セルビアは今働いていたかも知れない場所であり、今回はアイルランドにいる同業者として旅行することになったのがなんとも不思議。
もし、今ここにいたら...
どんな人たちと、どのように働いて、どんな生活をして、どんな人たちと出会っていたのだろう...?
人生ってほんとにわからない。
This year I spent my one-week-Easter-holiday in Serbia and Hungary.
To tell the
truth, I had got a position in Serbia in March 2012 and was supposed to be
working there at the moment. I met my
counterpart who the position instead of me for the first time, and I felt it’s
a miracle that I’m now in another position in Ireland!! But what if I had
really chosen to live there in Serbia…?
I'm
wondering with whom I would have been working?
How would my life have been? Life is always unpredictable: that’s why it’s so exciting!!
首都のベオグラードは刺激的な街だった。なんと形容したらいいのだろう、一見ヨーロッパ的だけどどこかスリランカの混沌に似ていて、それでいて空爆の跡など戦地だった頃の時が止まっている。想像の中の40,50年前の日本のような場所もある一方で、目の前には中二階のあるモダンなカフェやレストランが時々顔を覗かせる。
歩みを進めれば進めるほど、味の出てくる街。
The capital, Belgrade, was stimulative. I don’t know the exact words to describe it; it seemed like Europe, but the atmosphere overlapped with a more chaotic one I experienced in Sri Lanka. In addition, when I looked up at the buildings bombed by NATO, I could almost believe the war time had just ended right then.
It sometimes appeared to me that some places looked like my image of Japan 40 or 50 years ago , while at the same time, modern cafes and restaurants were sitting on the streets. The more wandered around the city, the more attractive it became.
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| 市内を流れるサバ川から旧市街を望む。 |
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| NATOによる空爆跡。 |
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| 3日間で4回も通ったジェラート屋Moritz。 |
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| コーヒー屋で一息@Kaffein |
車でしかなかなか行けないような Fruska Goraというワイン地帯、はちみつを売る「家」、丘の麓にじっと居座る修道院。わいわいと、でもなんか不思議な感覚。
ベオグラードから寝台列車で8時間10分、ハンガリーはブダペストへと向かう。車内はまるで、映画ハリーポッターとアズカバンの囚人の吸魂鬼(ディメンター)でも出てきそうな程、趣のある列車だった。パスポートコントロールが2度もあり、睡眠が妨げられる。眠気の半目で見上げると暗がりの中で警察が佇む姿がちょっと怖かった。
It took me 8 hours and 10mins to reach my next destination: Budapest, Hungary. The inside of the train was quaint enough that it would have been no surprise if Dementors from the film ‘Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban’ had shown up. In the middle of the night, a few border guards performed passport controls in the dark twice, with a one-hour interval.
この3年間は本当に色々とあったけれど、そんな空白を感じなかった。まるで3ヶ月ほど前に友人一家と過ごしたのではないかと思うほど気持ちはあの時のまま。
朝6時到着のブダペストでは、お家に着くやいなやイースターの準備。とりあえずジンジャーブレッドの絵付けをば。そして、イースターサンデーのため9時30分以降でないと朝食は食べられないとのこと。家族みんなで食べる食事のこの感覚がなんか懐かしい。
As soon as I arrived at their place in a suburb
of Budapest at 6am, we started to prepare for our Easter celebration. Since they run a gingerbread business, they
let me add colour and decorate them.
According to the rule on Easter Sunday, we were not allowed to have
breakfast until 9.30am (though I was starving!). Once the fast broke, I noticed that I had
missed this happiness of dining with a family.
友人一家の家では、色々とイースターのためのプログラムをしてくれた。イースターマンデーには庭に隠された卵を探したり、朝から香水を振りかけられたり、イースターエッグを伝統的な方法で作ったり、イースタースイーツ作りを手伝ったりetc...
They kindly prepared some other Easter special programmes
for me, which they usually do not do. On Easter Monday, we searched for
Easter eggs that a bunny had hidden in the garden; a guy (meaning her dad, as
he is the only gent in her family) sprayed perfumes on the ladies in the early
morning; we decorated several Easter eggs with wax which was a traditional
method; and helped to bake Easter sweeties.
その中で、街歩きも満喫。3年前に来た時より、建物やバス・トラム・地下鉄が新しくなっている。でも、聞けばさして変わっていないとのこと。おそらくセルビアの風景に目が慣れていたため、のよう。セルビアンマジック！それにしても丘の上からの眺めは、思わず息を飲む美しさ。
At the same time, we enjoyed walking around the old city fully. Compared to my memories from three years ago, it looked like all buildings, buses, trams and the underground had been refurbished and were somehow brand-new. My friend said, however, there had not been such huge changes. Probably, it was due to my eyes which had already got used to the out-of-date buildings and buses in Serbia.
What I love in Budapest
is...definitely the view from the hills!!
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| 屋外シアターのようだった噴水ショー。 |
Through this splendid holiday, I felt how fantastic it was to mingle with local people living there whilst travelling the world.
“Traveling like living”-I believe it’s absolutely excellent - the best!!
