1 . Yellowstone National Park offers a variety of ranger programs throughout the park, and throughout the year. The following are descriptions of the ranger programs this summer.

Experiencing Wildlife in Yellowstone (May 26 to September 2)

Whether you’re hiking a backcountry trail (小径), camping, or just enjoying the park’s amazing wildlife from the road, this quick workshop is for you and your family. Learn where to look for animals and how to safely enjoy your wildlife watching experience. Meet at the Canyon Village Store.

Junior Ranger Wildlife Olympics (June 5 to August 21)

Kids can test their skills and compare their abilities to the animals of Yellowstone. Stay for as little or as long as your plans allow. Meet in front of the Visitor Education Center.

Canyon Talks at Artist Point (June 9 to September 2)

From a classic viewpoint, enjoy Lower Falls, the Yellowstone River, and the breathtaking colors of the canyon (峡谷) while learning about the area’s natural and human history. Discover why artists and photographers continue to be drawn to this special place. Meet on the lower platform at Artist Point on the South Rim Drive for this short talk.

Photography Workshops (June 19 & July 10)

Enhance your photography skills — join Yellowstone’s park photographer for a hands-on program to inspire new and creative ways of enjoying the beauty and wonder of Yellowstone.

6/19 — Waterfalls &Wide Angles: meet at Artist Point.

7/10 — Wildflowers &White Balance: meet at Washburn Trailhead in Chittenden parking area.

2 . The UK is home to 26 world-ranked universities of the top 200 globally. At the heart of each university is the library, a space for students to access resources, absorb knowledge and gather thoughts. Here are some of our must-visit libraries across the UK.

Located in London, the British Library is home to over 170 million items. The collections offer a glimpse into literary heritage over the ages, from books to maps to manuscripts. Visitors can browse treasures including Leonardo da Vinci’s notebook. Students with a reading pass are known to spend hours at a time in the reading rooms.

Dating back to 1488, the Bodleian Old Library has three notable reading rooms. It is celebrated for its late Gothic architecture. You may recognize the elaborately carved ceiling from scenes in Harry Potter. Students at the university automatically get access to the library.

Opened in 1900, this library is part of the University of Manchester, one of the top five universities in the UK. This library offers limitless research potential for students. Whether you want to make use of the rich collections available, or simply explore the site, this library should be on everyone’s must-see list.

The Mitchell Library is one of Glasgow’s most famous landmarks. On the top of the copper dome (圆屋顶) is a bronze statue of the Roman goddess, Minerva. Visitors can climb the dome for the city’s most distinctive rooftop views.

3 . When looking for some vacation ideas to spread out and get some time and space to yourself, check out these great resorts (度假胜地) options.

Located in Punta Cana, this family-friendly vacation at an all-inclusive resort offers something for everyone in your party. Parents can enjoy relaxing by one of the resort’s swim-up bars in an infinity pool or head out for some deep-sea fishing. Kids, meanwhile, can head over to the kids’ club for a number of activities. Plus, all of the drinks and food across the 14 restaurants and bars is included.

This resort has become the Caribbean’s popular go-to when it comes to all-inclusive family vacations that provide great value since there’s so much to do for guests of all ages. There’s a 45,000-square-foot water park, 24 restaurants, unlimited PADI-certified scuba diving and water sports, a 12-mile beach, a spa, 10 pools—whew!

If you live in the city and want to get back to nature, this luxury farm over nearly 11,000 acres in California’s Santa Ynez Valley is a perfect fit for a family. All that wide-open space means activities like horseback riding, scenic cycling, hiking, fishing, kayaking and, for the body-and-spirit-minded traveler in your group, yoga.

The 20,000-acre community includes a nature preserve with walking trails, but the real stars of the show here are the over 300 species of birds. The resort’s resident naturalist takes families on walks to Bird Island, sharing a history of the area. Plus, kids will love the kayak tours that get up close to the dolphins that live there year-round.

5 . While attractions like the Shard and the London Eye offer excellent perspectives, they’re always busy and ticket prices are steep. But with a little insider knowledge, you can save your pounds and bag your skyline photos without the crowds through accessing the following viewpoints.

London is mostly flat, but if you know where to look there are a few hills that provide natural (and free) high points offering city views with a side order of fresh air.

One of the most central is Parliament Hill on Hampstead Heath — at 98m, one of London’s highest natural viewpoints. From here, on a clear day, you can sit on the park bench that featured in movies like Run Fatboy Run and Notes on a Scandal.

Entry fee: free

If you exit left out of Westminster station, battle your way over the bridge and then turn right, past the view of Big Ben and walk along the south side of the Thames, you’ll come to a medieval (中 世纪的) church.

While you might be interested in British garden design, it’s the 14th-Century tower that’s the main attraction for photographers. Climb the 131 steps of the narrow spiral staircase and you’ll emerge onto one of the finest riverside viewpoints in the city — with views across to the Palace of Westminster on the right.

Entry fee: Adult f16, or Tower only 4

If you want to soar over London in a glass pod, the obvious place to go is the London Eye. But a cheaper and crowd-free alternative is to ride the IFS Cloud Cable Car.

The views are impressive at any time, but the Cable Car stays open late, so you can even enjoy magnificent sunsets from the west — facing side or admire the twinkling city lights after dark.

Entry fee: E6 one-way

London has no shortage of rooftop venues (场所) offering knockout cityscape views, so it can be hard to pick just one or two. But for location, angles and a great experience, it doesn’t get much better than Seabird, on the 14th floor of the Hoxton hotel in Southwark with nothing to block views on three sides.

Entry fee: Buy a drink: draught beer costs ₤6.50 or small glass of wine is ₤9; a portion of olives costs ₤5.

7 . Here, our selection of Britain’s strangest museums has something for everyone.

Glasgow Riverside Transport Museum

The museum houses steam engines, motorbikes, Glasgow buses and just about anything else that has a set of wheels, wrings or sails. One of the last tall ships in existence is moored (停泊) outside, and you can take a boat there from Govan. For those not in love with transport, there’s a copy of a 19th-century Glasgow street with traditional shops and an old subway station.

Entrance is free and for children of all ages.

The Natural History Museum, Hertfordshire

The Victorians were mad about collecting, and this is essentially the personal collection of just one home-educated boy, which began when he was 5 years old. But as a member of the Rothschild family, Walter took 40 years to do it. There’s just about every stuffed animal you could ever imagine, and quite a few you couldn’t: a polar bear; George, a mandrill (山魈) from London Zoo and a four-ton elephant seal.

Entrance is free.

The Pencil Museum1, Cumbria

It is a museum all about the history of the everyday pencil. There are free daily artists’ demonstrations and workshops, so you can enter from one end of the museum and go out with a drawing from another end. The lovely Lake District location adds to the experience and the wonderful shop is especially enjoyable for stationery (文具) lovers.

Entrance: adults £8, children £6.

The Time Machine Museum of Science Fiction, Hertfordshire

This is the result of 30 years of crazy collecting by Andy Glazzard. There are artworks from sci-fi classics, but most of the museum artworks center on Doctor Who.

Entrance: adults £4.25, children f3.25.

8 . Things to Do in Northern Ireland This Autumn

WEE BINNIAN WALKING FESTIVAL (SEPTEMBER)

The exact dates of this annual walking festival are still to be confirmed, but if it’s similar to last year, it’ll offer a choice of ten walks and hikes around the Mourne Mountains, ranging from easier lowland routes to tough, multi-summit challenges. Evening social events are also included.

GREAT NORTH LINKS CHALLENGE (18-20 OCTOBER)

Calling all golfers. You can enter this three-day event-spread along the north coast between Ballyliffin, Portruth and Portstewart, as an individual or team of four. A perfect opportunity to play three Irish Open links courses in three days.

ARMAGH FOOD AND CIDER WEEKEND (SEPTEMBER)

A four-day feast of authentic food and artisan ciders (苹果酒) in Ireland’s “Orchard County”. This celebration is also coupled with the traditional apple harvest. You can taste local food from the country’s most inventive chefs.

OULD LAMMAS FAIR (LAST WEEK OF AUGUST)

People have been flocking to the seaside town of Ballycastle since the 17th century to celebrate this fair. Attractions include a Heavy Horse Show, horse speed events on the beach, funfair, outdoor concert and a fireworks display, as well as unique local produce and handmade arts and crafts.

9 . Hong Kong has the largest collection of high-rise buildings on Earth, many of which have been designed by world-famous architects.

HSBC Headquarters Building

In 1979, the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation(HSBC) launched an international design competition for its new headquarters. Foster +Partners, headed by architect Sir Norman Foster, won the competition with an out-of-the-box idea. With a budget of roughly S667 million in the day’s currency, the British visionary had the modular (模块化的) pieces constructed in the US, Japan and the UK before shipping them to Hong Kong for assembly (组装).

The Henderson

Zaha Hadid Architects(ZHA) has revealed plans to replace a multi-story car park in Hong Kong’s central business district with a new 623-foot tower. Like so many of ZHA’s visionary projects, the office tower, completed in 2023,integrates technology with natural environments. For instance, there is a sky garden which is an outdoor recreational space with a running track and a planting network that acts as an effective biological air-purifying filter by consuming pollutants.

Two International Finance Centre

On a clear day, you can see straight across Hong Kong from the offices in Two International Finance Center(2IFC), completed in 2003. Designed by the late Cesar Pelli, the 1,352-foot tower was the tallest in the city upon its completion. It transformed the skyline when it opened with its breath taking height and tapered (锥形的) shape, symbolizing Hong Kong’s rise.

Bank of China Tower

The 1,205-foot tower, completed in 1990,broke records at the time and became an instant landmark as the first tower over 985 feet outside North America. A vision of urban energy, expansion and geometry, the Bank of China Tower(BOC Tower)was designed to resemble a bamboo shoot, symbolizing strength, vitality and China’s emergence as a significant player in international finance.

10 . Welcome to Open Days-Tours of America’s best private gardens

Registration is now open for all Open Days through September. Registration for Open Days will open about two months before each event.

We made several big changes to the program last year, all of which will remain in place for our 2022 Open Days season, including:

▪Online pre-registration is required for each garden. In our website, please click and register for each garden you would like to visit. Children under 12 are free and do not need to be pre-registered if accompanied by a pre-registered adult.

▪The number of visitors is limited. Sorry, no walk-ins allowed; no paper tickets or cash payments will be accepted on-site.

▪Registrations won’t be returned. Sorry, we are not able to offer your money back unless we call off the event.

About special activities

Garden Extras Many Open Days hosts provide the guests with guided tours and additional activities such as book-signings, or plant sales, demonstrations (展示) . These Garden Extras are free with Open Days garden admission.

Digging Deeper Special site-specific programs were added in 2015 and quickly became popular. In these Digging Deeper events, small groups of visitors come together for informative yet informal talks and demonstrations with experts from the garden world: garden writers, plant collectors, artists, and more. Advance registration and pre-purchase is required. Space is limited and they fill up quickly!

Garden Masters Series In 2019, we introduced the Garden Masters Series. These events provide a chance for deep learning, inspiration, and a unique experience with like-minded friends and fellow garden enthusiasts. Book early.