西西里之行：時間的島
Sicily: The Island of Time — Reflections from a Technological Island
旅程從 Palermo 開始。
阿拉伯的拱門、諾曼的城牆、西班牙式的陽台交疊在一起，
歷史在每條巷子裡重複低語。
我住在港邊，看見貨船與古堡並存，
那種「時間並未過去，只是改變了形狀」的感覺，
讓我第一次真正理解什麼叫文明的層次。
Arab arches, Norman walls, Spanish balconies —
each page layered with conquest and survival.
From the port, I watched ships move past crumbling fortresses,
and realized that in Sicily, time does not pass; it accumulates.
Here, history is not memory — it is atmosphere.

這座城市像一本被翻得太多次的舊書，

The journey began in Palermo, a city that feels like an old book read too many times.

往南是 Agrigento。
我住在 Triskéles B&B，陽台外是山丘與海的交界。
晨光落在希臘神廟的多立克柱上，我靜靜地望著，
想像兩千五百年前的航海者在此登岸。
或許文明並不是在某一刻誕生的，
而是在無數日出之中慢慢發酵。
Further south, in Agrigento, I stayed at Triskéles B&B.
From the balcony, I could see the Valley of the Temples below,
and the Mediterranean shimmering beyond.
At sunrise, the columns of the ancient temples turned gold.
I sat quietly, imagining sailors arriving here 2,500 years ago.
Perhaps civilization was never born in a single moment —
it fermented slowly, in the light and air of places like this.

離開 Agrigento，我經過 Enna 與 Calascibetta。

站在風口，我想起 Castelmola——那座懸於 Taormina 之上的天空之城。

那裡的居民懂得與世界保持距離的智慧：

不是逃避，而是為了在變動中守住自己。

I saw hilltop towns rising from the mist like fortresses in the clouds.

People once lived here for safety, but also to be closer to the gods.

In Castelmola, perched above Taormina, I understood something profound —

to live apart from the world is not to escape it,

but to protect one’s rhythm from being consumed by it.

這些山城像雲上的堡壘，古人為了安全、為了與神更近，選擇住在高處。

Passing through Enna and Calascibetta,

而 Cefalù 是另一種美。
午後陽光照著石板路，貓趴在門前打盹，老人坐在教堂前聊天。
這座海邊小鎮，比 Palermo 更乾淨，也更有秩序。
他們的生活緩慢卻不懶散，那是從時間深處提煉出的節奏——
懂得生活，也懂得等待。
Then came Cefalù, the most quietly perfect of the towns.
The streets were clean, the pace unhurried.
Elders talked outside churches, cats slept in the shade.
Life there seemed slow, yet deeply intentional —
a rhythm refined by centuries of sunlight and sea air.

在 Catania，火山 Etna 在遠方雲霧中若隱若現。
不同的是，台灣以驚人的速度奔向未來，
而西西里則與時間並行。
一個追求創新，一個守護記憶。
然而，兩者都在嘗試回答同一個問題：
人類該如何在現代中，保有生活的美學？
From the Greek theater overlooking the coast, I thought of Taiwan —
two islands, both facing the sea.
Sicily moves with time; Taiwan races ahead of it.
One preserves memory, the other manufactures the future.
Yet both are asking the same question:
How should humanity live in the age of progress?

我想，也許台灣可以從西西里學習——
如何讓科技之外仍有文化與詩意的空間。
正如西西里人所展示的，
文明的力量不只在建設，更在理解時間、尊重生活。
to balance innovation with introspection,
to make room for culture and beauty amid the speed of change.
Sicily teaches that civilization is not measured by motion,
but by depth — by how we inhabit time.

旅程結束時，我明白：
它提醒我：真正的進步，不是跑得快，而是走得深。
當台灣在 AI 時代繼續向前，
願我們也能像西西里那樣——
讓時間成為朋友，讓文明有呼吸。
Sicily is not an island to see; it is an island to understand.
True progress is not about speed but about depth.
As Taiwan continues forward in the age of AI,
may we, too, learn to make time our companion
and let civilization breathe.