悉尼海港大橋六千人共進早餐
Thousands sat down to breakfast on the Sydney Harbour Bridge on Sunday after the iconic structure was closed to traffic and carpeted with grass for the first time for a giant picnic.
About 6,000 early risers were on the steel bridge from 6:30 am to take part in the two-hour event designed to showcase Sydney's best food and outdoor lifestyle.
As accordion players and trumpeters provided the background music, those who had won tickets to the picnic in a random lottery munched on fruit, pastries, muesli, yoghurt, and the staple Australian breakfast spread Vegemite.
"It's amazing to see the bridge in this perspective," said Sydneysider Don Fuchs of the structure which is used by about 100,000 cars daily.
"Usually you sit in the car, you cross it, and that's it."
"It was beautiful," said Linda Curnow who attended the picnic with her family. "The grass was so thick it was like being in your back yard."
New South Wales state Premier Nathan Rees said the event was set to become an annual feature of Sydney's month-long October food festival.
About 45,000 people applied for tickets to the breakfast for which people brought their own food but were able to taste samples from some of the state's best producers.
"I don't think we were ever doubtful of the success of this event today," a government spokesman told reporters. "It was a unique world first for this iconic attraction. This type of event typifies the Australian personality."
上週日，數千人在悉尼海港大橋席地而坐，共進早餐。爲舉辦此次大規模的集體野餐活動，悉尼的這一標誌性建築臨時限行，並首次鋪上了草坪。
當天，從清晨6點半開始，約6000名早起的居民陸續來到這座鋼鐵大橋，參加這一兩個小時的集體早餐活動。此次野餐會是爲了展示悉尼最好的美食和戶外生活方式。
伴着手風琴手和小號手演奏的背景音樂，贏得野餐會入場券的人們津津有味地品嚐着水果、糕點、什錦粥、酸奶，還有澳大利亞人傳統的早餐食品——酵母醬。
悉尼居民唐•福克斯這樣評價當天的海港大橋：“今天的大橋太壯觀了。”海港大橋的日均車流量約爲10萬輛。
“通常都是你坐在車裏，穿過大橋，僅此而已。”
和家人一起來參加野餐會的琳達•科諾說：“太美了，草坪厚厚的，感覺就像在自家的後院裏。”
新南威爾士州州長內森•瑞斯說，這一活動將成爲今後每年曆時一個月的悉尼“十月美食節”的一個固定節目。
此前，共有約4.5萬人申請參加本次野餐會，獲得入場券的人需自帶早餐，但他們可以品嚐該州最好的食品生產商生產的食品。
一名政府發言人在接受記者採訪時說：“我們從沒懷疑今天的活動能取得成功。對於澳大利亞的標誌性建築海港大橋來說，這個世界第一很獨特。此類活動彰顯了澳大利亞人的個性。”
Vocabulary:
munch: to eat with pleasure 津津有味地吃（The rabbit munched on the fresh carrots. 兔子咯吱咯吱地嚼着新鮮胡蘿蔔。）
muesli:amixture of usually untoasted rolled oats and dried fruit, often used as a breakfast cereal 穆茲利，用碾碎的穀物、乾果、堅果加牛奶等製成的一種瑞士食品
staple:a basic dietary item, such as flour, rice, or corn（主要的；常用的）
spread:a food to be spread on bread or crackers 塗食品的果醬（或奶油）
Vegemite: a vegetable extract used as a spread, flavouring, etc “維吉麥”果醬（商標名）
Sydneysider: a resident of Sydney 悉尼居民
