旅行危機和解決/莊峻華

旅行危機和解決/莊峻華

自助旅行，偶發危機，例如這次蘇格蘭行，錯訂返程飛機，一直到

行前，始發現早訂一日，來到倫敦西斯洛機場，始發現到倫敦郵輪

外港南函普頓巴士已滿，時間有限，兩危機都浪費金錢和精神，辛

好艾美諒解，容我隨機應變，解決危機。

發現特價價船票，立即詢問艾美，同意後，馬上訂船票，然後機票，

全程不過二十分鐘，忙中有錯，此為粗心是也。機票二十四日，訂成

二十三日，難怪收不到一日前電郵通知，電話給英航，當日普通座已

滿，只得購買商務艙，愛丁堡到輪敦一張五百英鎊，當然不能考慮，

於是查谷歌，選擇火車南下，旅店侍者告知，車站不遠，步行可及，

於是艾美決定馬上前往車站買票，然後勘察地形搭車處，原來機場到

老街來回車票，已經無效，因為來車只卸客，旅店到火車站終站，無

法搭乘，機場到火車站是來程，火車站到機場是回程，來程可以上車，

不能下車，故稱快車，但巴士專員，東方面孔，很耐心解釋，從旅店

旁，搭車方法，我們當機立斷，買下翌日巴士票，送給兩張機場回程

巴士票，給餐廳侍者，有效使用。

再來是搭車到郵輪碼頭，從機場巴士中心，搭直達快車，需要兩小時

半，我們九點抵達，排隊購票，始發現上午票售罄，最快一班車是下

午一點四十五分，聽說下車尚需步行十五分鐘，此路不通，只好靈機

一動，回頭找那位郵輪專員，專門服務下機旅客，搭郵輪專車上船者

，她當場連絡另一站專員，查看空位，果然好運上車，她說一人七十

五英鎊，我心想一百英鎊，我也無選擇，紐約下船時，發現車票是美

金計算，而且郵輪又贈送一人六十九美金之購物劵，可以抵銷那七十

五美金車費。

沒有結論，下次只得小心更小心。我在昨日訂好，十一月底郵輪旅行

船票和機票，仔細查過，時間機票無誤，是邁阿密港上船，旅行南加

勒比海五港。

Harris Tweed Jacket of Scotland/Carlos Pueblo

Harris Tweed Jacket of Scotland/Carlos Pueblo

Walking out of the campus, we entered an amazing working tapestry

museum. A few artists were working on the first floor for their new

projects and we could view them above on the circular square balcony.

There is a picture of their fine work for Pepsi’s new upstate New York

head quarter. I kept on asking for my life time favorite Scotland wool

fabric and fortunately I got the answer from the front desk lady. She

understood my curiosity and brought me near her desk top to watch

her search. Once I saw the garment pattern, I was like to receive an

electric shock, that’s it. She kindly wrote down two pieces of note

which indicated Harris Tweed and the store’s name, Walker Slater, on

Victoria Street of the old town not far from the museum.

I was brought up in a very humble family of nine with a sole income of

equivalent of US$20.00 per month from our dad’s work at Taiwan Sugar

Company. I had to inherit my sisters’ and brother’s school uniforms to

meet the requirement at school and that was why I knew the difference

of T-shirt opening between male and female, yet almost not kids at my

age noticed my wearing of a female shirt. This was why I always admired

good dress. I had had my first tailor made suite at my fresh man year at

college in time for my elder sister’s wedding. That’s was my own money

saved by private tutorship for rich kids extra-curricular. I had had a kin

relationship with the tailor ever since my high school. He advised me the

high quality of wool imported from Hong Kong trademark Crown with a

thread attached to the garment. I always thought that the wool was from

Scotland because the sheep raised on the highland of Scotland and all the

winter wear from Scotland.

The men’s store of Walker Slater was tremendous busy at that moment,

yet I still could inspect all the showroom merchandise and finally I got an

opportunity to chat with a sales. This young man is very well learned and

kindly toward customers. I live in a worm climate of Houston and there is

no need to have this heavy snow resistant wool jacket. He took one light

suit jacket to compare the different type of suite and finally pointed a

handsome one and said that’s a very Harris Tweed. He corrected my wrong

life time fantasy of Scotland suit which actually might from England. England

and Italy are famous for light suit made of wool in the world. Now I do

remember that I still keep two Italian suits at home.

   

蘇格蘭西裝/莊峻華

 蘇格蘭西裝/莊峻華

我在參觀愛丁堡大學附近，一家繡帷博物館，門口主事幫我查尋蘇

格蘭西裝，她說了解我的問題，帶我同時觀看谷歌，我一看到毛料

圖案，立即觸電般之興奮，她寫下兩張便條，西裝毛料專名，哈里

斯˙特威地，和老街西裝店街名，蘇格蘭西裝，帶給我多少美憶。

吾家自幼清寒，雙親辛苦養育七位子女，我們需要穿姊兄留下衣物

，因此從小我就清楚，男女生紐扣分叉，左右有別，所辛一般學童

，不甚仔細，無法分辨取笑，師大雖是公費，服裝並未補助，所以

我在課外當家教，存足經費，立即訂製西裝，西裝質料為，香港進

口大皇冠，有一皇冠品牌，這位西裝師傅，一直幫我裁縫西裝，一

直到離台時，甚至留下50公斤身材呎吋，準備海運西裝來美，婚後

開始購買成衣西裝，質料都是毛織品，需要乾洗無憂慮，我以為當年

師大男生宿舍洗衣店之西裝毛料，來自蘇格蘭，因為蘇格蘭產綿羊，

香港是英國屬地。

衣櫥內舊西裝，仍舊有六套以上，只是鮮有機會穿著，過去都是工作

制服，我因為到愛丁堡後，沿途詢問大皇冠毛料，無人了解，倒是問

到這位繡帷小姐博學，得以入門探視，西裝店，沃克史列特，在老街

維多利亞街，男女店有別，男裝店生意興隆，輪到一位年輕職員空閒

，他聽我婉轉描述後笑曰，我所提半世紀前大皇冠產品，應該是來自

英國或是義大利，輕毛質料，應以該二國為馳名，若重毛防寒防雪，

則是哈里斯特威地無誤，蘇格蘭西裝。

鄰居家庭主婦，聽聞我愛丁堡行，均知哈里斯特威地，一位法國太太，

甚至提醒我，哈里斯特威特夾克，不是巴黎品牌，而是指來自北蘇格蘭

之奧特賀伯萊斯島，英國政府一直保護此品牌，先有立法，現有專局嚴

防仿冒品，維多利亞街店，一夾克標價一千英鎊，谷歌網站，也有四百

美金一套者，這是自由市場。

我身材短小，西裝不適，蘇格蘭西裝，適合高大俊挺者，但我仍舊不氣

餒，仍舊喜歡欣賞西裝，台北市柯市長，不喜穿西裝，台北市西裝師工

會，替他量身縫製之西裝，是毛織品無誤，非常美麗，柯市長應多穿西

裝，除非進開刀房，醫生穿西裝，算是尊重病戶。

Visiting Edinburgh, Scotland, 2017/Carlos Pueblo

Visiting Edinburgh, Scotland, 2017/Carlos Pueblo

Edinburgh was the old capital city of the Kingdom of Scotland and the

last monarch, Queen Anne, had ceased in the beginning of 17^th century.

Scotland and England have formed the Great Britain ever since and become

a great Empire. We arrived to the city early in the morning and found our way

to the hotel smoothly by shuttle. A seagull was waiting outside our room at a

balcony and we could have a nice view of the Edinburgh Castle. Our daughter,

Michelle, used her hotel points to give Amy as a birthday present. We went

out toward the Castle to start this three days tour. We had covered the Castle,

National Gallery, East and West Princes Street Gardens on the first day; the

University of Edinburgh campus, tapestry museum, and Walker Slater a Harris

Tweed Jacket store on the second day; Carlton Hill, the New Town and walked

to Stockbride outside of the tourist map on the third day.

The weather was lovely, no rain for the entire three days as Eugenia of Hong Kong

showed me her i-phone photos last year in Frankfurt, Germany. The unique architecture

of building are well kept and the Scots are very good manners and friendly indeed.

The Castle was built on a hill formed by a young age volcano, solid rock base. Tourists

and their buses are piled up on the uphill road side to the Castle. We walked into the

Scotland National Gallery, a free menu of arts. One of a big painting on the wall is

about an old flood scenery of the old town and later has become the East and West

Princes Street Gardens, they are on both sides of this Gallery. I have been mostly

impressed by the green lawn of Edinburgh, as a matter of fact, Scotland entirely.

It must be the mild climate and plenty of rain.

I was determined to visit the famous University of Edinburgh campus, it was outside

of the tourist map; yet not far away from the hotel. We walked through the old town

Edinburgh with lovely churches of Protestants and Catholics and memorial architecture

in the Scottish history. There is even a permanent stone sigh to explain the King’s Stables

Road and the square of stores of one portion. I chatted with a missionary of the Jehovah

Witness at the entrance street of the campus just next to a newly addition of the University

, an abandon hospital. I always love to visit a famous institution when I travel around the

world. The University can be tracked back to several centuries with a high school building

still stands and now is a museum. We walked out of the campus down to a street and found

a tapestry museum and got a clear idea of Harris Tweed Jacket which I should describe later.

A fellow guest from Wales recommended Amy visit the Carlton Hills and the new town of

Edinburgh and we did on the third day. Carton Hills is a place to over view the harbor and

the New Town is on the north of Princes Gardens not that huge. We walked pass the

boundary to Stockbridge outside the tourist map again.

  

蘇格蘭愛丁堡行/莊峻華

蘇格蘭愛丁堡行/莊峻華

愛丁堡是古蘇格蘭王國首都，仍舊是蘇格蘭之中心，我們搭機抵達

，轉車到旅店，已是午後，愛丁堡市給人印象，就是整潔美麗和安

靜。琳兒安排我們住在老街，從房間可以眺望愛丁堡城堡，窗外小

平台，等候著一隻灰白色海鷗，時時觀望玻璃室內，放下行李，我

們立刻衝向城堡，環繞城堡一周王子街花園，第二天，我們仍在老

街徘徊，拜望愛丁堡大學，第三天，健行到卡爾頓山，眺望愛丁堡

港，然後行軍到新市區地圖外，非常有趣。

城堡建築在新生代火山熔岩上，非常堅固美麗，但蘇格蘭在十七世

紀初，已與英格蘭王國合組大不列顛王國，公尊倫敦之英皇為元首

，所以蘇格蘭無王，已經有四百餘年，最近蘇格蘭人提議，脫離英

國，尚未成功，但獨立者，仍主奉今日英皇室，我需要再研究。我

不喜歡買門票參觀宮殿，所以艾美遺憾，隨我參觀蘇格蘭國家美術

館，然後散步東西王子街花園，美術館中有一巨畫，描述當年老街

淹水，非常生動，老街砌石高樓學院仍在，低漥地就是今日美麗之

東西王金屋子街花園，愛丁堡草皮綠地，非常美麗特殊，綠油油一

片，比美高爾夫球場綠地。

走到愛丁堡大學老校園，需要經過愛丁堡老街，老街美麗整潔，毫

無暄嘩，老長老教會，都有四五百年歷史，大學在地圖外，古今合

我和耶和華見證會傳教徒，談論聖經，如今宣導者都是高科技，人

手筆記型電腦，隨時引經據典，於是我提到有日，耶穌口渴之故事

，女士一時無法辯解，艾美聽我胡說八道一生，果然另有一番解釋

，然後道別，繼續參觀，有一攤販告知，大學當局，已購下牆外一

廢棄舊醫院，正待翻新，愛大醫學院，已經搬到新校區。逛到街上，

參觀一繡帷博物館，將有專文記述，還有蘇格蘭毛衣西裝等故事。

我們在旅店晚餐飲酒，有一威爾斯人夫婦，推薦卡爾頓山崗，就在

王子街老街盡頭，緊接華鐵廬村街，然後就是山梯道登山，這是熱

點站，引來許多遊客，其中有三景觀點，都可以看海，連山丘上草

皮都是第一級品。下山後，我就跟艾美逛新市區，經過公園綠地，

一家蘇格蘭歷史博物館，借用廁所，然後不知不覺，走出地圖外一

郊區，問路後始知迷路矣，所幸愛丁堡市區不大，步行可及，回旅

店後，準備注册機票，始知行前倉促，訂錯日期，無法補救。

，

Visiting Queen Mary Rose Garden, London/Carlos Pueblo

Visiting Queen Mary Rose Garden, London/Carlos Pueblo

I have finally seen the rose blooming at Queen Mary’s Rose Garden in

the Royal Regent Park in London, United Kingdom after at least three

attempt. Those photos taken from the garden have been uploaded to

my hard desk of my desk top with some other worldwide famous rose

gardens in my traveling collection such as Buenos Aires city rose garden,

Copenhagen’s Royal Palace, Malaga’s city hall, Vancouver’s Queen

Elizabeth Garden, Frankfurt’s riverside of Mains, and the old subdivision

of East Berlin right under the Berlin Wall memorial between French and

Soviet lines, just name a few.

We entered the rose garden from a side next to a pizza restaurant and

the bloom was disappointed; however, I still tried to savage the last roses

of summer, as you recalled that famous folk song. The rose hips were

carried on the long stems of this year from about a foot to six feet high

by now. I could only do a single closed up, one flower after another, stem

by stem. There was an oriental lady nearby did the same. Amy had already

quitted her search due to the consideration of her i-phone battery. I kept on

walking roll by roll toward additional sensation. I saw some volunteers of

London Horticultural Society to manage ground weeds. This portion was

still fully blooming and very much attractive to visitors.

Amy finally found me at this side and indicated that she asked that Japanese

lady where I was. We met her husband later with a very enjoyable conversation

about travelling. They are from Yokohama, Japan where we are planning to

visit next May. She asked me why I liked to travel along and I said because Amy

was picky, this word picky confused her so I used a common household Japanese

in my home, urusai, one of the meaning on Google was shutup, yet some other

meanings. The lady smiled and asked me how did I know Japanese, then Amy

explained the historical background of Japan and Taiwan. Actually, both of our

parents were under Japanese rule between 1895 and 1945 while their language

were indeed Japanese and practiced some vocabulary at home in Japanese. I

have been circling Japan by high speed train, Singanshen, several times and

am familiar with the map of Japan.

We went to London Chinatown afterward for Chinese soup noodle and fruits and

took Piccadilly Line back to the hotel. A manager came out to greet up for our stay

because our daughter Michelle pointed it out that the stay was really a gift to Amy

for her birthday in November. We had a club benefit treatment due to her president

status with the hotel.

倫敦瑪莉女皇花園賞花/莊峻華

倫敦瑪莉女皇花園賞花/莊峻華

甫下飛機，旅店放下行李，立即搭倫敦地下鐵匹卡地莉線，換車到

皇家攝政王公園，尋找瑪莉女皇玫瑰花園，這是我之三顧茅廬，首

次在2011年春初，花株新茂起，園丁曰必待初夏，2015年五月再

訪，仍舊枉然，2016年從小鎮運河，走進花園，仍然太早，這次中

秋季節，惟恐太晚，但確值一試。我深喜玫瑰花，追溯到幼年，幫

助老師稻草灰施肥，高中音樂課之兩曲，夏日最後玫瑰和路旁野玫

瑰，仍深刻腦海，這久候六年間，我已經賞玫瑰花幾處，甚而至擴

充到其他花朵，較大型玫瑰花園，如阿根廷布宜諾斯艾利斯市立玫

瑰花園，西班牙瑪拉卡市政府旁，丹麥哥本哈根老皇宮前，加拿大

溫哥華伊莉莎白女皇玫瑰花園，還有兩處德國民間社區庭院花園，一

處在法蘭克福緬因斯河畔，一處在東柏林圍牆旁，法蘇交界處。

攝政王公園甚大，終於找到玫瑰花園，從一處比薩餐廳旁開始，花株

高大，而且已是結實累累，玫瑰果實，顏色紅橙不一，而且深淡有別

，真是秀色可餐，其實我查谷歌，歐洲人是取食玫瑰果，匈牙利人甚

至釀酒白蘭地，其餘果醬，泡茶等，亦可繁殖用，我開始有些失望，拍

攝只能單花特寫，有位東方女士，和我一般熱愛，也是一株株，一排排

，一畦畦，仔細欣賞拍攝，然後我舊進入另外一區，就是當年首遇處，

真是秋花怒放，增加許多仕女觀賞，有三位園藝社義工，正在除草，此

龐大花園，係由倫敦園藝協會認養，艾美終於跟上，原來她正在觀切手

機儲電量，詢問這位東方日本女士，她也注意到我之熱衷玫瑰。

原來她們夫婦，來自橫濱，橫濱是我們明年旅遊之計劃，於是我們開始

始聊起日本旅遊，我因寫過遊記，因此可以清楚描述橫濱和日本，我在

提到艾美意見很多，使用之英文單字，匹記，她有困難了解，於是我順

口說到先母家庭用語，煩心，烏魯塞，女士會心微笑曰，何以識日文，

於是艾美開始解釋，此女士以為我將製作玫瑰花明信片，我驕傲曰，我

所收藏各地之玫瑰花園相片。這位日本女士，已是中年無懸念，但身材

苗條，稍有華髮，仍舊美貌迷人，艾美仔細曰，其夫稍年輕於彼。

我們無法趕到他處，只好在華埠吃碗麵，喝杯青島啤酒，買一送一，回

旅店，經理特別來會曰，女兒有交待招待艾美生日，有晚點心和早餐招待

。