Never has 45 euros been better spent, but I need to toughen up – and quickly – if my money is not to run out well before I reach India.

這45歐元花得太值得了，但是，假如我不想在到達印度以前把錢花光的話，我必須把錢袋子看緊一點，路也要走得更快一點。

Fingers crossed, the next time you hear from me I should be in Germany, close to the source of the Danube and on a route that will take me through a further seven European countries.

我把手指交合在一起。下一次你聽到我消息時，我該在德國多瑙河源頭附近了，沿著那兒的一條路，我將去歐洲其余的七個國家。

Before then, however, I have to visit the French border city of Strasbourg, where I worked as a teenager in a packaging factory for about six months nearly two decades ago. I hope to meet the couple who ran the hostel where I lived, which catered for workers from across Europe and North Africa. Sylvie was pretty, while Gilbert had the looks and moustache that reminded me of a dark-haired Asterix. I don't know if the hostel is still there or, if so, it's still in their charge. After all, 20 years is a long time, but either way, I hope to find that they are both well.

但是在此之前，我還要去探訪法國邊境城市斯特拉斯堡（Strasbourg）。差不多二十年以前，我還是十幾歲的少年，曾經(jīng)在這里的一家包裝工廠里工作了六個月。我希望能拜訪當年的客棧老板夫婦，他們的客棧專門招待來自歐洲和北美的工人。希爾薇很漂亮，吉爾伯特的長相和胡子總讓我想起深色頭發(fā)的法國喜劇阿斯特里科斯中的人物。我不知道這家客棧是否還在，如果在的話，他們是不是還當老板。畢竟二十年時間不短，但是不管怎樣，我希望看到他們一切平安。