A Week in Devon: SOUTH 德文郡一週：南德文
 |
| Train journey back from Devon, Newton Abbot-Exeter |
After spending a very nice few days (if slightly boring…) in the North of Devon, I headed South, to stay with a friend.
Of course, having a local around when you are touring a place is about the best thing you can hope for. I have his annoying thing for trying to not appear as a tourist when I am travelling (as you can imagine, it’s easier to do that in Tokyo than in Paris), and when someone is there to point you out everything and taking you everywhere, it certainly helps.
在北德文郡玩了幾天後，我坐火車到郡的另一邊，最少理論上更有趣的南邊。今次去找朋友。有本地人在場大概是去旅行中最方便的一件事情：有當地人帶路，所有事情都會變得更容易更有趣。
個人有個麻煩的習慣，就是盡可能不被人認出我是個遊客。即使有時我根本就是個遊客。（當然，到日本這樣做遠比在巴黎容易）所以，當地人的知識最有用，也是我最喜歡的一種遊覽方式。
Torquay: We didn’t really spend that much time in the seaside resort, except for going up the wheel and listened to perhaps the most detailed and sophisticated audioguide on a wheel EVER. It’s got so much facts that I genuinely thought I have learnt something useful-. Not that I remember anything now. But it’s true that the harbourfront was beautiful and a very nice place to have a pint or two.
Torquay：德文郡南岸的陽光與海灘，但其實我沒留多久，就是到了夏期限定的摩天輪轉一圈。最記得的是摩天輪裡面詳細得過份的解說。我第一次的覺得，居然在摩天輪之一學到了有用的知識﹣當然現在全都忘了。Torquay有太陽時的海岸線很漂亮（廢話，那裡不是？），坐在避風塘邊享受幾杯確實不錯。
Kingswear/Dartmouth/Totnes: Let put them together.
 |
| Steam Railway Station |
On the second day we took the steam trains from where I stayed down to Kingswear, on the mouth of the river Dart. While steam trains are not necessarily my favourite, just being able to travel by train on a journey was a big plus, if not a bit too short for me. This views from the train was mostly blocked by trees, but as we pulled in the estuary across Dartmouth…
第二天到了Dartmouth，來了趟蒸氣火車再加遊船河之旅。由我朋友住的地方坐蒸氣火車到河口的Kingswear。雖然蒸氣火車不是我最喜歡的類型，對我來說單是能坐火車遊覽已經令我感到興奮。可是車程只有短短十數分鐘實在不夠。至於風景嘛…
 |
| Dartmouth in the fog |
On a bad day apparently, as it was all fogged up. But I actually liked it that way. Since you are only see some of the houses and not others, it gave off a certain mystic vibe for the town, almost like hidden to strangers.. (*start of an epic pirate tale*)
很不幸地，我似乎遇上了不太好的天氣（但其實我毫不驚訝：這裡是英國）很大霧。
但其實的很喜歡這樣。當你只能看見最前排的房子，後面的全都在霧的濃罩之中，讓整個區域都抹上一陣神秘的氣氛。再加上陰天，完全就是海盜電影的序幕…
You then cross over the river Dart by ferries connecting the small towns of Kingswear and Dartmouth, piers located just outside the railway station. This is no tourist ride. Sea acted as if it was going to get rough (but didn’t – yay!). Yet the short journey provided the perfect opportunity to see both sides of the estuary (again, in fog…)
Dartmouth is a small town populated by some lovely, artsy shops along the coast. Now I am no expert at jewellery, so the Pub turned out to be the most interesting. The pub we went to for lunch offered a ‘Husband Creche’ service: basically it lets you drop off your husband/boyfriend/anything reassembling them at the pub while you can go shopping unmolested. GREAT IDEA.
到了對岸的Dartmouth。是個小小卻很有藝術氣息的小鎮。由於個人對首飾接近零認識，最有興趣的還是酒吧。我們午飯的那間還提供「老公托兒所」的服務：就讓我們坐在這裡喝啤酒好了，不要煩我。
After lunch (which, of course, was seafood) we got ourselves onto a more touristic ferry, and headed upstream towards Totnes. The whole journey took about an hour.
午飯後坐上遊覽船。
Now I was not a great fan of ‘river cruises’ thanks to the one I have done recently in Bath. You might not have heard of river cruises in Bath. And that was exactly the problem. Nothing happened. Nothing to see but the trees. WHAT. IS THE. POINT, but to make to fall asleep? I had no idea. (The bigger problem was that, since I thought there WOULD BE something to see, I tried very hard to stay awake. Only to be greeted by nothing…)
Anyway. back to the cruise in Devon. In terms of ‘sights’ this was not a cruise along the River Seine, yet you still get to see a few beautiful villages by the river that would otherwise by very difficult to get to. Also, the shining sun certainly helped.
我對遊覽船有點怕怕的。事緣我曾經在Bath參加過遊船河，但全程除了樹之外什麼也沒有。根本就是一個催眠之旅…不過這次的經驗要好得多，在陽光下（這是一大利好）看着河兩岸的村莊，還是很寫意的。
Plymouth: This was my first time there, and I was lucky to have been on a great sunny day. We have only done two things, both somewhat related to marine life.
Firstly, Lunch. Being in one of the most famous fishing harbours in the country, a seafood lunch is of course a must. My friend took me to a place called ‘Platters’ right in front of the harbour, and there I had some of the best fish in my life! (considering I have ‘lived’ in Japan before, I see this as a great compliment.)
After eating fish, we then went off the see fish – in the National Marine Aquarium. It’s the biggest aquarium in the country, and so it is the best place to go if you would like to see some fishie fishie. The Aquarium is divided into different zones, where you can see marine life from around the coasts of Plymouth. Gutted to have missed out on the Sea Turtle though.
Plymouth：我第一次來這德文郡最大的城市。再次遇上晴天，只能說自己很幸運。Plymouth是個和海洋息息相開的城市，而我所做的事也和海洋有關。
第一當然是午飯。來到這裡當然是海鮮。在日本時曾學到一個道理：烹調海鮮其實沒有特別的技巧，就是以新鮮度取勝。而Plymouth的果然夠新鮮，是其中一些我吃過最好味道的魚。
吃完就看。National Marine Aquarium是全國最大的水族館，裡面可以看到近在德文郡沿海，遠在大堡礁的海洋生物。只是吃飽了的我有點過意不去…
So that rounds off a week in Devon. It’s a very nice county and ideal for a holiday. Perhaps I will return soon!
這就完成了德文郡一週的旅程。有緣再來吧！
