Sunday, March 25, 2012

Dazzling London / 眼花撩亂的倫敦




明天要去巴黎,週末只不過去市中心拿車票,一路經過無數個好玩的地方,這就是倫敦啊!伯靈頓館最近在展很紅的大衛哈克尼展,不過好天氣的倫敦遊客也多得嚇人!

I am leaving for Paris tomorrow. I went downtown only to get the rail ticket on Saturday, and you can hardly imagine how many interesting places we passed by. What can you say? This is London. Now David Hockney's exhibition is going on in Burlington House. Since it has been extremely sunny in London, there are a shocking number of tourists! 






伯靈頓商圈賣得都是高級貨,我們只是偶然經過進去晃晃。

Burlington Arcade houses really fancy shops. We just stumbled across the site and went in for a look. 






和商圈平行的老龐德街是倫敦的名牌街。

Old Bond Street, parallel to Burlington Arcade, is where all the name-brand boutiques gather.




倫敦無奇不有。

You can find all amazing things and people in London. 


復活節彩蛋秀。

Easter egg street exhibition. 


我們的目的地─森默賽特館。

Our destination--Somerset House. 






仔細看喔,這些不是真花,是目前正在進行的裝置藝術展覽「非同步」,這一萬朵花是智利籍藝術家Fernando Casaempere用黏土捏成的,他的創作動機是為了創造人們在春天來臨之際看到繁花盛放的喜悅。

Take a closer look. These are not real flowers. They are the installation Out of Sync that is going in a grass meadow in Somerset House by London Based Chilean artist Fernando Casasempere. 10,000 ceramic flowers were planted. He wants to recreate the joy people feel upon seeing blossoming flowers at the end of winter and the beginning of spring. 


歐洲今年天氣超好!據說我明天要去的巴黎也陽光普照。

The weather in Europe this year is just lovely. I was told that it'll be equally sunny in Paris, where I am going tomorrow. 


才從波隆納回來,又趕著去看倫敦另一場插畫展,在這裡真是片刻不得閒啊!這是集合優秀年輕插畫家和獨立印刷工作坊的Pick Me Up展。

Though I just came back from Bologna, we were in a hurry to go to another illo exhibition. I can hardly take a break here! This is Pick Me Up, which gathers talented new blood in illustration and many independent print studios. 
























嘉蕊說我回家之後一定會想念這裡的展覽,的確,倫敦的資源真是太豐富了,不過我也期待可以坐下來安安靜靜畫圖的日子,在那之前我就把自己的資料庫裝飽吧!

Jazel said I'll miss the exhibitions here after going home. Indeed, the art life in London is so thriving. However, I am also looking forward to sitting down in a quiet corner to draw. Before that, I should fill my brain with as much as I can! 

等我十天之後從荷蘭回來再和大家分享我的旅行吧!

I'll say hello to you after coming back from the Netherlands in 10 days! 

Taiwan and me / 台灣和我


要從波隆納回倫敦的早上,外面依舊閃著陽光,我的心情五味雜陳,想到好久不會見到凱特,又很怕這就是我插畫生活的終點,還有荷爾蒙正在經歷變化,前往機場的巴士上,我後座的先生突然間唱起Green Day的九月結束時請叫醒我,這首歌是我上次來義大利到處都聽見的歌,本來就非常催淚,結果眼淚就一直滴,好不容易控制住了,他又把巴士當舞台,唱起另一首也讓我很有感觸的歌曲,是Bruce Springsteen的「在黑暗中漫舞」,他一直重覆著一句歌詞─沒有火苗是燒不起來的,然後我又受不了,我是心裡都快燒起來的人啊!而且他的歌聲真不賴!才會讓我的情緒一觸即發。

On the morning when I was about to return from Bologna to London, the sun was as dazzling as ever, but I felt a mixture of emotions. I was rather sentimental upon thinking that I won't see Caterina for a long time. Also, I was afraid that this will be the end to my illustrator life. I was also undergoing hormonal change as well. On the bus ride to the airport, the Italian sir sitting behind me suddenly started singing Green Day's Wake Me Up When September Ends. It was the song I heard everywhere when I came to Italy last time, and it is still a tear-jerker for me. As a result, tears kept springing. It took some effort for me to control myself, and then he walked down from the back of the bus and sang another song that triggered off my sadness again. It was Bruce Springsteen's Dancing in the Dark. He kept repeating one of the lines--You can't start a fire without a spark. Well, I've always burned with hot fire inside! Anyway, his voice was just fantastic, which explains why I was so not myself...

到了機場後沒時間傷心,趕緊去找我的登機櫃台。我搭的是廉價航空Ryanair,從倫敦出發時,櫃台小姐並不清楚我需不需要申根簽證,而當時是凌晨四點,小姐很無力地就幫我蓋了機票上的章,我開始感謝英國人的隨意。在波隆納時,櫃台小姐也不確定,我和她說台灣簽證從去年就可以免簽遊歐盟國家,但是她覺得需要和相關單位確定,打了很多通電話,也實在是中華民國這個稱呼太令人困惑了,她一直朝中國的方向去找,那當然是不行,最後她說我的案例很可疑,叫我去機場的警察局,我就又苦命地回到主要航廈。

I didn't have time to feel sad when I reached the airport because I had to look for my check-in counter. I took the budget airline Ryanair. When I left London, the lady didn't have a clue if I needed the Schengen visa, but it was four a.m. in the morning. She believed my words and stamped my ticket for me within 10 seconds. I really appreciated her imprecision. In Bologna, the Italian lady wasn't sure either, but I told her that as a national of Taiwan, I don't need the visa to travel in E.U. She felt the need to confirm with the authorities concerned, so she made several calls. Well, I have to say that the name Republic of China is confusing. I kept hearing her saying "China" to her colleague, and if she looked under the category of China, of course she couldn't find anything. In the end she said my case was very suspicious and she was sending me to the police station in the main terminal.


我就這麼去到了警察局,想不到有意外的發現,警員們不管男女都相當高大,個個都是俊男美女來著,每個都有著地中海古銅色的肌膚,他們一看到護照上的台灣字樣就恍然大悟地說:台灣喔,沒問題啦!還親切地讓我走安檢的快速通道。算了,要不是因為無知的小姐,我也不可能受到帥氣警員的呵護。

I thus found myself in the police station. Well, I ended up with a surprising discovery. The police, both men and women, are very tall and extremely good-looking. Everyone has the typical Mediterranean tanned skin color. When they saw the Taiwan word on the cover of my passport, they waved their hands reassuring me, "Oh Taiwan, no problem!" They even let me take the fast track to go through the security check. Had it not been for the ignorant lady, I wouldn't have a chance to interact with the handsome police. 


要登機的時候,空姐說她在找我,因為她還是得在機票上蓋章,我用很平靜但驕傲的語氣和她說:我拿台灣護照是不需要申根簽證的。她很客氣地一直和我道歉。上了飛機之後,又開始掉眼淚,當小國的人民一定要很驕傲才行,如果我們不堅持,就會被遺忘。

When I was boarding, the flight attendant said she was looking for me for she still needed to stamp on my plane ticket. I told her in a calm yet firm tone that with my Taiwan passport, I don't need the Schengen visa to travel in E.U. countries. She kept apologizing to me politely. After I got on the plane, tears rolled down my face again. Coming from a small country, we need to have a lot of self-pride. If we don't insist, we will be forgotten. 

在倫敦機場要過海關時,前面有數名先生小姐都被攔下來,有名狀似日本人的先生還被四位移民局的人員質問,海關先生親切地問我讀哪裡,我回答之後他還問,那你應該是讀藝術吧!很快地我就通關了。雖然在這裡總是覺得很疏離,但是這次的經驗讓我感覺像回家。

When I was going through the customs in the Stansted Airport, several men and women were taken aside. A Japanese-like man was even interrogated by four people from the UK Border Agency. The customs sir asked me where I study, and after I answered his question, he replied nicely, "So I think you study art?" I was allowed to go soon after. Though I've always felt like an outsider here, this experience made me feel like coming home. 

這幾天我又找到方向了,我的結論是,雖然我一度覺得自己被淹沒了,也知道我只有小小的火燄,但無論如何我都要繼續努力下去,謝謝凱特琳娜,自從我來到倫敦就一直從羅馬照顧著我,還有好多一直相信著我的家人朋友,對我來說波隆納之旅只是個開始!

I've found my direction over the past few days. My conclusion is, I STILL WANT TO DANCE, EVEN IN THE DARK! I know I have only a very small spark, but I want to go on. Big thanks to Caterina, who has always been sending vibes to me from Rome ever since I arrived in London. Also, great thanks to family and friends who always believe in me. For me, the trip to Bologna is just a beginning! 

Rovereto / 羅斐列多


和凱特在一起的最後一天,我們從波隆納搭兩個半小時火車出城去。

On my last day with Caterina, we left Bologna and took a two-and-a-half-hour ride out of town. 


越往北走風景就不同,開始有山脈環繞。

As we traveled north, the scenery started to look different with mountains surrounding us.


我們的目的地是位於北方的小城羅斐列多,這裡有點接近義大利和德國邊境,德文出現在火車站的告示牌上,天氣和波隆納比起來稍微涼些。

Our destination was Rovereto, located in the north of Italy. The town is quite close to Germany, so on the signs in the train station, German can be seen. Compared with Bologna, the weather is a little bit cooler. 




羅斐列多之前是個古老的堡壘城,現在則是度假之地,這裡路上行人不多,感覺很悠閒。

Rovereto used to be an ancient fortress town. Now it is a good place for vacationing. There aren't many people on the streets. It feels very relaxing. 


校外教學的小朋友。

Kids on a field trip. 




市中心。

The town center. 


羅斐列多是博物館城,我們就是要來拜訪兩間博物館。

Rovereto is a museum city. We were here to visit two museums. 


這是建館只有十年歷史的羅斐列多現代美術館。

This is the MART (the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art of Trento and Rovereto), which was founded only ten years ago. 


凱特非常想看「愛麗絲夢遊仙境」展。

Caterina wanted to see the exhibition of Alice in Wonderland very much. 


這是達利版的「愛麗絲夢遊仙境」插畫,整個就令人無限景仰。

This is Dali's illustration for Alice in Wonderland. I looked at his works with so much admiration and love. 

很難想像一個小鎮的美術館素質之高,難怪之前大家都問我為何不去義大利念書。

It'd be hard to imagine that a museum in a small town can be of such excellent quality. No wonder a lot of people suggested that I go to Italy for studies rather than the UK. 


連美術館餐廳的食物都好吃,這裡的消費也便宜許多。

Even food in the museum restaurant was delicious, and the cost was much lower. 


這裡也有海神噴泉。

There is a fountain of Neptune here too. 






三月底的義大利午後,真是人間天堂。

Italia in the afternoon at the end of March is so heavenly... 


這是莫札特在義大利第一次演奏之處。

This is where Mozart performed for the first time in Italy. 


接著我們去到羅佩羅之屋,他是義大利未來主義的畫家之一。

Next we went to Ropero's House. Ropero was one of the futurist artists. 






和其他未來主義畫家不太一樣的是,羅佩羅的作品很有童趣,又充滿著亮麗的色彩。

Different from other futurist painters, Ropero's works have a childlike optimism, and they are brightly colorful. 




我的義大利之旅就這麼接近尾聲了‧‧‧

My trip to Italy was about to end...