造訪威尼斯的理由 A Reason to Visit Venice

威尼斯，美麗的水都，一個令我夢縈魂牽的城市。
Venice, a place that I never get tired of.

搬到義大利將近五年，離家不遠的水都，向來都是我出門呼吸新鮮空氣的首選。最初的兩年，純粹為了體會水都各季節的美，浪漫春漾，艷陽烈夏，醉人秋色，蕭瑟寒冬，每次踏進水都，總有番不同的感受。當我慢慢熟悉了這個萬種風情的城市，拜訪好友、參觀展覽、甚至購物，我在水都的活動，漸漸多了起來。
I’ve moved to Italy for almost five years. Venice is not far from Vicenza and is always one of my favorites if I want to go out for some fresh air. At the first two years, I went there to experience her beauty in various seasons, the romantic spring, the hottish summer, the fascinating autumn and chilly winter. There’s always something new every time I went to Venice. When I started to get to know the city, the must-do list of my Venice visit also started to grow.

我酷愛在水都裡散步閒晃，除了享受琳瑯滿目的商店櫥窗，我也愛上了在水都迷路的錯置感受，徒步穿梭在大街小巷之間，別有一番滋味。
I especially enjoy wandering around in Venice. Apart from window-shopping, I fell in love with the get-lost feeling. Every part of Venice brings me a different kind of feeling.

約莫三年前某個春末夏初的日子，我和外子一如往常，在早上十點多抵達威尼斯聖塔路西亞火車站。還記得那天造訪水都的目的，是要參觀某座還沒去過的博物館。時間上尚且充裕，我們便決定先逛街，順便找個地方打理午餐，下午再去博物館。出了火車站左轉以後一直順著路走，過了第一座橋，就會來到一個小市集，是當地人與觀光客採購食品的地點之一。這一天，也許是天意，順著風飄來一陣咖啡香，外子轉頭跟我說：「妳聞到了嗎？」「嗯！好香啊，去看看吧！」就這麼，我們聞香而至，來到了一間不甚起眼的咖啡店。
About three years ago, a sunny day around late spring early summer, Michele and I arrived Venice Santa Lucia around 10AM, nothing too different from our usual visit. I remembered that we went on purpose to see a museum. We’ve got plenty of time, so we decided to walk around, find a place for lunch, and then go to the museum in the afternoon. We turned left after we got out of the train station and kept walking along the main street. Passing the first bridge we arrived a small open-air market where locals and tourists do their grocery shopping. Along with the wind came a very nice smell of coffee. “Did you smell it? It smells so nice. Let’s go and check.” So, following our nose, we arrived a tiny and old coffee shop.

威尼斯的咖啡，向來都比其他地方的咖啡來得更甘甜。你也許會問我，為什麼？也許是水質，也許亦是水都風情所引發的感受，不過來到Caf? Costarica，甘醇的濃縮咖啡，讓刁嘴的我第一次感到驚艷！走近店裡，濃郁的咖啡香迎面而來，小小的吧台前，滿滿是一袋袋的咖啡豆，向前望去，店主正在另一個角落忙著烘培咖啡豆。點了兩杯濃縮咖啡，啜了一小口，口感竟是如此地甘醇柔順，比起我所鍾愛的I牌咖啡還要順口，這下子，好奇心旺盛又健談的外子，不由地與店主攀談了起來。
For some unknown reason, coffee in Venice tastes nicer than any other place. It’s probably the water, or the feeling induced by one’s emotion. But when I first came to Caf?’ Costarica, the sweet and smooth espresso was just a marvel. Entering the shop, a strong smell of coffee came to my face. Sacks of coffee beans piled in front of the bar. Looking forward, someone was busy toasting coffee at a corner. I thought he must be the owner. We ordered two espressos. A small sip of it, the smoothness and sweetness of the coffee spread in our mouth, much better than Illy. When I was still wondering about the coffee, Michele already started talking to the owner.
這家咖啡店開設於30年代，在威尼斯當地是很有口碑的老店。店主卡米羅對咖啡有著一股熱忱，原本就在咖啡業裡打轉的他，即使在退休以後，仍然靠著之前的人脈關係，從各地篩選、進口咖啡豆，而店裡的咖啡，全部由卡米羅烘培而成，絕對不假外人之手。店裡出售的幾種配方，又以「Caff? della Sposa」這種直譯為「新娘咖啡」，係由八種頂級阿拉比卡豆調配而成的配方最為出名，也是我的最愛；據店主表示，之所以如此命名，乃因為混合各種阿拉比卡豆而呈現的甘甜，就如新嫁娘般地甜美柔順。新娘咖啡無疑是這家店的招牌特色，店裡的某個角落，放著各式各樣的報導與獎狀，慕名而來者不在少數，甚至有人為了她特地從奧地利南下採購。
The caf? was open in the 1930s. It’s quite a famous old caf? in Venice. The owner Camillo is very enthusiastic about coffee that even when he got retired from the coffee industry he makes used of the network he built to select and import coffee beans. He bakes and toasts the coffee beans on his own. There’re several blends in Caf? Costarica, and the “caff? della sposa” is for sure the most famous one (and of course my favorite). It’s a blend of eight different kinds of arabica beans of supreme quality. It was named “the coffee of the bride” to imply its sweet and smooth quality. It is for sure the specialty of Caf? Costarica, and at one corner of the caf? lie various newspaper cuttings and reports from all over the world. Some people even come all the way from Austria just to purchase its coffee.

自三年前的那個日子以後，這間咖啡店成了我到威尼斯的必經之處，而新娘咖啡成了我家的必需品，在冰箱的咖啡罐快要見底的時候，我和外子都會互相提醒，「是該再訪水都了！」
After that day, Caf? Costarica has become one of my must-go whenever I go to Venice, and the caff? della sposa has become one of our necessities at home. When we’re about to finish coffee, we will always remind each other “it’s time to go to Venice!”