Winter escape to Italy: Venice (1)

Two books have impacts on my winter trip to Venice.

One is ‘Novelist travel’ written by Mishima Yukio. He was a famous Japanese author, poet, playwright, actor and film director. He is also considered as a controversial nationalist hated by the left-wing and finally ended up his life with the committing suicide.

In his book, he mentioned that he was rolling out his new film scripts in London and waiting for a cooperation opportunity with local actors; therefore, he spent some time travelling in Europe. From the perspective of a poet, Venice’s winter stay has inscribed into his unique travelling experiences.

In February, Venice's Carnevale is a European highlight; the hustling and bustling city attracts tourists from all over the world, as well as in the summer season. However, Mishima Yukio’s winter trip to Venice was not for such a buzzing festival.

I considered his suggestion and then visited Venice in January. There is no need to elbow my way through the huge crowd, winter perhaps is the best time to view the true face of Venice: a city living on the water. 

The complex and beautiful image of a water city. Some areas are filled with desolation and silence, and some are quiescent and sorrowful. However, all of these have combined with commercial activities which brought by tourists.

At the end of this blog, I choose this poem (song) written by William Shakespeare to commemorate Mishima Yukio—a very genuine hero who is very honest to himself.  
  

Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind

By William Shakespeare

 

Blow, blow, thou winter wind,

Thou art not so unkind

As man's ingratitude;

Thy tooth is not so keen

Because thou art not seen,

Although thy breath be rude.

Heigh-ho! sing heigh-ho! unto the green holly:

Most friendship is feigning, most loving mere folly:

Then, heigh-ho! the holly!

This life is most jolly.

Freeze, freeze, thou bitter sky,

Thou dost not bite so nigh

As benefits forgot:

Though thou the waters warp,

Thy sting is not so sharp

As friend remember'd not.

Heigh-ho! sing heigh-ho! unto the green holly:

Most friendship is feigning, most loving mere folly:

Then, heigh-ho! the holly!

This life is most jolly.

冬季之旅義大利: 威尼斯

兩本書影響了我去威尼斯的冬季之旅。

一本是由“三島由紀夫”撰寫的“小說家的旅行”，他是日本著名作家，詩人，劇作家，演員，電影導演。他也被認為是一個受左派人士憎恨的有爭議的民族主義者，並最終以自殺結束了自己的生命。

2月，威尼斯的嘉年華節是歐洲的亮點;熙熙攘攘的城市吸引著來自世界各地的遊客, 夏季也是旅行旺季。但是三島由紀夫的冬季威尼斯之旅不是為了這樣一個熱鬧的節日。在他的書中，他提到他正在倫敦推出他的新電影劇本，在等待和當地演員合作的機會, 所以他花了一些時間在歐洲旅行。從詩人的角度來看，威尼斯的冬季停留銘刻入他獨特的旅行體驗。

我參考了他的建議，然後在1月份去了威尼斯，不需要擠在一大堆人群中穿過街道，冬天也許是觀看威尼斯真面目的最佳時間：一個生活在水上的城市。水城的複雜形象。水城的美麗及複雜形象。 有些地方充滿了荒涼和沈默，有些地區則充滿了寧靜和悲傷。然而，所有這些都已與遊客帶來的商業活動相結合了

最後, 我選擇用威廉·莎士比亞的這首詩來紀念三島由紀夫，他是一位對自己非常誠實的真英雄。

以下解說摘源自[台灣合唱中心]:
http://www.tcmc.org.tw/index.php/knowledge/lyrics/action/view/frmContentId/2323/menu2.swf

中 文 歌 詞

吹吧，吹吧，冬天的風， 你並非如此無情， 有似人類的負義； 你的齒並不凜！ 因為你來去無形， 雖然你的呼吸太強勁。 歡唱呀！歡唱！這鮮綠的冬青樹 友誼多半虛偽，愛情大都愚蠢： 來，歡唱呀！冬青樹！ 這種生命最是歡欣。 無情的天空開始凍結， 但你倒未用力咬下， 有似人類的忘恩負義 儘管你讓流水變形， 你的刺並不那麼尖銳， 有似人們對朋友已經忘懷。 歡唱呀歡唱！對著蒼翠的冬青樹， 友誼多半虛偽，愛情大都愚蠢， 來，歡唱呀！冬青樹！ 這種生命最是歡欣。

樂 曲 解 說

這首歌出自莎翁喜劇《如願》(As You Like It)第二幕，第七景。遭放逐的公爵與隨侍在側的一群人在阿登林地 (Forest of Arden)過著田園式的快樂生活。當公爵聽完了傑開斯(Jaques)講完了「人生是個舞台」 (All the world's a stage)的哲學後，邀請哀米安斯唱歌。於是他便唱了這樣一首歌來。 這首歌分兩節，前一節由冬風的呼聲聯想到人之忘恩負義，不管寒風吹得怎樣厲害也不如人之忘恩負義那樣容易刺傷人心，並且把它比喻成兇惡猛獸的利齒："Thy tooth art not so keen"。第二節以冰凍為主題描述冰凍之寒冷仍不若忘恩負義那樣容易刺傷人心，並且把它比喻成螯人毒蟲之利刺："Thy sting is not so sharp"。 這曲子一方面是在暗示著宮廷(現實)生活中，人之虛情假意，忘恩負義，實在比冬天森林中的嚴寒更令人心悸。不如遭放逐的公爵在林中過著田園式的生活，雖遇寒冬，卻仍能自得其樂，隨遇而安

以下文字摘自: 三島由紀夫[小說家的旅行]

遠東的起點：中華民國

有個法國人說，日本並非位於遠東，而是遠西。他還說，中華民國就是遠東的起點。最近，由於日本戰敗的緣故，我們再次經歷著如明治時期積極迎向文明開化的時代，不得不囫圇吞棗似地吃些新鮮的東西，問題是，日本的胃腸消化機能不佳，很可能沒怎麼吸收就排泄了。相較之下，經過「近代文明」洗禮卻依然毫髮無傷的中華民國的胃囊何其巨大，又何其堅韌啊！

Winter escape to Italy: Venice (2)

In my last blog, regarding another book that influenced my Italy trip is ‘Classic Forms’: A Source Book for Architects, Designers, Turners and Craftspeople. The author Stuart E Dyas, currently lives in York, always shows his wisdom and patience in conversation with me. Interestingly, he has something related to Taiwan, that is, his son once worked in Taipei (the capital city).

The author: Stuart E Dyas

He took thousands of photos of Venice and there are about 90 drawings of balusters in his book. According to Mr Dyas, ‘In Venice, the classical style can be seen in Renaissance architecture. […] The other styles in Venice are Gothic and Bizantine, which look quite different.’

Thanks to him and his book—it was a pretty prelude to travel to Italy. I then spent my journey with an aesthetic view. In many ways, Italy indeed offers a good arena for people doing art and architecture research. 

Many churches in Venice

Mr Dyas studied visual forms from many artefacts including columns, pedestals, vases, balusters, basins, tables, candlesticks & lamps, stair rails, table & chair legs., etc.   

Apart from that, he also studies oriental pottery such as ’meiping’ (梅瓶). When he unexpectedly spoke that word in Chinese; I embarrassingly cannot understand what he said so that I asked him to repeat again and again, and finally, we find the vase on google.

This reminds me that we all need some skills in communicating with a foreigner. The example above was not because of his accent (actually he pronounced it well), but due to my lack of knowledge of ‘Meiping’.

The same thing sometimes happened to me: talking something that even locals don’t understand. For example, when I used the term 'chum'. In fact, I learned it from a native but a British young girl told me that they don' t use that at all, so you can imagine how the usage of English could differ in the ethnic, area, age and class. I think this situation can be improved if using alternative words or adding more information and contexts to help illustrate the whole meaning.

However, Venice is the starting point where I learn to appreciate vase-related ideas and designs.

冬季之旅義大利: 威尼斯2

在我上一篇博客中，關於另一本影響我義大利之行的書是“經典形式”：建築師，設計師，車工和工匠的資料書。作者Stuart E Dyas，目前居住在約克，在與我的每次談話中總是表現出他的智慧和耐心，有趣的是，他有一些與台灣有關的事，就是他的兒子曾在台北--台灣首都工作過。

他拍了數千張威尼斯照片，書中有大約90幅欄杆畫。 根據Dyas先生的說法，“在威尼斯，文藝復興時期的建築可以看到古典風格。[...]威尼斯的其他風格是哥特式和比斯坦式，看起來則完全不同。

由於他及他的書 - 這是前往義大利的一個很好的前奏，接著我便以美學觀點展開了我的旅程。在許多方面，義大利確實為進行藝術和建築研究的人們提供了良好的舞台。像Dyas先生的研究包括柱子，基座，花瓶，欄杆，盆，桌子，燭台和燈具，樓梯扶手，桌椅和椅子等各種文物中的視覺形式。

除此之外，他還研究東方陶器，如'梅瓶'。當他出乎意料地用中文說出這個詞時，我尷尬地無法理解他說的話，所以我要求他一次又一次地重複，最後，我們在google上找到了這個花瓶。這提醒我，我們都需要一些與外國人交流的技巧。上面的例子不是因為他的口音（實際上他發音很好），而是因為我缺乏'meiping'的知識。

同樣的事情有時候發生在我身上，說一些甚至當地人都不理解的事情;例如，當我使用術語'密友'時。事實上，我是從一個本地人那裡學到的，但是另一個人告訴我他們根本不會使用它，所以你可以想像英語的使用會在民族，地區，年齡，階級方面有所不同。

我認為如果使用替代詞或添加更多信息和背景來幫助說明整個意義，可以改善這種情況。

不管怎樣，威尼斯是我學習欣賞與花瓶相關想法和設計的起點。

Winter escape to Italy: Milan (Milano)

Milano: fashion, food, and church

This year’s winter escape is a trip to Southern Europe--taly.

Milano Central Station

I was considering buying a ticket for ‘the last supper’, eventually, I did not. First, I am not a religionist. Second, it is not so intriguing to me since Mona Lisa in Musée du Louvre last year tended to disappoint me a bit. However, I guess ‘the last supper’ will not be so crowded as they only offer limited tickets every day, and thus it accounts for my third reason: the ticket is too expensive compared to other museums. I have checked the ticket price before two months, the available visiting time does not fit me well and the price is going up and up so that I gave up without hesitation.

museo nazionale della scienza e dellavedova 

Porta Sempione: Chariot of Peace established in Napoleone era

SO, what are the key highlights for my trip to Milano? 

Scopri iL Castello

Pizza experience🍪

There are too many iconic Italian dishes and must-try Italian foods, which have gained international fame. And when I went there, I soon realised that a typical authentic Italian pizza dough is thin and crispy, unlike the one I ate in Taiwan (many people in Taiwan may prefer to order a thick one). When the restaurant served the pizza for me, I thought it was too big to finish, but eventually, I took a bite, chewed and swallowed the whole. It was a bit salty but was very delicious with a soft drink.

Cool and Fashion style

When I told one of my male friends in Taiwan that I was travelling alone in Italy, he responded that ‘It was too dangerous for you to travel alone there!’. He said ‘Italian men are too handsome’. Well, I don’t know much about Italian men but I know the famous cool guy - ‘Godfather’ from the movie. But since he said so, I started to notice women and men on the streets. Truly enough, I have witnessed their personal wearing style, colour, and design through a street snap. That was very charming! And even a homeless person has its own colour rule! (I am in Milano!!) Also, I guess they also love to exercise in order to keep fit to wear something fashionable as I saw many people were jogging in the park.

Duomo di Milano

This is a must-see in the world—Milan Cathedral, the largest church in Italy, the third largest in Europe and the fourth largest in the world. I believe that if you stay or travel in Europe for a while, you would be familiar with Christian churches, Milan Cathedral still surprised my eyes for its magnificence, which took more than 500 years to finish the structure. I stood around the square more than 30 minutes and came back at night to appreciate its breath-holding beauty.

This church is surrounded by shopping stores, of which the most famous shopping mall: Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, a big collection of flagship stores of many world brands. 

Surely, I didn’t forget to step on the Bull’s Balls in Milan, wishing for a good luck. What kind of wish I made? If it comes true, I shall share in my blog in the future.  

冬季之旅: 米蘭

米蘭時尚，美食和教堂

今年的冬季避寒是前往南歐義大利。

我正在考慮為“最後的晚餐”買票，最終，我沒有。 首先，我不是宗教信徒。 第二，它對我來說並不那麼有趣，因為去年盧浮宮博物館的蒙娜麗莎往往會讓我失望一點。 然而，我猜“最後的晚餐”不會那麼擁擠，因為他們每天只提供有限的門票，因此它解釋了我的第三個原因：與其他博物館相比，門票太貴了。 我已經查了兩個月之前的門票價格，有空額的訪問時間不適合我，價格也在上漲，所以我毫不猶豫地放棄了。

  

所以, 我在米蘭旅行的主要亮點是什麼？

比薩體驗

有太多特色的義大利菜餚和必須品嚐的義大利食品，這些食物都已經獲得了國際聲譽。當我去那裡時，我很快地了解一個典型的正宗義大利披薩麵團是薄而脆，不像我在台灣吃的那樣（台灣很多人可能偏好點厚片的來吃）。當餐廳為我端上披薩時，我覺得它太大了，但最後我咬了一口，咀嚼並吞下了整個。它有鹹，但是配飲料非常好吃。

時尚風格

當我告訴我在台灣的一位男性朋友，我獨自一人在義大利旅行時，他回答說：“你在那裡單獨旅行太危險了！”他說'義大利男人太帥了'。嗯，我是不太了解義大利男人，但我知道1個著名的酷男 - 電影中的'教父'。但自從他這樣說以後，我就開始注意到街上的女人和男人。真的也，我透過街頭拍攝見證了他們的個人穿著風格，顏色和設計。那真是太迷人了！ 甚至一個無家可歸的人也有自己的顏色規則！ 我真的是在米蘭！還有, 我想他們也喜歡運動，以能穿著時髦的衣著，因為我看到很多人在公園裡慢跑。

Duomo di Milano

這是世上必看的 - 米蘭大教堂，義大利最大的教堂，歐洲第三大教堂和世界第四大教堂。我相信，如果你在歐洲停留或旅行一段時間，你會熟悉基督教教堂，但米蘭大教堂仍然讓我的眼睛驚嘆於它的輝煌，這花了500多年才完成的結構。我站在廣場上超過30分鐘，晚上又回來欣賞它令人屏息的美麗。這個教堂周圍有購物商店，其中最著名的購物中心是：Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II，這裡集結許多世界品牌的大型旗艦店。當然，我沒有忘記去踩米蘭的公牛" 重要部位 "，它能帶來好運。我做了什麼樣的願望？如果它成真，我將在以後分享我的部落格。

New Year Resolutions for 2019 ✨殘り全部バケーション

🎊✨We normally have more than one New Year’s Resolution, such as have a better job, lose weight, make more money, improve yourself, while I gradually realize that I am growing old, I have only one resolution for the coming year and the future, that is:

The rest of life is a holiday! (残り全部バケーション) 剩下的人生都是休假!

Sounds sluggish? No! This phase is borrowed from a book’s title written by 伊坂幸太郎 いさか こうたろう. What he describes is a ridiculous, unexpected, and charming life which is just like my moving trajectory, a sojourner in everywhere over the past ten years, including the UK. Only the first half of my life has been well-planned and settled in a fixed place--my birthplace.

However, a physically and mentally ‘better-off’ lifestyle can be achieved by getting out of the rat-race workload in the first place. Rather than escaping from the real-life, I decide how to spend my life in my own pace.

2019 New Year, we must ‘out with the old and in the with the new’.

2019新年新志向

我們通常有一個以上的新年決心，比如想有更好的工作，減肥，賺更多的錢，改善自己，而我逐漸意識到我變老了，我來年和未來只有一個志向， 那就是：剩下的人生都是休假（殘り全部バケーション）。

 聽起來很懶散? 沒有！ 這個句子借鑒了伊坂幸太郎的書名。 他所描述的是一種荒謬，意想不到和迷人的生活，就像我的遷移軌跡一樣，在過去的十年裡，包括英國在內的所有地方我都是個寄居者。 只有我生命的前半部分已經被精心策劃並定居在一個固定的地方 - 我的出生地。

 然而，要想過個“更好的”生活是可以藉著擺脫日復一日的生活方式來作到的。我沒有逃離現實生活，而是決定如何以自己的節奏度過我的生活。

2019年新年, 我們必須“除舊迎新”