Thursday, December 31, 2009

The leaning tower - Pisa

比薩鐘樓

在意大利的比薩,有一座鐘樓,當它被建成時,是城內最高的建築物。站在鐘樓的頂部,可以俯瞰全城的數里的風貌;他那雄厚的鐘聲,遍及全城每一角落。因此,比薩鐘樓為自己的優點而萬分自豪。

有一天,比薩鐘樓發現在他身旁的大教堂的站立姿勢歪了,於是他提醒大教堂說:"身為大教堂,你應樹立好榜樣,企直一點吧!"大教堂一直受不住鐘樓的自負,覺得他的提醒實在是好管閒事,便回答道:"你先顧你自己吧!"

再過一段時間,鐘樓發現不只是大教堂,連身旁的樹木和每日來敲鐘的教士的姿勢也歪了!鐘樓不明白為何人人都傾斜着身體,難道這是時尚?他們不覺得不舒服的嗎?他不禁吶喊:"世人皆醉我獨醒,誰能明白我的孤獨、我的慨嘆?"他又立志:"即使人人都向同一方向傾斜,我也絕不能跟風,以免誤入歧途。"久而久之,旁人的傾斜角度越來越利害,雖然鐘樓間中感到莫明的腰酸背痛,但仍然唯我獨尊,以自我爲中心,拒絕尋找問題的根本。

有一天,每天來敲鐘的那位教士帶着一班陌生人到來。他們手持各種各樣奇怪的工具,有的爬上它的頭上量度,有的拿着竹竿在地上指東指西。鐘樓一臉汒然,像一只任由宰殺的羔羊。突然,他們竟在鐘樓的腳下挖掘,它想:「難道我的腳下有寶藏?」殊不知他們把大量的水泥注射往鐘樓的腳下,免得他那日益傾斜的身體有一日倒下。

鐘樓終於明白了!他一直誤會,以為別人站立不正,却不曾考慮問題出自自身,就像耶穌責備那些無知的人,只懂得挑剔別人眼中的刺,而看不見自己眼中的樑木一樣。他亦終於發覺自己需要接受外來的幫助,從前的自負並不能救他脫離倒塌的危險。

到今天,鐘樓仍舊穩固地豎立,身體雖然有點傾斜,但却不會致命。他那可愛的「殘障」,更成為遊客必到的熱點,很多人冒名而來,為要觀摩這座傾而不倒的建築物。鐘樓也為着自己帶給別人快樂而感到恩惠,過着幸福愉快的生活

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Roma - Piazza Navona

When I arrived at Rome, the first thing I had to do was to visit places that I missed so much. In my previous visit in March with a tour group, the pace was so fast that I couldn't even enjoy all the places. So, this time, I had to enjoy.

In the first afternoon, I went to Piazza Navona, which is a public space full of people, activities, artists, restaurants and relaxed atmosphere.

Artists had their areas to sell art works. They are not necessary scenery. Some of them are pure art, like painting of unknown people or abstract arts.


Sculptures play important role in the streets. When you turn from one ally to the other, you never know what will happen next. There are always fascinating surprises.

I don't necessary know the names of each sculpture and artists, but all these work together as a whole and formed Rome. I was very much amazed by the city. It has magic. It is attractive, and I can't explain what it is. It has an aroma that makes you tipsy.



Human sculptures also.... like what we have here in Waikiki. They reward audience with candies.


This clown in the plaza energized me with one hour of entertainment.

He made fun of pedestrians in the piazza, and at one point, he was joked by a few girls too. Very funny and memorable for his creativity!

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Pisa

The bus tour's final stop was Pisa's Piazza del Duomo. Everybody's focus was the learning tower. Since it was getting dark, and I could stay 40 minutes in the site. I rushed to climb the tower.

I can't believe that I was there!

I was actually the only one in the tour who climbed the leaning tower. If I didn't run and missed one minute, I would have missed the chance, because there was a schedule to enter the tower. The tower was made with marble, which is a very common building material in the area. After being used for almost 800 years, the center of the steps was worn.

Looking out from the steps through the narrow openings to outside.....

I sweat when I arrived to the roof of the tower. When we looked down to the center of the tower, there were some bells, because it is actually a bell tower. I wandered around the "dish" many times, up and down because one end of the roof is lower than the other end. It was very funny, just like running in a sloped parking lot.




I stayed for 20 minutes, then we had to leave. The stairway was very narrow and slippery!