六月二十三日 - 佛羅倫斯

這天離開Perugia到佛羅倫斯。在Perugia的這幾天，天天都得趕早班火車，所以放棄旅館的早餐，在火車站的酒吧吃。第一天到那酒吧，掌櫃叫了我一聲signorina，教我好高興。很久沒聽到這樣的稱呼，一是因為近年少到意大利，二是因為年紀大了。我想是因為我這天打扮比較女性化，穿了繡花上衣和裙子吧。立刻用手指指方法要了朱古力牛角包，他再問我：cappucino? 嘩聽得懂好高興呀，當然也要了那咖啡。這樣的早餐快捷方便又便宜，不用兩塊。天天如是，到了第三天，掌櫃對我說了一串話，我當然不知他說甚麼，只聽到Perugia一個字(但我猜無論如何他不會是說"你這瘟神今天終於離開Perugia了"吧)，只好以微笑應付。

在佛羅倫斯住的酒店叫 delle Camelie，雖然有冷氣，但我覺得浴室設施很差。奇怪之處是我一見那房間就記得曾經住過，為免再重蹈覆轍，今次要記下名字。

佛羅倫斯很熱，人多車多，著名的博物館和大教堂外都有很長的人龍。我已到過佛羅倫斯N次，沒有甚麼非做不可的事，故只是逛來逛去。Uffizi外人龍長得恐怖，故先到Pitti Palace，差不多五點才再到Uffizi。

佛羅倫斯和Perugia的差距很大，讓我感到壓力，所以決定明天到其他地方去，心裏想着會去Siena。先到巴士總站影下時間表，再心不甘情不願地回到不喜歡的旅館。

六月二十二日 - Perugia

這天真的到了Orvieto。不知怎麼搞的，好像以前也曾來過的樣子。這城其實真的可以不遊，大教堂普通，那所謂underground也挺浪費時間。唉白費了心思。

大教堂內有一個小堂，內有Signorelli的最後審判，要另外收費才能參觀，聽說米開蘭基羅也曾受這壁畫啟發。我看了的最大感想是，原來裸體並不容易畫，今天我們看到的自然像真的裸體其實是經過很多前人探索嘗試才畫成的。簡而言之，我覺得Signorelli的裸體畫不太行…

回到Perugia時間尚早，便到偏處一角的小教堂看拉斐爾的壁畫。其時人們已聚集在街上的茶座上看世界盃，我一邊走一邊聽到整條街在我背後歡呼，一定是入球了，氣氛好極了。回頭自己便也坐進茶座去喝一杯啤酒，感受氣氛。我付款光顧其實已極有良心，很多其他人都只是光站着看，有些人更老實不客氣坐下看。說來好笑，大部份時間我只看到前面觀眾的頭，和電視畫面上跑來跑去的藍色和白色的點。至於和意大利對壘的究竟是哪一隊，我從頭到尾都不大了了(後來知道是捷克)。男觀眾們個個都感同身受一般，女觀眾們就溺愛地看着他們。意大利贏了之後，人們可興奮了，拿着國旗，和一應紅白綠三色的道具，都到大教堂前的廣場集合，唱國歌，高聲歡呼，車輛也不停響號。不知情的人可能會以為意大利已經贏了冠軍呢。

六月二十一日 - Perugia

本來是要到Orvieto的，可是到了中途站發現接駁的火車取消了，而其他住羅馬方向的車好像也沒有了。售票員似乎是說這是因罷工而起的(他說意大利語，我一句不通，最後他終於說了一個聽起來像strike的字)。滯留期間想來想去，終於決定了要到Assisi。跳上火車就去囉。

我一直都對去Assisi很有保留，因為模糊地記得好像去過。可我到現在都說不準以前到底去過沒有，但這次旅程卻十分愉快。Assisi很美啊，比起Perugia美得多，也更清靜。逛聖方濟大教堂逛得很高興，到St Claire的大教堂也很愉快。可是在沒事可做的中午卻作了一個錯誤的決定，就是到山上的城牆去。烈日當空，走到上去已經只剩半條人命，只能坐在太陽傘下喘氣喝水休息，再沒氣力遊那境點了。這跟我到南京紫金山天文台的經驗一模一樣。個人旅遊還好，甚麼地方我不想去或去不了就不去。和我一同休息喘氣的還有一個三口之家，那媽媽上到山上時和我一樣臉如土色，不想繼續；可那父子倆磨着要她同行，可憐的女人只好在炙熱的太陽底下上路…(當然他們以意大利語對話,對話內容全憑我想像…)

六月二十日 - Perugia

很順利地便到了Perugia，也很順利地到達了山上的舊城。小旅館有點難找，從地圖上只看到大概的方位，幸好有好心人指路。可是房間在三樓，沒有電梯要抬行李上去也不容易，幸好又有一個charlady替我把行李拿上去。房租超便宜(只要35歐羅)，房間夠大，浴室等等都很清潔。

Perugia實在不是一個很有趣又或是很美的地方。印象中只有一條大街、一座大教堂，其他乏善足陳。後來發現街道不只有一條(當然！)，只是城市依山而建， 街道陡峭，走其他的路都很費勁就是了。

我在這兒留了三天，有兩天去了其他城鎮，通常下午回來，也沒甚麼好幹的。在大街上來回走幾遍、去上網、到超市買吃的、意大利隊踢世界盃時到街上茶座喝杯啤酒湊湊熱鬧,就再沒其他的事了。

當時我不曉得，後來到了其他地方才發覺這幾天無所事事原來才是渡假最大的幸福。基本上不用動腦筋，而且一應銷費相對地低廉，夫復何求啊。

六月十九日 - 羅馬

不知該做甚麼，便決定到梵帝崗博物館去。一開始排隊便排錯方向，到找對了人龍的方向，我想已足足繞過了城牆的四分之三，幾乎走到大教堂。既然如此，便先逛了逛教堂才排隊。教堂內米開蘭基羅的Pieta現在在玻璃的好遠之外還有圍欄，那像本來就不大，以前距離沒那麼遠都已經看得不太過癮，現在離這麼遠看實在沒意思。

之後花了兩個多小時和許多汗水來排隊進博物館，排到後來由於感到極荒謬，便掏出手帳來聽帝女花的香夭，好平衡心理。好不容易進去了，售票的人竟然把找贖的零錢拋給我，教我極不高興。

進去後第一件事是到洗手間梳洗，然後吃午飯，然後才隨便逛逛。看畫的時候，身旁有一個年輕人對女伴說：Why on earth would Adam and Eve have belly buttons? It doesn't make sense. 這問題可能不是原創，不過我倒是從來沒想過。這次看School of Athens 和 Sistine Chapel 裏的壁畫都看得挺高興的。

其實大概兩小時就看完了，然後又吃了點東西。接着就逛經典羅馬路線，從Barberini 到 Spanish Steps 到Trevi Fountain 到 Navona Square，走得腿到快要掉下來了。沿途發現在 Trevi Fountain 旁的小店賣1.5公升水竟然只要七毛，就連命都不要都要折返去買。之後乘車回到酒店附近，在路旁的小店吃的晚餐，食物普通，酒倒是又便宜又多。

六月十八日 - 羅馬

英航的座位不窄,但距前排的空間卻十分有限，坐得挺不舒服。我把腿伸直睡覺，前排的座位是bulkhead seat，那乘客把看完的報紙往椅下塞，我便把它們踢開。不久他站起來(原來是個矮胖子)，對我說：You have really long legs. 我沒有急智，不懂反應，只好瞪着他。他又再說了一遍，我仍然無語，他便只好走開。後來我想我應該對他說：對啊，你腿那麼短，是不是想跟我換位啊。不過像我這種貪生怕死之徒，看來是說不出這種話的了。

好不容易拿到行李、出到市區、買到全程所須火車票、找到酒店，因為天氣相當和暖，嘩已經汗流浹背。

在酒店洗了澡，出發到Borghese Gallery。實在是太久沒有自己一個人旅遊，竟然看錯地圖，去錯地方。Lonely Planet 也沒有詳細說明該怎麼去。(我以前是懂得怎麼去的，記不起是不是Let's Go裏有提過，其實在Spanish Steps可乘電梯到達那附近。) 最後終於去到了，可也一如所料的已經額滿，沒能進去。其實我以前已經去過兩次，只是不能再看看Bernini的大偉像，有點可惜。我很喜歡那個像的堅毅表情，覺得它比米開蘭基羅的還好。

參觀不成，無所事事逛到Hardrock Cafe，吃了點東西，喝了滿滿250cc的紅酒，酒醉飯飽地回酒店休息。

四月三十日 - 京都

這事其實有點不雅。

我從京都乘火車到天橋立，車程兩小時。途中實在不適，跑到洗手間要吐。(我一受風寒就會嘔吐。)正如日本絕大部分公用洗手間一樣，車上的這個也十分乾淨。我一關上門，便就着洗手盆吐起來，心想吐完以後一沖水不就都乾淨了嗎。可是水是沖了，卻沖不去穢物，水反而越積越多。唉，我以前都不曉得，原來在真實世界是不能像電影電視那般吐在洗手盆裏的，因為固體廢物會堵住去水口。(這我晚上在酒店又試了一次，情況一樣。)弄髒了地方，我又不能就這樣一走了之，只好……至於如何處理，大家儘可以想像想像。總之我離開時，那洗手間和我進去時一樣乾淨……

Silk Road

Dear friend,

The snowfall you mentioned - as far as I've learnt from our guides, it has turned into a flood and damaged the road between Urumqi and Turfan. Some of the HK tour groups with an itinerary between these two places have been affected, but not us.

It has been another very tiring day on the coach today. We left our hotel very early in the morning and then took a boat ride at Lake Bositang. At about 10 AM we began our ride from Kurle to Turfan. We did not reach Turfan until 9:40 PM. Besides a few toilet stops, we had to stop for two hours for lunch at a road side shabby (smelly, dirty too) eatery and the kitchen was slow. The road was not good. Then we had to stop for about 30 min because there was blasting nearby. Then one of the tires had to be repaired. Everyone lost patience and started complaining. We remember nothing but waking up early, very long coach journeys, eating and then going to horrible toilets. And with all these horrible experiences the guides were still unable to deliver us to our sights. We missed the sights after taking long journeys to get there. We have just missed a Uygur entertainment show tonight after what.. 11 hours on the road to get to Turfan. ALAS. And our Uygur guide was not responsive to our sentiments (never said sorry etc). I guess he thinks that it is not his fault that the roads are poor, and that the coach requires repairs again and again. ALASSSSS.

Tomorrow we are going to see the "Flame Hill" etc. and then we are going to travel to Hami. I only hope that we can finish the planned itinerary. This has become a kind of a hope it seems.

Will write later if I have the chance.

Xinjiang

Hello everyone. I am now in a city called Kurle in Xinjiang. This is a Mongolian self-governing county. Since it produces oil, the city is and looks very prosperous.

I have been to Xi'an, Urumqi, Kashi, Aksu, Kuqa so far. None of these places was particularly memorable. If the city was very well developed, it did not have a "silk-road" feel. If it was not well developed, then we worried about the hotel, the toilet all the time, and yet there was still not much "silk-road" feel. What is most impressive is the time we have to spend on the coach, 8 hours a day, 6 hours a day and 5.5 hours for today, because Xinjiang is such a vast place and the cities are really far apart. Our guide has brought a whole set of "Kangxi Diguo" (50 hours) for the coach journeys. But since there were some problems with the electricity of the coach, we endured two very quiet yet very long coach journeys.

The people in the tour group are very nice and we get along well. I eat three full meals every day and am growing fat. Xinjiang is getting colder (is already quite cold), but, alas, half of the clothes that I have brought is short-sleeve tees. So I have a problem here. I hope it will get warmer after we get to Turfan.

Will write to you if I have the chance. Will be back on 7.10.03

Paris

My hotel provides free internet access, but with only one PC and all the wrong coding, it is very difficult to use it.

Just bought myself a very expensive LV handbag [640 euro, plain crazy]. Not really one that I had originally planned for but was recommended by the shop staff [friendly japanese]. Couldn't decide so took some time and when I returned to the shop the one and only one there was just sold!! Had to go all the way to Au Bon Marche to buy the only one left in Paris. The LV branch on Av Champs-Elysees seemed quite empty. I can think of a number of reasons. But I didn't buy or intend to buy there cos I have always hated the attitude of the staff there.

The Chagall exhibition was very expensive [9 euro] and I didn't really like it. I had thought that I would like it because his paintings look very nice, dreamy and colourful from a distance and I liked the church windows he designed. But on closer look the paintings are filled with flying people, flying goats and flying bulls. Felt dizzy and a headache. Julia Roberts says in Notting Hill, Love is not love without a violin playing goat. I probably liked Chagall because of this.

Hope my flight back home [tomorrow night] will be all right. It is not Air France staff who are having a strike, but the public sector workers, i.e. Air Traffic Controllers. Checked with AF personally today [met with very cold staff], and have been told that the flight would be all right. But I think something might be outside the airline's control. The metro in Paris is running quite allright though.