“难道这就是某某景点？比想象中的也小太多了吧！真让人失望透顶！”去看世界著名景点，一定要有平常心，否则你可能会陷入“不去会后悔，去了更后悔”的怪圈。因为有些如雷贯耳的景点，并没有你想象的那么宏伟……

Life can be full of let-downs and disappointments - the first time you taste beer as a teenager and wonder what all the fuss is about; that feeling when you open a giant parcel to find a tiny gift and an awful lot of plastic packaging inside; that first date, soon abandoned, with the guy who, it transpires, looks nothing like his Tinder profile.
生活可能充满失望：少年时第一次品尝啤酒，你会奇怪这东西有什么好喝的；当你打开一个巨大的包裹，发现都是大堆的塑料包装，礼物只有一丁点儿大；第一次约会，很快就黄了，才发现那个男人和他在Tinder上的头像判若两人。

The world of travel is not immune to such shortcomings. The breathless opinions of your friends and the hyperbole of glossy brochures might lead you to believe that such and such city/hotel/restaurant is the greatest thing in all eternity - only for your own experience to unearth a crime-ridden hellhole/rat-infested hovel/overpriced mess of posing hipsters, rude waiters and food which is as bland as the portions are miniscule.
旅游的世界也不能免俗。朋友们的极力推崇和宣传册上过度美化的图片可能让你相信这座城市/这家酒店/这家餐厅是全世界最棒的，直到你自己亲身体验，你才发现这其实是一个犯罪猖獗的地狱/老鼠出没的破房子/装腔作势、价格虚高、服务员粗鲁、食物平淡无奇、菜量很小的地方。

Then there are the landmarks which are very famous and very busy - but which, on close inspection, turn out to be rather smaller than legend has it. Not in terms of popularity or the number of other tourists clustered around, but in actual physical size.
有些标志性旅游景点非常出名，也非常繁忙，但近前一看会发现比传说的小很多。我们指的不是知名度或聚集在周围的游客数量，而是该景点的真实体积。

Take Stonehenge as an example. There it is above, as postcards intended - the very image of Bronze Age Britain at its most romantic. It looks huge, seismic, a timeless temple assembled by the hands of neolithic giants. It is only when you see it in person - or when a load of Summer Solstice revellers are allowed to go goo-goo for the sun in the middle of the main circle - that you realise those colossal slabs are not quite as colossal as you might think. Each standing stone measures 13ft (4.1m) - roughly the combined height of two averagely tall men. Impressive but not gargantuan.
以巨石阵为例。上面的这张巨石阵图片是很多在明信片上看到的样子，把英国青铜时代表现得要多浪漫有多浪漫。它看上去高大而富有震撼力，就像是新石器时代的巨人们用双手搭建起来的超越时间的庙堂。只有当你自己亲眼见到，或者一群夏至狂欢者们齐聚在巨石阵中看日出时，你才会意识到这些石柱并没有你想象的那么大。每根石柱高13英尺（4.1米），约等于两个高个子男性的身高之和。令人印象深刻，但还不足以让人惊叹。

还有哪些备受游客喜爱的世界奇景被严重夸大，或者让你被想象所误导？下面就是其中的几个：

 

The Little Mermaid
小美人鱼雕像

Tourists flock in their thousands to this celebrated statue, which sits on the Langelinie promenade in Copenhagen. A representation of the titular heroine of one of Hans Christian Andersen's most affecting fairytales, she sits a reasonable walk - about two miles - from the centre of town, but many visitors still make the hike in search of her.
成千上万的游客蜂拥去观看这个坐落在哥本哈根长堤公园步行道上的著名雕像。这座雕像代表着安徒生最感人的童话故事《小美人鱼》中的女主人公。雕像离市中心不远也不近，大概两英里，但很多游客都徒步寻找到了她。

It is only when they arrive that they realise the mermaid really is little. Specifically, she is about 4.1ft (1.25m) in "height". Better hope your camera has a decent zoom feature.
只有在到达以后，这些游客才意识到小美人鱼雕像真的很小。具体而言，她的“身高”是4.1英尺（1.25米）。你最好能有个变焦功能不错的相机。

 

Mannekin Pis
嘘嘘于廉/撒尿小童像

Belgium keeps it mildly weird at the heart of its capital, where the notorious fountain of a small naked boy merrily urinating is a constant source of camera clickery.
比利时在首都市中心摆放这么一个撒尿小童像是有点诡异，但是这个裸体小男孩欢乐撒尿的著名喷泉是人们争相拍照的对象。

How small? A mere 61cm of sculpted bronze. Don't plan a weekend in Brussels around it.
这个铜像有多小呢？只有61厘米高。如果你要去布鲁塞尔度周末，行程安排不要以它为重心。