but there is a limit to how many you need of any one thing. Xiaomin was in the middle of denying it when my father pointed out that from the first to the last photo of Big Ben, the clocks' hands had moved over two and a quarter hours. It becomes something of a family joke now not to have her take any of the family photos, as we just don't have enough time.

最后一天來臨,為了兌現我的諾言,我們又去了西田購物中心,然后奔往威斯敏斯特教堂、大笨鐘以及議會大廈這些美若詩畫的景點。我無法想象出來石頭竟能看起來被制作得如此精美而細致。我所能做的,就是嘆為觀止,猜想完成這樣的建筑物該是多么雄偉的一項工程。我發(fā)現,這里比別處有更多的中國游客,他們在給大笨鐘拍照,曉敏也不例外?；氐郊乙院?我向父母抱怨,我們幾乎在那站了幾個小時就是為了拍照。我喜歡拍照,但是每一樣東西該拍的數量是有限的,曉敏正要反駁我時,我父親指著大笨鐘的第一張照片和最后一張照片——照片上指針轉過了兩小時十五分?，F在,這已經成為我們家里的一個笑話,我們不讓曉敏給家里人拍照,因為我們沒有那么多時間。

We had hoped to go up in the London Eye for that amazing panoramic view of London's cityscape but instead had to settle for standing under it, as it was closed for maintenance. So mildly disappointed we wandered along the banks of the river Thames crossing over the Millennium Bridge before making our way back on the other side. With an eye on the time we decided on a final blitz passing through Trafalgar Square on our way to the National Gallery. The talent of these artists can't help but draw you in, their paintings bringing to life another era. Alas a quick glance at my watch told us that our time was up and if we wanted to catch our train we had better hurry. There were so many things we didn't do or see including major attractions like St.Paul's Cathedral but that's London, there is always more to see. Whether you are there for a specific festival or just catching a quick break, London always has something for everyone. No matter what captivates you, London certainly will.

我們本希望能夠登上倫敦眼來欣賞迷人的倫敦市全景,但卻不得不因為倫敦眼正在維修當中暫停營業(yè)而只能滿足于站在它的下面。帶著一絲失望,我們在回去之前沿著泰晤士河的沿岸走,從另一邊穿過千禧橋?？紤]到時間,我們決定在去國家展覽館的途中最后快速游覽一下特拉法爾加廣場。那些天才藝術家們讓你情不自禁就陶醉其中,他們的作品把你帶到了另一個年代。但可惜當我看了一眼手表以后,知道時間到了,如果我們想趕上火車,必須動作快點。我們還有很多景點沒有看,很多事情沒有做,包括主要景點圣保羅大教堂,不過這就是倫敦,你永遠都看不夠。不管你是去度過一個特別的節(jié)日,還是只是稍作休息,倫敦對每個人來說都意味著些什么。不管你感興趣的是什么,倫敦肯定能夠吸引你。

Notes

1. dive into

意為“沖向,鉆研、全身心投入”。

例句:He wanted to dive into the heart of the matter.

他想要探究事情的真相。

2. blend in

意為“融入、加入”。

例句:The new office block doesn't blend in with its surroundings.

新的辦公大樓與周圍的環(huán)境很不協調。

3. turn to

意為“轉向,求助于”。

例句:We can turn to him for help.

我們可以求助于他。

4. set off

意為“出發(fā),啟程”。

例句:He proposed to set off immediately.

他準備馬上動身。

Links:

1. Hamleys哈姆利斯

傳統的玩具商店很難找到,而倫敦的哈姆利斯(Hamleys)則是其中之一,因為可沒有多少玩具店開的比1760年還要早。哈姆利斯,作為一家標志性的旗艦商店,因為其不可思議的魔力,氛圍,豐富的商品和令人贊嘆的展示窗口而擁有國際聲望。當威廉?哈姆利于1760在倫敦開設第一家玩具店時,他把它狹小的霍爾本商店填滿了所有他能搜集來的玩具,從布娃娃到錫皮玩具士兵,從鐵環(huán)到木馬,因為他想打造世界上最好的玩具店。哈姆利甚至叫它“諾亞方舟”。到了1837年的時候,哈姆利斯儼然成了倫敦的地標。所以,當現今頂級的哈洛德百貨(Harrods)創(chuàng)始人亨利?查爾斯?哈羅德1849年在武士橋剛剛開設了一家小小的雜貨鋪,養(yǎng)家糊口時,哈姆利斯已經成為了相當成功的玩具百貨商場。在1881年,威廉?哈姆利的孫子在倫敦攝政街開設了一家分鋪,離皮卡迪里大街不遠。兩店呼應,并駕齊驅。目前哈姆利斯老鋪在倫敦攝政街188-196號,共有七層,堆滿了琳瑯滿目的玩具,這里簡直就是孩子們的天堂,不少大人在這里也流連忘返。

2. Harrods哈洛德百貨

世界最負盛名的百貨公司,販售奢華的商品,位于倫敦的騎士橋(Knightsbridge)上,“哈洛德”的品牌也用在哈洛德集團的其他子公司,如哈洛德銀行、哈洛德房地產公司、哈洛德航空等。哈洛德百貨占地4.5英畝,在其他超過330間百貨公司中,擁有超過一百萬平方尺的樓層地板面積,成為世界最大的百貨公司(與紐約梅西百貨打平),也是目前英國境內最大的百貨公司。

3. the British Museum大英博物館

大英博物館,又名不列顛博物館,成立于1753年,1759年1月15日起正式對公眾開放,是世界上歷史最悠久、規(guī)模最宏偉的綜合性博物館,也是世界上規(guī)模最大、最著名的博物館之一。大英博物館和紐約的大都會藝術博物館、巴黎的盧浮宮同列為世界三大博物館。大英博物館包括埃及文物館、希臘羅馬文物館、西亞文物館、歐洲中世紀文物館和東方藝術文物館。其中以埃及文物館、希臘羅馬文物館和東方藝術文物館藏品最引人注目,所收藏的古羅馬遺跡、古希臘雕像和埃及木乃伊聞名于世?，F有建筑為19世紀中葉所建,共有100多個陳列室,面積六七萬平方米,共藏有展品400多萬件。博物館正門的兩旁,各有8根又粗又高的羅馬式圓柱,每根圓柱上端是一個三角頂,上面刻著一幅巨大的浮雕。整個建筑氣魄雄偉,蔚為壯觀。除了欣賞展品外,游客還可以領略英國人在博物館設計方面的過人之處。

4. Big Ben大笨鐘

大笨鐘,是英國國會會議廳附屬的鐘樓 (Clock Tower) 的大報時鐘的昵稱。位于威斯敏斯特橋的南面橋頭,與英國議會大廈相連,英國議會大廈的北角,鐘樓高79米,鐘樓四面的圓形鐘盤,直徑為6.7米,是倫敦的傳統地標。坐地鐵可以在威斯敏斯特橋站下車。作為倫敦市的標志以及英國的象征,大笨鐘巨大而華麗,重13.5噸,四個鐘面的面積有兩平方米左右。大笨鐘從1859年就為倫敦城報時,根據格林尼治時間每隔一小時敲響一次,至今已一個半世紀,盡管這期間大笨鐘曾兩度裂開而重鑄,但現在大笨鐘的鐘聲仍然清晰、動聽。