2015-06-25
【Aiden in English】 Not to confuse Zanzibar of Tanzania, the other ancient city of Nessebar in Bulgaria is spelled with an N, not a Z. However, if I didn’t know any better or hadn’t visited this stone city in Africa, I probably could pass those two for the same place. Zanzibar is an ancient city of winding and narrow streets paved with cobbles situated in the Indian Ocean. The walls of the city were put up with stones, and it looked like a life-size maze. Along the coast of the Black Sea, Nessebar has 19th-century wooden houses with broad, lively squares and restaurants everywhere. I mean absolutely everywhere! Out of all the cities that my cruise ship has sailed to so far, this city boasts its seafood to the world the most. I guarantee you that there is a restaurant with shrimp, fish, and scallops on every street, which is quite opposite Zanzibar. To add another difference, Nessebar had over 4,000 churches built in the village. Nowadays, only eight churches remain and are full of history.
In Nessebar, the first civilization started with the Thracian settlement more than 3,000 years ago, way before the Greeks, Romans, Persians, Slavs, and Ottomans all laid claim to this port city. Its history sounds quite interesting. First of all, the Thracians didn’t have a writing system. So you may ask how the heck we know about these people if they didn’t even record things. History comes from writing, you know. All we have are things written about them in Greek. In other words, we didn’t know anything about them until after they became a Greek colony at the beginning of the 6th century B.C. Now every empire thinks that its people are superior, and the Thracians were known as barbarians. That statement is not completely a lie since they were not afraid of death. They believed death was just a gateway, which was extremely dangerous during the battles. Imagine facing a warrior not afraid of dying. They would fight stress-free, but you would freak out with “what-ifs”. To say exactly how much, women would fight over who was buried with their husbands. It is Nessebar that the Greek myths of Dionysus share the stage with real tales of Spartacus.
After the Thracians came the Greeks and Romans, and then the Byzantines. Nevertheless, the Thracians probably had the most achievements out of all. They became the first to work with gold, which is very surprising. Many artifacts were the oldest in Europe, and possibly the world so far discovered. All from a group, I have never heard of.
The Thracian settlement was a civilization that came out of the blue to me. First, it was the Greeks, the Minoans then came after, and now the Thracians showed off. What other crazy and strong civilization is out there that I don’t know of?
【红霞译文】
千万不要与坦桑尼亚的桑给巴尔(意指“黑海岸城")混淆在一起，另一座以“N”而非“Z” 打头的保加利亚古城名叫内塞巴尔(意指“午日城”)，然而要不是我曾亲自到访过非洲黑海岸，恐怕还真以为两个天南海北的历史名城同归一个地方呐。
黑海岸城濒临印度洋，鹅卵石铺就的街径巷陌曲折又狭窄，再加石头围墙，亲临此地犹如置身于真人大小的迷宫。黑海之滨午日城到处布满十九世纪兴建的木质建筑，广场宽敞开阔，餐馆生意兴旺，人头绝对遍地涌动！截至到目前为止，就游轮所停泊的地方而言，午日城海鲜筵席堪称世界之最，我敢保证每条街上各家餐馆无不提供大虾、鲜鱼、扇贝美味佳肴，这与黑海岸城形成鲜明对照。两地之间还有一点差异，午日城有史以来共建造了四千多座教堂，其中仅有八座保持下来，饱经历史沧桑。
午日城文明史起源于三千多年前色雷斯部落，比古希腊、古罗马、波斯、斯拉夫及奥斯曼人各自声称自己领土组成部分要早出很长时间，令人玩味的倒是其历史背景。首先，色雷斯从未创建文字系统，你也许会说岂不活见鬼，没有文字记载后人如何了解过去，要知道历史离不开笔迹，而我们掌握的全部来自希腊记载，也就是说，直到公元前六世纪色雷斯变成古希腊殖民地之后，人们才开始逐步了解这个民族。如今，没有一个帝国不认为自己的民族是天下最伟大的，而色雷斯人却被视作野蛮部落，这种结论并非言过其实，因为色雷斯人天不怕地不怕，坚信死亡是一种超脱，战场上跟亡命徒针锋相对该有多恐怖，试想眼前面对的是一帮无所畏惧的勇士，他们视死如归，不令你抓狂才叫奇怪。更有甚者，妇女们前赴后继，誓死鏖战沙场替先夫报仇，难怪午日城在推崇希腊神话中酒神狄俄尼索斯的同时，尤以色雷斯传奇英雄斯巴达克斯为荣。
色雷斯人之后，午日城先后沦落于古希腊、古罗马、拜占庭手中，历史变迁丝毫抹煞不掉该民族所创造的丰功伟绩，出乎意料地，他们是第一个打造黄金的先驱，身后留下许多工艺制品业已成为欧洲乃至全世界年代最久远的古董，并且全部出自我从来没有听说过的工匠之手。 色雷斯古代文明着实让我耳目一新。此行先目睹希腊文明，再鉴赏米诺斯文明，而今又跃然出现色雷斯其人其事，世上还有其它什么稀奇古怪的文明我尚未听说过？
Today in History(历史上的今天):
2015: Nessebar—Thracian Influence(保加利亚内塞巴尔“午日”城—色雷斯“勇敢”文化) 2015: Nessebar—Religious Art, Bulgaria(保加利亚内塞巴尔“午日”城宗教艺术) 2014: YMCA Camp—Handball(基督教青年会营手球)
Nessebar, the Pearl of the Black Sea (午日城——黑海明珠) 
Manmade Isthmus (人造地峡) 
Seaside Resorts (海滨度假胜地) 
New Town (新城)
Windmill (风车)
Sea Port (海港) 
Old Town Marina (老城游艇码头 06-25-2015) 
Church of St John Aliturgetos (求主荣耀修行者教堂 06-25-2015) 
19th-Century Houses (十九世纪建筑 06-25-2015) 
Details of the 19th-Century Houses (十九世纪建筑细节) 
Revival House (复兴式建筑) 
Mesembria (午街 06-25-2015) 
Narrow & Winding Cobble-Stone Alley (狭窄弯曲的胡同 06-25-2015) 
Old Ship Restaurant (老船餐厅 06-25-2015) 
The Black Sea (黑海 06-25-2015) 
The Promenade by the Black Sea (黑海长廊 06-25-2015) 
Church of Christ Pantocrator (基督君王教堂 06-25-2015) 
Middle-Schoolers' Field Trip (初中生校外活动) 
Hagia Sophia Basilica (圣智大教堂) 
St. Stefan Church (皇冠教堂) 
Signpost (地标)
UNESCO Site (联合国科教文组织世界遗产所在地)
Piazza @ Emerald Princess (公主·翡翠号游轮—广场) 
Stage Performance (舞台表演 06-25-2015)
Friends from Australia (澳洲来客 06-25-2015) 
Friends from New Zealand (新西兰来客 06-25-2015) 
Friends from China (中国来客 06-25-2015) 
Roasted Tomato Cream Soup w/ Brioche Croutons (烤番茄奶油汤配奶油面包丁和) 
Thai Wraps (泰国素菜卷) 
Tian of Crab (蟹田) 
King Prawns & Lobster Tail (大虾与龙虾尾) 
Traditional NY Cheesecake (传统纽约奶酪蛋糕) 
Deep Dish Apple Pie in Vanilla Sauce (香草汁拌厚苹果派) 
Rhubarb, Rum & Raisin & Dark Cherry Sorbet (三色冰激凌·大黄、朗姆酒和葡萄干与黑樱桃冰糕) Crosslinks(相关博文): 2013: Stone Town of Zanzibar, Tanzania(坦桑尼亚黑海岸石头城) Bulgaria(出游保加利亚) Europe(欧洲掠影) 6th Grade(初中一年级)
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