冰雪奇遇

By+Christine+Mc+Cafferty

Christine and Shannon had an exciting time visiting Arran Island， meeting motor bikers and punks，1 and are now heading back to Scotlands west coast. They were hoping to catch up with Ian， Shannons love interest/fling.2 He had previously offered to collect them and drive them north to see some snow， and he was due to leave Glasgow3 that day.

We were hoping that his offer still stood， and he hadnt left yet. I held thumbs4 while Shannon called him. Did he want to see us again？ I mean Shannon… Did he want to see Shannon again？ I was just an annoying hanger-on5， anyhow. Threes a crowd， you know.

Great news！ He was fine about us going with him and hed be heading north later that day. I could hear Shannon telling him that shed never seen snow before. Great... now how would we get to him？ Shannon pretended that we had transport. He pressed her to know how we planned to get to Glasgow to meet him. He knew we had no money. Eventually she said that wed catch a ride with someone. At that he said—he must have said， no， hed come fetch us because the next thing Shannon did was squealing6 with delight.

She put down the phone and we high-fived7 each other！ Yay！ Victory！ He had been most annoying and rude to us when wed lived with him and his friends in Henley-on-Thames8 in England. But without them， he was proving nicer， and more useful， by the week. Wed had a good road trip when hed brought us from England to Scotland.

What was more， he was only a few hours away， so we just needed to pass some time. If you need to buy yourself a meal while you are travelling in Europe or any Western country， and are trying to save money， breakfast usually will give you the best value. England is famous for its cheap-priced full breakfast9. Scotlands breakfast would surely be the same. We decided to spoil ourselves， given that wed managed to pass the weekend without spending much， except our ferry fares10 and a few drinks. And we were hungry. Billy， who wed stayed with on Arran Island， had fed us but it was mostly baked beans in tomato sauce from a can on a slice of toast. Another thing about buying a meal in that cold part of the world is that you get somewhere warm to sit. A full Scottish breakfast was what wed go for！

A “full breakfast” means a “complete breakfast”. But full is what you will be. We found a workmans eatery11 on the corner of a road. We figured if we started eating now and spread it out slowly till Ians arrival， wed get value for money12.endprint

First up was a bowl of hot oats porridge13. It was smooth and creamy with a square of butter in the centre， and milk over it. We put some brown sugar on， too. It was yummy. We were pretty full already， but the meal was only starting. The waitress brought out two huge plates， hot and piled high， with a smile. “Eat up， girls，” she said. On each plate were slices of fried tomato， with some cheese on top， a pile of thin-sliced bacon rashers， sausages （known as bangers）， kippers（salty strong-tasting fish）， mushrooms， baked beans， fried potato scones （tatties） cut into quarters and eggs.14 We looked at each other. We could never eat that all！ Also on the plate was a circular black thing that looked like an ugly meat patty15. “Whats that？” We asked the waitress. “Oh，” she said， “That is the best part. Black pudding.” Pudding sounded nice but we found out that it was made of pigs blood， fat， oats， barley， and various spices which were squashed like a fat sausage in an intestine and then cut sideways—hence the patty shape.16 The ingredients sounded horrifying to us， and we left it well alone.

Wed barely got through a small portion of it when out came hot crispy toast with huge slabs of butter on a plate and chunky marmalade （orange preserved in sugar）.17 It had a bitter， sweet taste but we couldnt resist some.

A full breakfast is often described a fuel for a day， but this was more like fuel for a week！ Honestly I thought that Id NEVER need to eat again. In bygone days， people in Scotland and England usually only ate twice each day， the huge late breakfast and then an evening meal， often referred to as “tea”. Talking of which， we were then served a cup of tea （black） with milk and sugar.

We just finished breakfast when Ian arrived. We heaved18 our full bellies into his car. It was great to see him. It is incredible how comforting a familiar face is when you are in an unfamiliar country. Shannon gave him a huge hug， and a kiss！ Whoa… I didnt realise she had missed him that much！ She cried， “Thanks to you， my dream is going to come true. Soon Ill be playing and skiing in snow！”

To us Scotland meant cold， and up north meant mountains. So we had cold and mountains—which must mean snow right？ And snow meant skiing！ Who needs the Alps19？

Little did we know that the snow report had said， “Expect a sheet of rain， fog and icy roads” and that visitors would be “dogged by chilling winds” and that the only snow on the top slopes was “hard and icy”.20 After all it was Scotland， and not the Alps， and the conditions are usually wetter and colder. In fact， the funicular that takes people up the ski slopes only stops for winds of 75mph or more.21 Also， it was well before winter， which meant that there was unlikely to be much snow around. I think Ian didnt want to ruin our happy excitement， especially as it meant kisses from Shannon， so， if he knew any of this， he didnt say a word.endprint

We set off， going through Perth22 （in Scotland， not Australia！） and then onto a place called Blairgowrie， which is just near the Glenshee Ski Centre. It was a three-hour drive. We were singing， laughing and enjoying the views out the window as we went. The wind had come up by the time we were approaching the steep roads to Glenshee. It is one of the United Kingdoms highest road passes23. The cars wheels seemed to be slipping and it was nerve-wracking24. There were beautiful views down the “Three Valleys”25 on either side of the road， though. We got there， eventually. It was cold， it was windy， and there was almost no snow.

Yes， we were disappointed， but ended up having so much fun. We went up on a ski lift26 and， at the top， found a little square of snow. It probably covered an area of two square metres but it was just enough for Shannon to lie on her back. She moved her legs and arms up and down to make an “angel shape” as shed seen in the movies as a child. I screamed with laughter and took a photo， making sure to focus on her and the snow only！ The sun came out for a second and I got the perfect shot. Anyone looking at that photo would NOT realise that there had actually been almost no snow that day… Well， except for the heather and rocks poking through snow.27

Ian laughed at how easily we were pleased. He didnt know that we were a little nervous to ski and no snow meant we could still act brave， without putting skis28 on！ We were told that the ski slopes werent as high as in the Alps， but the mountain sides looked pretty frightening to us… How lucky we were that there was no snow！ I personally couldnt think of anything worse than getting wet in that wind， and falling and breaking a leg. We probably couldnt have afforded to rent equipment and skis anyhow.

1. Arran Island： 阿倫島，是蘇格蘭最大的島嶼，位于克萊德灣，島上保留了濃厚的愛爾蘭文化；punk：朋克，誕生于20世紀70年代的一種搖滾音樂，這里指打扮成朋克風格的人，他們通常頭發顏色鮮艷，穿著帶有飾鏈和飾釘的破爛衣服。

2. love interest： 愛慕對象；fling： 一時的放縱（行樂），短暫的風流韻事，這里指以前的曖昧者。

3. Glasgow： 格拉斯哥，蘇格蘭最大城市，英國第三大城市。

4. hold thumbs： 握緊大拇指（以帶來好運），一種德國人的習俗。

5. hanger-on： 依附他人者。

6. squeal： 尖聲長叫。

7. high-five： （表示慶祝時）舉手（和對方）擊掌。

8. Henley-on-Thames： 泰晤士河畔的亨利小鎮，位于英格蘭牛津郡南部。

9. full breakfast： 英式早餐，以餐點豐富而著名，一般包括煮豆、煎培根、火腿、香腸、炒蘑菇、烤西紅柿、馬鈴薯餅與煎蛋，配上三角形的烤吐司，再配以一杯熱茶或咖啡。

10. ferry fare： 船票。

11. eatery： 餐館。

12. get value for money： 錢花得值，物有所值。

13. oats porridge： 燕麥粥。

14. rasher： 咸肉片；banger： 香腸；kipper： 煙熏鯡魚；scone： 烤餅，司康餅（常抹黃油、果醬、奶油等，有時內夾干果）；tattie： 馬鈴薯，土豆。

15. patty： 碎肉餅，魚肉餅。

16. 布丁聽起來不錯，但我們發現它是由豬血、肥肉、燕麥、大麥和各種香料混合制成，這些食材像肥香腸一樣被塞進腸子里，然后橫切成餅狀。barley： 大麥；squash in： 硬塞，塞進；intestine： 腸。

17. crispy： 松脆的；a slab of： 一大塊；chunky： 大塊的；marmalade：// 果醬。

18. heave：（用很大力氣）拉，抬。

19. Alps： 阿爾卑斯山脈，位于歐洲中南部，是歐洲最大的山脈。

20. 我們卻不知道，那天天氣預報說：“預計有大雨和霧，道路結冰”，游客們將會“被凜冽的寒風所困”，并且山頂坡道上僅有的雪“又硬又冰”。a sheet of rain： 傾盆大雨；slope： 滑雪斜坡；dog： v. 被……困擾。

21. 事實上，運送游客到達山上滑雪道的纜車只在風速大于等于75英里/小時時才會停運。funicular： // 纜車。