1 . Florence, Rome, Venice. Beautiful cities to be sure, not to mention some of the planet’s most visited travel destinations. Yet this popularity means that for many, Italy’s premier hotspots are too expensive and overcrowded to visit. If you want to enjoy a true taste of Italy without the tourists, read our list of secret Italian towns you need to visit.

Treviso, Veneto

Treviso is like a small Venice with fewer tourists and crowds. Its historical walled centre is dotted with medieval churches, cobblestone streets, red-brick palaces and tiny old canals that connect buildings, gardens and piazzas.

Bologna, Emilia-Romagna

Bologna is one of the coolest towns in Italy. It is mostly frequented by students--Bologna is home to the oldest university in Europe and a whole lot of gastronomy fans, since it’s known to be the Italian food capital. Once you arrive, don’t forget to taste the delicacies of the area, such as lasagne, tortellini and, you guessed it, bolognese.

Castelluccio, Umbria

Castelluccio is the highest village in the Apennine Mountains at 1,452m (4,764ft) above sea level. It’s a charming village with lovely squares that offer amazing views over the mountains and fields that blossom with violets and red poppies. The best time of the year to visit Castelluccio is in spring--from late May to early June.

3 . My neighbour Orlando is a paramedic (护理人员). He and his wife are some of the nicest people I have ever met. A few years back we started this sort of “favor war”, where one of us would do something for the other, such as shoveling (铲) his driveway or helping him build a shed, and next time the other would try to top it with another favor.

Yesterday morning there was maybe 2 or 3 feet of snow on the ground and I remembered he shoveled my driveway for me last snowfall. So I took out my shovel and took care of both our sidewalks and driveways because it was my turn to do a favor back. It took a while but I finished and got into my car for work. What I did not realize was that Orlando had to work that day too.

Fast forward to this morning I got a knock on my door. It was him. He immediately shook my hand and informed me that because I shoveled his driveway and sidewalk for him, he was able to get to work earlier. As soon as he started his shift, a call came through that a young boy was in a medical emergency. Luckily he and his partner were only about 2 minutes away, but the next closest ambulance was in 10 minutes. This kid didn’t have 10 minutes. He barely had 2 minutes. Because my neighbour got to work sooner, the young boy got to live his life.

This isn’t a brag (吹嘘). This is to inform others that even the smallest favors can have the biggest impacts. It wasn’t too much of trouble to shovel his driveway for him, but because I did, the young kid got to see his family again, go back to school again, talk to his friends again and live his life.

5 . Attractions for Kids with Dinosaur Fever

While there are plenty of movies and books that can teach your little one all about dinosaurs, the following children’s attractions will allow them to come face-to-face with their favorite dinosaurs and learn in an interactive, fun environment.

1. Dinosaurs Alive at Cedar Point

Sandusky, OH

See the “age of dinosaurs” come to life with interactive exhibits based on real fossil evidence. At the Dinosaurs Alive section of Cedar Point park, visitors can walk among more than 50 life-sized dinosaurs which move and roar. See these gigantic lizards (蜥蜴) up close and learn more about the most fearsome period of the earth’s history.

2. The Chicago Children’s Museum

Chicago, IL

The Chicago Children’s Museum is filled with plenty of activities for kids of all ages, but one of the coolest has to be the Dinosaur Exhibition. At this exhibit, children can spend time digging for dinosaur bones at an excavation (挖掘) site, looking at dinosaur fossils, and learning what life is like for real archaeologists (考古学家).

3. Carnegie Museum of Natural History

Pittsburgh, PA

In addition to plenty of exhibits about wildlife, the Carnegie Museum of Natural History has one of the finest dinosaur fossil collections in the world. Visitors can see experts work with real dinosaur fossils in the PaleoLab. Make sure to snap a photo in front of Dippy, the scarf-loving dinosaur guarding the front of the museum!

4. The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis

Indianapolis, IN

From the dinosaurs exploding out of the side of the building to the fossils within, the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis is filled with fun things to do. Kids can touch a real T-rex bone and see reconstructed dinosaur skeletons up close.

6 . Growing up as kids we are told to share our toys and not to be selfish. We also live in an age when discussing our feelings is encouraged. But when does it all become too much? With new trends growing all the time, such as dance challenges and wearing a carpet as a dress, the question is: when can sharing become oversharing on social media?

“Oversharing” has become associated with social media, but it isn’t exclusive to this platform. Imagine you head to a party and meet someone. Within five minutes they have revealed private details about their life. While some of us may try to escape these people, according to marriage advisor Carolyn Cole, this form of oversharing could come from a strong desire to connect with someone. But how does this translate to social media?

Dr. Christopher Hand, a lecturer in cyberpsychology (网络心理学), says the more details people uncover, the less sympathy we express when things go wrong. It seems that searching for sympathy by oversharing is generally considered as negative rather than the cry for help it could really be.

However, Dr. Hand’s research also seems to suggest that the more we post on a platform, the more socially attractive we become-only if the posts that we share are positive. Even back in 2015, Gwendolyn Seidman PhD said that we should avoid complaining and being negative online. We should also avoid showing off, especially about our love lives. It makes sense-if your date is going “that well”, would you really have time to share a photo with text?

So, how can you know if you are oversharing? Well, why not ask your friends in real life. They would probably be happy to tell you if your posts about your breakfast or your complaints about your lack of money really are too much.

7 . Bertie knew there was something in the wind. His mother had been sad in recent days, not sick, just strangely sad. The lion had just lain down beside him, his head warm on Bertie’s feet, when Father cleared his throat and began, “You’ll soon be eight, Bertie. A boy needs a proper education. We’ve found the right place for you, a school near Salisbury in England.”

His heart filled with a terrible fear, all Bertie could think of was his white lion. “But the lion,” he cried, “What about the lion?”

“I’m afraid there’s something else I have to tell you,” his father said. Looking across at Bertie’s mother, he took a deep breath. Then he told Bertie he had met a circus owner from France, who was over in Africa looking for lions to buy. He would come to their farm in a few days.

“No! You can’t send him to a circus!” said Bertie. “He’ll be shut up behind bars. I promised him he never would be. And they will come to see him and laugh at him. He’d rather die. Any animal would!” But as he looked across the table at them, he knew their minds were quite made up.

Bertie felt completely betrayed. He waited until he heard his father’s deep breathing next door. With his white lion at his heels, he crept downstairs in his pyjamas, took down his father’s rifle from the rack and stepped out into the night. He ran and ran till his legs could run no more. As the sun came up over the grassland, he climbed to the top of a hill and sat down, his arms round the lion’s neck. The time had come. “Be wild now,” he whispered. “You’ve got to be wild. Don’t ever come home. All my life I’ll think of you, I promise I will.” He buried his head in the lion’s neck. Then, Bertie clambered down off the hill and walked away.

When he looked back, the lion was still sitting there watching him; but then he stood up, yawned, stretched, and sprang down after him. Bertie shouted at him, but he kept coming. He threw sticks. He threw stones. Nothing worked.

There was only one thing left to do. Tears filling his eyes and his mouth, he lifted the rifle to his shoulder and fired over the lion’s head.

8 . My teacher held up a piece of broken glass and asked, “Who broke this window?”

Thirty boys tried to think about not only what they had done, but also what the teacher might have found out. She seldom became angry, but she was this time.

“Oh,” I thought. I was the one who broke the window. It was caused by a naughty throw of a baseball. If I admitted guilt, I would be in a lot of trouble. How would I be able to pay for a big window like that? I didn’t even get an allowance. “My father is going to have a fit as a result of it,” I thought. I didn’t want to raise my hand, but some force much stronger than I was pulled it skyward (朝向天空). I told the truth, “I did it.” It was hard enough to say what I had done.

My teacher took down a book from one of our library shelves and I had never known my teacher to strike a student, but I feared she was going to start with me.

“I know how much you like birds,” she said as she stood looking down at my guilt-ridden face. “Here is the field guide about birds that you are constantly checking out. It is yours now. It’s time we got a new one for the school anyway. You will not be punished, but remember that I am not rewarding you for your misdeed (恶行), but I am rewarding you for your truthfulness.”

I couldn’t believe it! I wasn’t being punished and I was getting my own bird field guide — the very one that I had been saving up money to buy.

The lesson my teacher taught me stays with me every day, and it will echo forever.