聖彼得斯堡 (St Petersburg, Florida)

聖彼得斯堡(St Petersburg, Florida)位於佛羅里達州西部岸邊的一個半島之上，東有坦帕灣，西有墨西哥灣，北部與佛羅里達半島相接，南部雖然孤懸於海上，但是有一條跨海大橋延伸到佛羅里達半島。這只是一個二十五萬人左右的小城鎮，但是卻魅力無窮。

聖彼得斯堡的達利美術館

南方的跨海大橋

從海上進入聖彼得斯堡

聖彼得斯堡號稱是陽光城市，一年平均有361天可以見到陽光，而且還創造過連續768天有陽光的金氏世界紀錄，也就是說來此地旅遊，敗興而歸的機會很低。合宜的天氣使得這裡成為了美國許多退休人士的養老首選。其北方則是另一個渡假型城市清水( Clearwater)，這兩個城市共用一個機場( St Pete Clearwater international airport)。

這一帶的墨西哥海岸屬於沙岸，而且是又白又嫩的麵粉沙，會讓人忍不住將沙子往身上塗抹，亞洲地區好像只有菲律賓的長灘島(Boracay)有這樣的沙質。即使我們是在一月份時來訪，一樣是可能下水去游泳的。我們選擇去的海灘是Fort de Soto Park的North Beach，這裡是一個海上的小島，要經過好幾座跨海「小」橋，跳過幾個小海島才能到達。

孩子們有話好說!

Fort de Soto是1898年美西戰爭時所使用的碉堡，舊時的大砲還留了下來。當時西班牙戰敗，兩國簽定巴黎和約，於是古巴獨立，西班牙割讓關島和波多黎各予美國，並以2000萬美元的代價，把菲律賓賣給美國。

 坦帕灣岸則是遊艇活動的天堂，對面即是坦帕市，有MLB Rays，王建名也曾來待過。

這裡的市政府非常積極要把城市推銷出去，除了善用自然環境的優勢，也刻意增加了人文的底蘊。市中心的達利美術館是收集達利超現實作品的大本營，許多著名的達利的大型作品都在此恆久展出，是達利迷不能錯過的地方，另外一個則是 Museum of Fine Arts，這裡甚至也有一個來自西雅圖的Dale Chihuly玻璃美術館。市政府的居心路人皆知，就是要讓遊客一邊度假放鬆，一邊又能提昇心靈，重點還是吸引遊客能夠在眾多渡假地點中，選擇一個可以多方兼顧的亮點。

達利著名的維納斯

達利的著名紅唇沙發

達利美術內部

這個城市離奧蘭多只有兩個小時的車程，是故許多前往迪士尼的遊客也會順道來訪。

露營中的科學 -2 鐵弗龍

鐵弗龍，即聚四氟乙烯（Polytetrafluoroethylene，PTFE)，最早由杜邦公司製造，商標名Teflon。  

這是一種使用氟原子取代聚乙烯（Polyethylene，PE)的高分子聚合物，具有抗酸抗鹼、抗各種有機溶劑的特點，同時又耐高溫且摩擦系數極低。 

最早鐵弗龍用來當做是不沾鍋的塗層，Snowpeak 首將這個材料使用在露營用布料上，使布料能有非常好的防潑水性。  

另外鐵弗龍塗層的布料也用來充當建材使用，最著名的即是德國的Allianz arena 和中國的水立方游泳池，其實是塗了鐵弗龍的充氣氣泡組成的。  

各位小朋友，沒想到，帳蓬布和不沾鍋表面上「滑滑的表層」都是鐵弗龍吧!!

Bens Mills

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Perfluorodecyl-chain-from-xtal-Mercury-3D-balls.png

德國的Allianz Arena , https://allianz-arena.com/en

水立方游泳池 Charlie fong, https://zh.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1519525

露營中的科學 -1 鐵器與銅器

人類的文明，首先是石器時代，標榜的是人類開始使用簡單的工具來獵食或是處理食物。

後來人類又更進一步會使用金屬，於是銅器時代登場了，例如中國的殷商文明，人類不但使用銅器為武器，也廣泛的用於農具、食器、樂器及祭祀用品。

四千年前位於小亞細亞的西臺人(Hitties)逐漸掌握治鐵的技術，並且在國王的政策下成為不對外公開的密技，於是人數不多的西臺人靠著「鐵武器」創建了著名的西臺帝國(BC 1650-BC 1180)。西臺帝國覆亡之後，冶鐵技術才開始外流，大約在2600年前，冶鐵技術才傳到中國。

到底鐵器有什麼優點可以取代銅器呢?

最重要的優點是鐵器遠比銅器來得堅硬，使用鐵器為農具可以更有效率的犁田、收割。鐵製的武器可以銳利又輕巧。

而市面上所販售的銅鐵雙面鎚則是同時發揮了銅和鐵這兩種金屬的優點。其鎚面是銅製品，所以在敲擊時，較軟的銅金屬會變形而吸收反作用力，因而保護敲擊人的手部不要受傷。另外一面尖面為拔釘用，則為堅硬的鐵金屬，本來就不易變形。

圖為敲鈍了的軟銅頭和堅硬的鋼頭。


第二部: 露營中的科學-2 鐵氟龍

Hemei Mt Hiking Trail in Xingdian, Taipei

Hemei Mt is a small mountain near the MRT Xingdian station (Bitan), the southern terminal of the green line. Bitan, which means green lake in Chinese, is famous for its green river and suspension bridge. If you visit Bitan, be sure to visit the mountain at the same time.

The Bitan Suspension Bridge is 100 m away from the Xingdian station. Just walk through the famous bridge, and then, you can find the entrance of the Hemei Mt hiking trail near the bridge pier. The trail is about 1000 m long with 100 m elevation gain. It takes 25 mins to arrive at the summit ( elev 152m), and you will be rewarded with a fantastic view of the whole Bitan area. Taipei101 is also a obvious subject of the scenery.

The entrance of the trail.

The map of the trails

The Trail

A pond on the trail.

Camphor trees are frequently seen in Taiwan, but most of them are young.  Camphor was Taiwan's main industrial product before the massive chemical synthetic procedures were invented. Therefore, it is not easy to meet a camphor tree so big. You can rub a leaf and smell the typical aromatic odor.

Taro is also a common plant in the forest of Taiwan, but this wild species is  poisonous. Do not try to eat it. 

Taiwanese and Japanese hikers are always looking for the triangulation points on the mountain summits, which were set up for geodetic measurements 100 years ago. Nowadays, they are functionally replaced by the artificial satellites. Gathering the triangulation points becomes a pleasure for local hikers. 

There are several hiking trails on Hemei Mt , and you can take anyone if you want. The small mountain is enclosed by the roads, therefore, it is impossible to be lost. I spent 1.5 hr to finish almost all of the trails.

If you still have time to kill, you can take a paddle boat tour in Bitan, or try the tea and cuisines at the cafe on the river bank. There is an Ubike station near the trailhead, and you can bike from Bitan to Taipei city centre along the river bank, and vice versa. Hiking, boating,and biking are the thiathlon of Bitan.

Simple info:

Xingdian MRT station

Entrance at the Bitan Bridge pier

25 mins to the summit. 

New Lomond Mountain Hiking Trail in Taipei

The New lomond Mt is actually pronounced as Xingshan Menghu(新山夢湖). Xingshan means new mountain; Menghu means dream lake.

The new lomond Mt trail is located in the Xizhi (汐止) district of New Taipei City, and this place is not accessible by public transport. The Menghu road (夢湖路) leading to this trail is quite small, and it is a branch of Section 3 , Xiwan road(汐萬路) .

This is a popular place for local hikers, and it may be hard to park your car on holidays. The lake is so beautiful, therefore many bride-to-be and groom-to-be take their wedding pictures here.

The lake is small and the 2 entrances of the trail are easy to find around the lake. It takes about 40 mins to go up to the summit of the Mt, and 20 mins to go down. I advise you to go up in a counter-clockwise direction. At some place of the trail, climbing up with a rope is needed, but not too hard. At the top of the mountain, you can see the east side of Taipei city and the Keelung island in the sea. There are some special rocks on the mountain top, and be sure to climb with caution. In my view , children elder than 6 years old can finish the trail, and it would be funny for them.

The round trail is 1900m in length. After hiking , you can enjoy the lake view, especially the reflections. There are many precious underwater plants and fish in the lake. The lake is also a habitat of dragonfly larvae, and you can see several kinds of dragonflies flying around the lake. The lake cafe is only open on holidays.

Simple info:

Menghu elev 325m

Xingshan summit elev 499m

A 1900m round trail , 2 ends at Menghu

An one hour trip

Drive to Section 3 , Xiwan road , Xizhi, New Taipei City

Then to the end of Menghu road

A short trial from the end of Menghu road to Menghu

The entrance of  trail around the lake.

Climb up with a rope

On the ridgeline of Xingshan, It is a bush. 

Near the summit . You must climb up or down with the rope.

Some rocks on the Mt top

The photos of the lake: