Finally,
it stops raining (2)
On Monday, I went
to
William drove me
to the city centre, which is quite beautiful but pretty small. There I pay a
visit to the Council House, the market square, and an old parish church, St.
Mary’s.
Then he drove me
home. It is a small village north of the city and it took us half an hour to
arrive there. Quiet and beautiful, yes, it is a small typical English village.
There, I understood at last what a cottage was: a small (compared with HK, it
is big) house of 2 or 3 storeys, with gardens around the house. His cottage was
rather new, only 6 years old.
After lunch, we
walked around his village. There was an old parish church. It is pretty small,
but it plays a role in the village life. According to the tradition of the
Anglican Church, each church has its own parish, an area of which the church
serves. In the rural area of
There is a hill
behind the village. We walked along the muddy path (because it rains a lot),
and the scenery of the green countryside is wonderful. Across a large patch of
field where winter wheat was sowed, I could see a slightly rugged landscape
with small houses like “Lego” built along the valleys and plains. There were
some sheep afar, and a horse nearby.
Everything is green and peaceful. How pleased is it in the eyes of a
city-dweller like me!
We took some
photographs. I like photography, although not as keen as some of my classmates
did in
After playing
piano for a while, (I miss the piano so much as I have not practised it for two
months already), he drove me to the famous
The sun is lazy in
winter. It was already dark by
Next page (Part
3)
Table of contents of
“Year 1 Christmas Travel Journals”
終於停雨了（中）
星期一，我到諾丁漢去，這個美麗的城市離拉夫堡火車程二十分鐘。那裡，我探訪我的學院裡的一個朋友William，他跟我一起念生物學的，也是一個傑出的低音大提琴手。很快，我發現他開車也開得很好。在英國，絕大部份的中學畢業生都會開車，畢竟這是在英生活所需，尤其是在鄉村生活。
William開車送我到市中心，那裡雖小卻美。那裡我去參觀了市議會、市集廣場和一幢老牧區教堂──聖馬利亞堂（St. Mary’s）。諾丁漢是工業革命的果實，它隨著它的工業快速發展，它以它的成衣業，尤以其網眼針織物馳名。在市中心還有一間網眼針織物博物館呢。
之後，他開車送我到他家。那兒是城北的小鄉村，車程半小時。寧靜而優美，是的，好典型的英格蘭小鄉村。那兒，我終於明白一間村舍（cottage）是什麼：一間兩三層高的小房子（與香港的比，是很大的啊），四周是花園。他的村舍蠻新的，只有六年新。
午餐後，我們在他的村子走走。那裡有一間老牧區教堂，蠻小的，但它在鄉村的生活裡扮演一定的角色。根據聖公會的傳統，每間教會有其牧區（或作堂區），就是該教會的服務區域。在英格蘭郊區，一般來說，一條鄉村只有一間教堂，那麼其牧區就相當於那條鄉村。村民選舉代表進入牧區議會處理村務。雖然不像往昔，今天英格蘭人上教堂的不多，但牧區教堂及其議會在服務鄉村社群上仍扮演一定角色。
村後有一座小山丘，我們走在泥濘小徑上（因為天雨很大），綠野田園的景色真美啊。遙望那撒了冬麥的廣闊田野，我看見沿著山谷平原，小房子有如「壘高」（Lego）的建在那稍為起伏不平的地形上。遠處有綿羊數隻，近處有房子一間。一切皆翠綠寧靜。在一個城市人如我的眼中，豈不悅目乎？
我們拍了一些照片。我愛攝影，雖然未必如我一些在聖保羅書院的同學般熱愛。William也是一個攝影愛好者。回到家裡，他向我展示他的精選照片集，真得拍得很好。我希望有一天我會拍得像他一樣好。
彈了一陣子鋼琴，（我很捨不得鋼琴啊，我已經有兩個月沒有練琴了，）他開車送我去諾丁漢城堡。你有沒有聽過羅賓漢（Robin Hood）？其實，我要承認在我來諾丁漢之前，除了他的名字以外，什麼都不知道（雖然我現在知道的還是很少）。這就是因他的傳奇而成名的城堡，它現在是一所博物館與畫廊。在城堡所在的山頂上，你可以鳥瞰整個諾丁漢。
冬天的太陽懶洋洋的，下午五時天就黑了。在諾丁漢遊玩得痛快之後，是時候說再見了。謝謝，William。
下一頁：終於停雨了（下）