這是女兒非常激動的一天,因為她站在國王十字火車站。她與哈利·波特的女主角同名,那些她喜歡的人物從這裏消失,登上霍格沃茨特快列車,去了一個神奇的魔法世界。我們沒有找到9又4分之3站台,但是我們從9號站台上車,也算是非常接近了吧。女兒美滋滋地,登上了歐洲之星的子彈列車。
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借道法國,來到了比利時的布魯塞爾。這兒的建築與倫敦相似,屋頂上都有許多小煙囪,每個房間享有一個,是從前用來流通空氣的。
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我們來到聞名遐邇的大廣場,長方形的廣場建於十七世紀,被列為世界文化遺產。環顧四周,金碧輝煌,像極了渾身珠寶的女人。不僅僅是金項鏈、金手鏈,連發稍上都蕩漾著珠花,腳趾頭上都纏繞著飾物。以俗人的俗眼來看,似乎是俗氣了一些,可是俗得風韻十足,俗得威名遠揚,被維克多·雨果稱為世界上最美麗的廣場。
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條條小巷通向大廣場,各條路自有各條路的風格,街邊處處是賣華夫餅的小販。
小路是不分人行與車道的,眼睛一亮開來一輛Lamborghini。
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在一個隱秘的街角上,高高地站著尿尿小童。據說是在十三世紀的時候,這個小孩發現敵兵裝置的火藥即將爆炸,急中生智,撤泡尿把引線澆濕,從而挽救了這個城市生命財產。這個赤身露體的小童雕像建於1619年,由著名雕刻家杜哥瓦所塑造。1747年,路易十五曾賜他一件鑲金繡袍,隨後贈衣者大有人在,小童的衣服有三百五十多套,我們去的時候他穿上了黑色鑲金外套。
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繼續前行,來到了以木鞋、鬱金香、風車聞名的荷蘭。看到成排的自行車停車場,我們騎車上學的小朋友高興極了,稱這是一個綠色環保的城市。
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一直知道水城威尼斯,卻不知阿姆斯特丹的運河毫不遜色。登上玻璃頂遊船,我們遊覽了大運河。外麵有最現代化的建築,也有十二世紀的老建築,古橋,新橋,橋中橋,讓我想起了周莊,想起了江南的水鄉。
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晚上是自由活動時間,我們來到市中心的廣場。廣場上有教堂,有黑色斑斑的王子宮殿,也有嶄新明亮的豪華名店,以及千奇百怪的禮品商店。一群牛在天花板上跳舞,你說奇怪不奇怪?本來想買一雙木鞋,想來想去沒什麽機會穿,也就作罷了。
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女兒在廣場上追逐鴿子,佯裝喂食石獅子,一天的疲勞就在歡聲笑語中釋放了。
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一天中走了四個國家,多個景點。女兒晚上寫日記時,隻記得了火車與輪船,看來一天的活動過於豐富了。
從倫敦到荷蘭,夏天象春天一樣寒冷,一陣風,一陣雨,就像三歲娃娃的臉,一日變三變。上次帶著兒子遊歐洲,根本就沒有帶傘,也沒有記得下過雨,沒有想到歐洲變得這麽多愁善感。
在去旅館的途中,我們見到了彩虹,一輪巨大的、跨越天際的,五彩繽紛的歐洲彩虹。
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17 day trip –day 3 (transit day)
Methods of travel: five out of five
I traveled on a train, two buses, and a boat. That's a lot of traveling! I started out from King's Cross Station. It's different than what I expected. In California, the train stations are very small. However, King's Cross Station is much bigger. There were some strange conveyer belt things. They were like escalators in every way except for two: they are less steep and don't have stairs. My train was on platform 9, though I didn't find platform 9¾. When I was in Amsterdam, I went of a boat tour. Did you know that the canals there were originally moats for a castle? I didn't! The boat had two parts, an inside covered area and an outside area. I was mostly on the outside. About halfway through the tour, it rained, but I still decided to stay outside. There were many other boats in the canals.
Average score: five out of five