2018-07-20

【Aiden in English】

        I've never been to Las Vegas. Honestly, I don't feel like going with my family either. Sin City is better experienced with a bunch of dumb friends. While some of my friends have already touched the Las Vegas culture, I've yet to venture out into the gambling world. Let's begin with the Principality of Monaco, a country made for gambling.

        It's 2.5 square kilometers. That's how large Monaco is—two and a half square kilometers—the size of some farms, the size of Montgomery Township in PA, the size of two and a half square kilometers. It is the smallest and most populated country I've ever heard of outside the Vatican. And it's also a two-and-a-half-kilometer square of casinos. Monaco has approximately 8,000 citizens, which is not coincidentally the country's estimated population.

        The capital, the central city, and the center of the constitutional monarchy are collectively referred to as Monaco-Ville. It's tiny. By standing at a certain angle on a building, you can see France and, a little further, Italy in the same view. That's nuts. You thought the Four Corners was the pinnacle of borders. You are wrong.

        Besides the palace where the prince resides, Monte Carlo, next to the capital city, is the European version of Vegas. While it may not have prestige, tourists are mainly attracted to the casinos in its neighbor, Monte Carlo. I suppose this is a bit different from Vegas, where people also come for spectacular views and other events in the region, but the ideals are the same: to spend money.

        Now, it would've been cool to describe the inside of these casinos. Like Vegas, Monte Carlo doesn't like having underage kids waste their lives away. Therefore, my most significant takeaway was, "Wow, these people have a lot of money." Just by looking at the special editions of their cars, I witnessed the class it took to gamble in these casinos. That also somewhat surprised me. For the luxury presented in the vehicles, the casinos hardly looked like the type one would expect to find the upper class in. But when you enter the grand hall, you see its beautiful decoration with paintings straight from a church, and you understand why Monaco is so pristine. I also find it ironic that the paintings on the Monte Carlo Casino roof resemble a Christian dome.

        In addition to the casinos, Monaco presents many other ways to burn through your retirement savings. As you know, you can essentially see the bay from every part of the country. It's by the water, and the farther inland you go, the higher the elevation, so a view of the water is always available and beckoning. Great excuse to raise housing prices. Consequently, food and service prices also rise. Then taxes go up. You get the gist.

        Therefore, housing is ridiculously high for small medieval towns like Èze, sparkling on the French Riviera, with a population of only thirty-six people. It doesn't seem as if the country is full of rich people, and many are working at minimum wage. However, the tourists, gamblers, and retirees give the country its structure. Although theoretically, this place is just an extension of France, as a territory, it holds a certain uniqueness that truly separates it from other countries, much like how Vegas differs from its fellow cities.

【紅霞譯】

        我從未去過拉斯維加斯“草地”，說句心裡話，壓根也沒打算與家人同行，跟一幫狐朋狗友去所謂的罪惡之城才夠來勁，有些哥兒們早已領略過賭城文化，可我對賭博仍無概念，作為初學者，何不一切從擅長賭博的摩納哥公國開始。

        縱橫二個半平方公里，足以涵蓋摩納哥全部國土；方圓二個半平方公里，既沒有某些農場寬綽，也不比美國賓夕法尼亞“山林”州蒙哥馬利“巨人山”鎮遜色；面積二個半平方公里，除了梵蒂岡以外，我聽說摩納哥堪稱世界最小密度最大的國家，何況賭場又馳騁整個疆域。全國人口約至八千，這可不是胡編亂造的數字。

        首都名叫摩納哥“孤獨者”城，不僅是本土重要的古城，而且還是君主立憲制的政體中心，地盤甚小。你若站在樓頂某處直視，眼皮底下是法國，接下去再往遠處一點便是意大利，簡直不可思議，恍若登上美國四角之巔，殊不知身在千里開外。

        首都不過是王子居住的皇宮而已，而鄰城蒙地卡羅“查爾斯‘自由人’山”城可謂維加斯在歐洲的翻版，雖然談不上提供什麼特殊待遇，但賭場別具異國情調，得天獨厚的蔚藍色海岸外加名堂繁多的娛樂活動更叫遊人趨之若鶩，當然歸根結底離不開花錢消費。

        現在先來描述一下賭場內景，與維加斯相似之處，自由人山城同樣不想讓未成年孩子浪費光陰，因此對我來說印象最深的莫過於：“媽呀，這些賭徒個個身家殷實”，瞄上一眼他們的座駕，光顧這裡的常客衣冠楚楚，派頭有點超乎想象，不過單從開的量產車品牌足以表明他們遠非等閒之輩。賭場大廳裝飾得富麗堂皇，繪畫雕塑直接從教堂照搬照拿，這時你恍然大悟為何獨僧城如此循規蹈矩，於我而言，獨僧城賭場天花板堪比天主教圓拱屋頂雄偉壯觀。

        除賭場而外，摩納哥還有其它很多地方讓你揮霍退休積蓄。如你所知，整個國家依山傍水，內陸離海灣越遠地勢則越高，海景隨處可見，快樂唾手可得，無疑為房價上漲提供了充足理由，日常食品與服務費用節節攀高，所付稅額也隨之增長，你悟出門道了吧。

        這麼一來，像蔚藍海岸上埃茲這座僅有卅六人的中世紀小鎮房價才會出奇地昂貴，當然並非表示本地人全都富得流油，不少居民完全靠基本工資過活，多虧遊客、賭徒和退休人士挺身而出，給摩納哥帶來經濟實惠。儘管摩納哥理論上像法蘭西海外領地，但實際上卻獨具其它地方少有的優勢，正像維加斯與周圍城市不同似的。

Today in History(歷史上的今天):

2018: Nice the Cuisine Bourgeoise, France(法國傻冒市—小資美食)

2018: Nice the Heavenly Place, France(法國傻冒市—人間天堂)

2018: Nice the Beautiful, France(法國傻冒市—陽光聖地)

2018: Cote d'Azur the French Riviera(法國藍岸地區—地中海海濱)

2018: Eze the Eagle's Nest, France(法國埃茲—鷹巢)

2018: Monegasques vs Monacoians, Monaco(摩納哥本地老表與外邦富豪)

2015: GHCS Camp─Kids Can Be Kids(光華營─孩子畢竟是孩子)

2013: Drama Camp-4(戲劇夏令營之四)

Fort Antoine Theatre, Monaco-Ville

(獨僧城——貴堡劇院 07-20-2018)

La Condamine (耕地區 07-20-2018)

Prince's Palace, Monaco-Ville

(獨僧城——王子宮 07-20-2018)

Prince's Palace, Monaco-Ville

(獨僧城——皇宮露台 07-20-2018)

Town Hall, Monaco-Ville (市政廳 07-20-2018)

Residential Area, Monaco-Ville (住宅區 07-20-2018)

Monte Carlo Casino Hall (自由人山城賭場大廳 07-20-2018)

Visitor Ctr, Monte Carlo Casino

(自由人山城賭場·會客廳 07-20-2018)

Limited Edition, Monte Carlo Casino

(自由人山城賭場·限量版賽車)

Anish Kapoor's Sky Mirror, Monte Carlo

(自由人山城──英籍印度裔雕塑家設計的天鏡 07-20-2018)

Café de Paris, Monte Carlo

(自由人山城·巴黎咖啡館 07-20-2018)

Crosslinks(相關博文):

Monaco(出遊摩納哥)

Europe(歐洲掠影)

9th Grade(高中一年級)