Big Ben 大笨鍾

Anyone who has been to London would certainly have been to Big Ben, and very likely have heard her famous chime.

去過倫敦的朋友一定去過大笨鐘，更很可能聽過她著名的鐘聲。

Today Big Ben ‘donged’ for the last time at noon time as it prepares for a major restoration.  The restoration will cost £30m /NTD1.2bn, and will take up to four years. The entire Elizabeth Tower (Big Ben’s official name) will be examined and restored as it has been working non stop for over a century. During this period, except for special occasions the clock will not chime in order to protect the restoration workers’ ears. Big Ben’s exterior will be covered in scaffolding for the works, but officials have said that they hope they can keep at least one side of the clock dial uncovered at all times.

今天中午，大笨鍾的鐘聲最後一次響起，要在四年後才可以再聽到。因為在未來四年裡，大笨鐘需要作一個大型維修項目，而維修費用還高達£30m/NTD1.2bn。 整座伊麗莎白塔(大笨鐘官方名稱)外面會築起腳手架，還會被包起來，以方便檢查這座運作了超過一個世紀的鐘樓。但官方說希望在任何時候都可以保留有一面的鐘臉，讓大家繼續欣賞大笨鐘的風貌。另外，為了要保護維修工作人員的耳朵，除了特別的事故，大笨鐘暫時在這段時間也要收起鐘聲。

Next time you go to London, don’t be surprised to see Big Ben all wrapped up, but be sure to go back again after 2021 to see this most iconic clock in the world.

下次如果你到訪倫敦，看到害羞的大笨鐘不要覺得驚訝，但要記得在2021年再回來看看這座全世界最出名的鐘樓新風貌。