【推荐2】Seattle is home to one of the busiest ports, so many visitors have a short window to crowd in as much sightseeing as possible before getting on a ship. Here are four attractions you can see in a rush.

Space Needle

Regular tickets for the Space Needle are $10 cheaper from 8:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. Order tickets in advance so you can go straight in line for the elevators. At the top, you can read fun facts about the Needle and interact with a huge, touchscreen “SkyPad”—- not to mention admiring incredible 360-degree views of the city.

Chihuly Garden and Glass

Located right next to the Space Needle, this exhibit features the work of Dale Chihuly. Walk through the Glasshouse to see one of his largest pieces: a 100-foot-long glass sculpture in colors of red, orange and yellow. Order your Space Needle and Chihuly tickets together for even more savings.

Pike Place Market

Just steps from the Space Needle, you can get on the bus to the famous Pike Place Market. Give yourself plenty of time to eat your way through this huge marketplace. Most places offer samples so you can try a wide variety of snacks before you buy.

Post Alley

Located under Pike Place Market, this street is home to Seattle’s stickiest attraction: the Gum Wall. This tradition started in the 1990s, when people waiting in line for Post Alley’s Market Theater would stick their chewed gum on the wall. Since then, thousands of others have added to the collection. The wall was swept clean in 2015, but you’d never know it now. It makes for a good photo opportunity—just don’t get too close.

【推荐3】Sharon Holland and her husband, Jer, are travelling around the world and saving money at the same time — by swapping (交换) houses with strangers to keep the bills low. They only have to pay for their flights, meaning they save hundreds of pounds on their holidays each year.

The couple’s occupation (职业) allows them to enjoy long periods of school holidays. Both work as school Deputy Principals,which allows them to take their children, Cian, 23, Miah,13, and Faye, 11, abroad up to four times per year. On average, they pay £1, 250 per year for flights.

Sharon, from Cork, Ireland, has exchanged her home with a stranger 40 times in the last 13 years and says she’s never looked back. She said, “I couldn’t imagine travelling any other way now. Swapping our Irish Georgian farmhouse for another house abroad is amazing. There are home-style houses, modern city apartments and beautiful architectural period houses too. Every holiday is different and staying in someone else’s house makes our experience more rewarding and enjoyable. We are able to meet more locals and understand the culture more than we would if we were to stay at a hotel. We bring our laptops during the summer weeks as we are both responsible for timetabling and school planning but this can be done at a distance.”

Sharon has visited various cities in America, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, the UK and their home country of Ireland. “But our favourite place is Italy. We have been lucky enough to visit there six times. Over the years, every experience has been great — from taking in the architecture to the food. We have made some wonderful happy memories for less,” adds she.

【推荐1】Top Four Marathons

Portland Marathon

The marathon welcomes 8, 000 people every fall. It’s a great event for first-timers because everyone is cheered on with enthusiasm no matter how long it takes to cross the finish line. The time limit for the full marathon is now at a pace of minutes per mile, or 6 hours and 33 minutes, but in the past it had an open time limit. They promise you’ll still receive your medal if you fall behind the pace, but you have to finish using the sidewalks.

TCS New York City Marathon

As the world’s biggest marathon, the TCS New York City Marathon attracts over 50,000 people to the Big Apple each November. The time limit is generous eight and a half hours, but participants must move to the sidewalk if they drop below 15-minute mile. The famous course snakes through five boroughs (行政区) of the city and crosses five bridges to end in Central Park.

Honolulo Marathon

The marathon attracts over 30,000 participants each December. The race starts on Ala Moana Boulevard in downtown Honolulu and snakes its way along the breathtaking Hawaiian coastline to the finish line in Kapiolani Park. The start time is at 5: 00 am with finish line services officially open until 2: 00 pm. However, the organizers allow everyone to finish and have waiters on hand until 4: 00 pm.

Boston Marathon

The marathon is held in May every year. For this event running isn’t allowed as the city streets aren’t closed off. Participants must instead make their way along sidewalks under the guidance of event organizers and city police. The event attracts over 8,000 people who can choose anything from three-mile walk to the full 26.2-mile Boston Marathon route.

【推荐2】There are apps for almost everything. Here are some of the best free apps that are well received by smartphone users.

StorySign is designed to help deaf children learn to read. With a book in hand. just point your phone's camera at the page and an animated character in StorySign will read the page in sign language. And children will both enjoy the books and learn to read in the process. Even in its limited form,StorySign is well worth trying if you have a deaf child young enough to appreciate it,but we expect this app will keep getting better as its library grows.

Wherever you are.chances are there are hundreds of different plant species within walking distance .and most of us have no idea what all but the most common are called. PlantNet aims to make identifying them easier--simply take a photo and the app will attempt to identify what kind of plant you’re seeing.

Google Photos stands out among hundreds of photo apps.as it gives you unlimited storage for photos and videos. But with basic editing tools and the ability to make albums. it's more than just photo and video storage. It aims to be your first and last stop after taking a picture. To achieve that,it will need a few more steps. but it's well on its way.

Soon is an app that lets you create lists of books you want to read. movies you want to watch.restaurants you want to try and more. You can select from a number of categories, including games.shops, bars, museums and TV shows, and then make a list of the ones that interest you. It's a great app for anyone struggling to remember the things they want to watch, visit, read, play and listen to .