2012-12-22 
【Aiden in English】
I woke this morning to the sound of people coming from the streets. I stepped onto our private balcony outside the hotel room in Valparaiso, the largest port city in Chile. At a glance, the spectacular hillsides were dotted with a variety of colorful houses. A series of peculiar boats sparked in the beautiful bay in the distance. I checked the date and immediately cheered myself up. Yay! It's Saturday. I looked forward to cruising away in the afternoon. Oh no! I had to go shopping for goggles because I left mine at home. We headed for the downtown area shortly after 9 O'clock. Valparaiso was famous for steep rolling hills and seemed much worse than Lombard Street in San Francisco, CA. Funiculars ran through its historic quarter, which was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. What worried me the most was that the entire city seemed like an enormous 3-D maze with dead ends here and there. We had to backtrack twice while navigating the streets. Several arterial surface roads radiated from the city center and stretched along the coastline. Up the hills, we touched the sky. Down the mountain, we had dived into the bay. There were no straight roads leading to any place in this world. Once, we kept walking along a winding street and ended up almost in the countryside without even knowing it! Finally, we arrived at the town's biggest department store, Ripley, and heard the worst news of the day. They didn't sell goggles!!! At that moment, I almost blacked out. I walked in despair back up the steep and twisting roads. The taxi was waiting for us at the hotel and was ready to take us to the port, where our cruise ship, the Princess Star, was docked. We packed and descended from the hillside to the seaside. I watched a larger Celebrity Infinity ship pull its cargo as we passed through security. It seemed at least twice as big as ours! As soon as we boarded the ship, hunger knocked me down. It was 2:00 PM, and I hadn't had lunch yet! I ordered a chicken sandwich and gobbled it so fast that I was unaware. Mom did not even have time to touch the fried marinated sole, one of her favorites. I was staring at crumbs in shock at a place where the sandwich had been moments ago. When I looked outside, I felt a sense of nostalgia and began to miss my home. We played table tennis, which I had been practicing for months. I competed against some other people and had quite close matches! A criticism of this place was that it got so hot around noon that I had to let out steam in a few minutes. My mom took the easy way and chickened out. Other than that, the ship had everything, including a Jacuzzi. I probably needed it as the day drew to a close. In 2003, the Historic Quarter of the Seaport City of Valparaíso was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 【紅霞譯】
早上被街道上傳來的說話聲吵醒，我推開房門來到專用涼台上四下觀望：近處，五顏六色的土坯板房依山就勢錯落有致；遠處，灰不溜秋的艦艇漁船傍灣靠港星羅棋布。嘿，今天是星期六！我喜出望外，早就盼望出海遠洋這一天。糟糕！我得趕在登船之前上街買回遊泳眼鏡，家裡現成的那副忘記隨身帶來。 九點過後我們出門朝鬧市區方向走去，智利“土地的盡頭”的瓦爾帕萊索“天堂谷”素以山路陡峭著稱，與加州舊金山九曲花街相比，恐怕有過之而無不及，稱它為山城實無誇張之意，山即是城，城即是山。雙軌纜車沿着大街小巷不知疲勞地爬上爬下，把“既處在一個地球板塊漂移所形成的地理斷層上，又完整地保留着世界海運變遷所留下的歷史斷層”定格在世界科教文組織《世界遺產名錄》之中，最令我擔心的是整個城市實際上像一個巨大無比的三維迷宮，稍不留意就會陷入死胡同，我們初來乍到人生地不熟，起碼有兩回徹底找不到北，因此走了不少冤枉路，如果以市中心為軸心，天堂谷山城如同一個圓形露天劇場，全方位向外伸展，蜿蜒狹窄錯綜複雜，我們上可登天，下能入海，腳下好像永遠踩不到筆直平坦的道路。記得有一次，我們沿市區一條主要大街行走，本以為照直走下去肯定能到達目的地，結果花了老半天時間也未走到頭，要不是感覺越走越偏僻，我們還不知道自己迷失了方向。 我們好不容易找到全城最大的里普利“林中空地”百貨大樓，哪曾想晴天霹靂，那裡根本不賣游泳眼鏡！！！聽後我頓覺天昏地暗，差點沒暈倒在地，回來的路上我情緒十分低落。
回到旅館不久，出租車便來到門口等候我們，我們將行李打包裝車，從半山腰盤旋而下，直入“公主·星辰”號遊輪停靠的碼頭，過了安檢部門我看到“精緻·無極” 號遊輪正在裝卸貨物，那艘船比我們的至少要大出兩倍來！ 一上船我才意識到自己已經餓得前胸貼後背，下午兩點鐘尚未顧得上吃頓午飯！我點了一份雞肉三明治，三口兩口吞到肚子裡面，媽媽竟沒來得及夾上一筷子自己喜歡吃的油煎偏口魚。我盯着面前掉的殘渣碎末，不覺倒吸了一口氣，幾分鐘前手中握有三明治，眨眼間就變得什麼也沒有了，這時我轉向窗外張望，思鄉之情油然而生。 吃罷午餐我們一起去打乒乓球，我已有兩、三個月的球齡，這回跟不少人交手，比分相當接近！說起來這個球場有一個缺陷，中午前後打上幾分鐘，我就會汗流浹背，媽媽見狀溜之大吉。除此而外，遊輪樣樣不錯，包括水力按摩浴缸，今天臨睡覺前我大概需要享用一下。
2003年，瓦爾帕萊索海港城市歷史街區被聯合國教科文組織納入《世界遺產名錄》。
Today in History(歷史上的今天): 2010: 二年級螺旋教學法(Spiral Approach)  Valparaiso w/ Unique Charm Stems from Its Bohemian Atmosphere, Abundant Street Art, & Dramatic Ocean Views
(瓦爾帕萊索·擁有波西米亞風情、絢爛街頭藝術和壯麗海景的獨特魅力)  Calfulafquen Restaurant & Funiculars
(卡爾弗拉夫昆“藍色海洋”餐廳與纜車)  Iglesia de las Carmelitas in the Early 20th-Century Romanesque & Gothic Revival
(卡梅利塔“葡萄園”教堂·建於20世紀初，羅馬式和哥特復興式)
 Iglesia de San Luis Gonzaga w/ Its Unique Green Façade & as the 1st Protestant Church in South America, for a Bell Tower, Built in 1897
(聖路易斯·岡薩加“著名戰士·戰鬥精靈”教堂——建於1897年，擁有獨特的綠色外觀和南美洲第一座擁有鐘樓的新教教堂)  Presbyterian Church of Valparaíso, the 1st Protestant Church Built in Chile & along the South Pacific Coast Founded in 1847
(瓦爾帕萊索長老教會·始建於1847年，智利及南太平洋沿岸首座新教教堂)  Palace of La Armada @ Plaza de Armas, Headquarters of the Chilean Navy
(軍事廣場阿爾罕布拉“海軍”宮·智利海軍總部)  Gato Tuerto Hilltop Restaurant
(獨眼貓山頂餐廳 12-22-2012)
 Natl. Congress of Chile, Moved to Valparaíso from Santiago in 1990
(智利國民大會·1990年從聖地亞哥“後繼者”遷至瓦爾帕萊索)  Calle Condell, a Central Thoroughfare Connecting Visitors to a Rich Blend of History, Culture, & Iconic Valparaíso Experiences
(康德爾“山谷”街·連接遊客與歷史、文化及瓦爾帕萊索標誌性體驗的中心大道) 
Artillería Funicular Railway (阿爾塔爾“炮兵”纜車)  Historic Quarter w/ Steep Hills, Unique Street Art, & Colorful Homes Blending Historic Charm w/ a Bohemian Vibe
(歷史街區·融合了歷史魅力和波西米亞“ 游牧式”風情的陡峭山丘、獨特街景和彩色房屋 12-22-2012) 
Steep Rolling Street (上坡不見天下坡前滾翻的馬路 12-22-2012)
 Valparaíso, Proximity to Peru-Chile Trench & Vulnerable to Earthquakes
(瓦爾帕萊索·因靠近秘魯—智利海溝而易受地震影響) 
City's Labyrinth of Cobbled Alley, Chile's Street Art Capital, w/ Numerous Murals Adorning Bldgs & Alleyways (鵝卵石道城市迷宮·智利的街頭藝術之都，眾多壁畫裝飾着建築物和小巷 12-22-2012)  Street Lined w/ an Enjoyable Mix of Creepy Lovely Dilapidation throughout “Valpo” as Known to Locals
(當地人稱之為“瓦爾波”的街道兩旁，既有令人毛骨悚然的破敗場景，也有令人愉悅的驚艷風光)  Trolleybuses (無軌電車)
 Celebrity Infinity Viewed from Star Princess
(從“公主·星辰”號遊輪近觀“名人·無限”號遊輪 12-22-2012)  Valparaíso Bay (瓦爾帕萊索灣 12-22-2012)
 Travel in South America via Star Princess
(“公主·星辰”號遊輪——出遊南美洲 12-22-2012)  Galeria @ Star Princess
(“公主·星辰”號遊輪—畫廊 12-22-2012)  Beauty & Elephant @ Star Princess
(“公主·星辰”號遊輪—美女與野象 12-22-2012)  Sculpture of Horsehead Nebula @ Star Princess
(“主·星辰”號遊輪——雕像《馬頭星座》 12-22-2012)  Forehand Stroke @ Star Princess
(“公主·星辰”號遊輪—正抽 12-22-2012) 
午餐：烤雞、干煎比目魚  Street Dogs (流浪狗)
Crosslinks(相關博文): Chile(出遊智利)
South America(漂流南美洲)
小學四年級(4th Grade) | 
