注意:请【不要】转载、盗图。作者本人保留图文所有版权。违者作者将对其追究责任。尤其请某些随意的杂志、网站编辑注意。【这篇帖子被加为精华了,谢谢版主的鼓励~~撒花庆祝~~】应广大看客们的要求,除了原有的英文版外,特意写了一个中文版加进来。这样嫌英文看起来麻烦的童鞋就可以看起来不费力啦。想看中文版的童鞋请移步电梯(已在这个帖子中更新):从纽约坐火车去普林斯顿大学 中文版想看英文版的童鞋请继续往下看:A day for train travel to Princeton University (from New York)By NYGossip (First time to write an English travelogue.)Needless to say, as one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution, Princeton University has enjoyed world-wide reputation for its eduational level and research strength. One of the reasons that I have been looking forward to paying a visit there is that it has a beautiful campus. So in a very sunny weekend in mid-September, I decided to make this visit on Sunday.Princeton University is located in Princeton, New Jersey, but it's not so far away from New York. A train ride less than one and a half hours can take you there.If you don't want to bother to drive a car to Princeton University, then I recommend taking a train. Amtrak and New Jersey Transit operate trains along the Northeast Corridor rail line that stop at Princeton Junction. Travelers can then transfer to a single-car train operated by New Jersey Transit, known locally as the "Dinky", for the five-minute ride to Princeton Station, where you are officially in Princeton University. The station is located on University Place at the southern end of campus, across from the McCarter Theatre Center.In the morning, I arrived at New York Penn Station, a main terminal for both Long Island Railway Road and New Jersy Transit. I went to the NJ Transit Area, found the ticket vending machines, then I bought a round-trip ticket between New York Penn Station and Princeton Junction ($14.75 for one-way). As you can see from the image below, since I am going the Northeast Corridor direction, what I need to pay attention to is the line saying "11:14 TRENTON NE CORR...", which will depart soonest from now. Focus on the board to wait for the Track number for your train and then head for that track as soon as it is shown. (Board in NJ Transit waiting area.)(NJ Transit waiting area.)After boarding the train, you can either take a short rest or get ready for some New York suburb view from the window. The train I take set off from NY Penn at 11:14am, and arrived at Princeton Junction at 12:25am. Besides NJ Transit (70min $14.75 one-way) you can also take Amtrak (50min but $33 one-way). The info can be found on their official website.(View from the train window.)(View from the train window. It is really pleasant for a day trip.)After I got off at Princeton Junction, soon the single-car train called "Dinky" arrived. It would take me to Princeton station located in Princeton University. I didn't know that I was supposed to buy the ticket before boarding "Dinky" so I asked the ticket collector if I could pay by cash when she came. Luckily there was no penalty (but I'm not sure for others) for me, and I paid $2.75 for this 5-minute ride. Later I found that I could've just bought the ticket from NY Penn Station to Princeton station (not Princeton Junction), this combination could be cheaper, as long as I could remember to get off at Princetion Junction and take Dinky.(Dinky is a single-car train that connects Princeton Junction and Princeton University.)Princeton University offers daily tours called "Orange Key Tours", the schedule of which can be found at http://www.princeton.edu/admissi ... n_schedule/fall.xml . I planned to take part in the 3:30pm tour for this Sunday, and that were still a couple of hours later so I decided to wander around and take some pictures as I stepped into Princeton U.(Blair Hall)(Alexander Hall)(A sculpture of Henry Moore "Oval with Points" near Alexander Hall of Princeton University. Looks like "8".)After strolling for a while, I found the University Place, where I realize I should grab a bite for lunch. Then I bought a sandwich and some postcards there.Before the 3:30pm tour, I decided to go to some locations I cared the most, e.g. Nassau Hall, Firestone Library and the Art Museum.(Nassau Hall. Nassau Hall is the oldest building on campus. It now houses the office of the university president and other administrative offices, and remains the symbolic center of the campus.)(The main university library, Firestone Library, which houses almost four million volumes, is one of the largest university libraries in the world and among the largest "open stack" libraries in existence.)When I stepped into the Art Museum, it was about 2pm. I was so lucky because there was a free guided tour starting exactly at 2pm and is offered only at 2pm in weekends (if not reserved in advance). This tour took about an hour, and it really made me better understand the exhibits. This Museum is great and it has many precious collections. One that impressed me was Monet's water lily painting. I remembered seeing one also in MOMA so I got confused if either of the two was fake? Then the tour guide answered my question. The reason is that Monet actually drew many water lily paintings, possibly at different time of the day. The one shown in Princeton U Art Museum might be at the noon time. I saw no one taking pictures at The Art Musuem, so I guess photographing might be prohibited there.(Princeton University Art Museum.)Then I went to Frist Campus Centerto, where the Orange Key Tour meets at weekends. Walk in and find the counter, you can sigh up for the Orange Key Tour without reservation. Some people were already waiting there, and unlike me, most of them might be prospective students, I guess. Our tour guide is C, who is an undergraduate in Princeton University. She is involved in many activities on campus. She took us for a circled walking tour and introduced this university, e.g tuition, courses, gap year program, etc.(East Pyne Hall. Where the language and literature dept. locates.)(Garden in Princeton U.)I heard that there is a magic gate in Princeton University, if any current Princeton students ever go out of the campus through that gate, he/she will not successfully graduate from Princeton U. I was very curious about this, so when the Orange Key Tour was going to end, I asked C where was the magic gate and if the rumor was true. She said that though it might be a rumor, she would never go throught that gate before she graduate. Haha, it seemed that this might not be total rumor, at least part of Princeton students believe this.Of course I would go to find that gate, and it turned out to be near the Nassau Hall. This gate is called "FitzRandolph Gate", but I can't locate it using Google Map. Surprisingly, I found many people were passing the gate, in or out, freely. And most of them didn't look like vistors like me. I thought they were Princeton University students, so maybe some of them just don't buy this at all and have the courage to challenge this rumor.(FitzRandolph Gate. Is it really that magic? I don't know, but maybe you can give it a try if you are admitted into Princeton U. If you challenge the rumor and graduate after all, please tell me. Haha.)Walked though this magic gate from Princeton U, I was on Nassau Street. On this street, I was looking for a ice cream shop which someone told me that Albert Einstein once had ice cream in. It was less than 10 minutes walk, and I found it, "Thomas Sweet". They have a picture hanging, in which Einstein was having ice cream. I bought French Vallina and Chocolate flavor, which tastes good.(No matter if Einstein ever really had ice cream here, their ice cream is good and worth trying.)Before heading for Princeton station and leaving the campus, I walked around and took some photos of Princeton's dorm buildings.(One of Princeton's dorm buildings.)If you drive to Princeton U, then you can drive a couple of miles to Education Testing Services (ETS), which I guess most international students should be familiar to. You know, TOEFL, GRE, GMAT etc.(ETS.)If you still have time, you can also go out for a picnic near Lake Carnegie, which is not far away from Princeton U.So I guess you know how to go back to New York, first take Dinky to Princeton Junction, and then NJ Transit to New York Penn Station.After a day's trip, I think Princeton University campus is definitely worth a visit, a very good place for a day trip, with children, families, especially under such a good weather condition.