Was sagst du? 樣樣都德

I visited Venice for the second time this year, this time with my parents whose last visit was more than 30 years ago. Venice left us with a very lasting impression on several fronts. First of all, Venice is totally free of cars! Everything is done or carried through the extensive network of waterways criss-crossing the city, including private transport, public transport, fire and ambulance services and even FedEx. There’s no need to worry about crossing the roads and watching oncoming traffic! But navigating through Venice is no easy matter, as it is incredibly easy to get lost. Even maps won’t help all the time, because the maps can’t list all the little canals, bridges and the narrow passageways that seem to make unpredictable turns. On the other hand, Venice is the prefect place for hide-and-seek and labyrinths because of this! Tourists are both loved and loathed by the locals. On one hand, there are just too many tourists roaming everywhere in Venice, especially the famous tourist...

Water is part of the heritage of Salzburg; apart from the Salzach River, the city is also home to Schloss Hellbrunn (Hellbrunn Palace) whose prime feature is the myriad of water tricks in its garden. In the old days when the Palace was owned by the ruling archbishops, the garden was the place where the archbishops held gala banquets and made fun with/of their guests using those water tricks. Now it’s the turn of ordinary visitors to have the same fun too (or ordeal, depending on your view!) The tour guides of the garden will often turn on the fountains out of the blue and catch the visitors off guard while they are having a look at the different water features. Kids certainly find it fun to be sprayed and splashed, but if getting wet is not your type of amusement, you had better stay with those wearing a suit. The tour guides only know too well that it’s not funny to get those expensive suits wet! Whoever came up with the idea of this unconventional water palace must have been a big ki...