ESLPodcast 16 - Summertime Vacations(夏季休假)

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Wednesday - August 10, 2005

I think the best summer vacation I've ever taken was when I went out East a few years ago. Two of my friends and I went on a two-week road trip. At the time, I was living in St. Paul, Minnesota, in the Midwest of the United States. Anyway, we started off camping every night, but that got real old, real fast. So we started checking in to hotels after about the third day. We were headed for Washington, DC first. Checking in to the hotel was always a bit of a hassle. I wanted to sleep in a double bed, my friends wanted to get a king to share. Lodging is more expensive at a hotel than in a campground, but it is much, much more comfortable!

我认为我经历过的最好一次暑期休假是几年前去东部的那次。我和另外两个朋友进行了为期两周的公路旅行。那时候我还住在美国中西部的明尼苏达州圣保罗。在那次旅行中，每晚我们都会野营，但是总这样，就会让人觉得没什么新鲜感，并且这种野营时间太短。所以大概在第三天我们就开始找旅馆入住。开始我们的目的地是华盛顿。入住旅馆的时候我们总会发生争论，我想要一间有两张床的房间，我的朋友们则想大伙共享一间king。住旅馆确实花费很大，比野外宿营贵很多，但是却非常非常舒服。

We went to the major tourist attractions in Washington, D.C. - the Capitol, Lincoln's Memorial, the White House. We then headed north, passing through Boston and headed towards Canada, to Quebec City. When we arrived at the Canadian border, we had to pass through customs and immigration. Customs was easy. We had nothing to declare. Immigration was more of a pain . We were asked the standard questions. How long will you be staying in Canada? What is the nature of your visit? Finally, we were permitted to enter, and we drove on to our destination.

Quebec City is beautiful! Unlike many cities, there are no tourist traps to sidetrack you. We spent two days there, then drove on to Montreal. Of course, we had to pass through customs and immigration again when we re-entered the United States. Our bags were searched in customs, but other than that we got through fairly easily. A few days later, we were back in Minnesota--home sweet home.

Script by Dr. Jeff McQuillan