EUROPE is home to a variety of cultural treasures. Lonely Planet, the world's largest travel guide publisher, has offered pairs of cities for culture-hungry but time poor travelers.

    London and Paris

    It takes you about two hours to travel from London to Paris by Eurostar, a high-speed railway service. The two capital cities have been competing in fashion, art and nightlife for decades — but each secretly looks up to the other.

    No one can doubt the grand and impressive beauty of Paris' Louvre Museum, but if you want to save money, you cannot skip the British Museum free to visit. Compared with London, Paris has more outdoor attractions, such as the beautiful green walkway La Promenade Plantee.

    In Paris, you'll see diners linger(逗留) over red wine. While in London, you can try some afternoon tea, eat fish and chips or salted cake.

    Vienna and Bratislava

    Austrian capital Vienna and Slovakia city Bratislava are an hour apart by train. But since they are linked by the Danube River, the best way to travel is by ship. A tour of the two cities is the perfect way to experience everything from 17^th century's Habsburg dynast splendor to sci-fi restaurants.

    Vienna is famous for Mozart and imperial palaces. You can appreciate the perfect blending(融合) of architecture and nature in the grand Scholoss Schonbrunn Palace, and reward yourself with a cup of Vienna coffee, which has made its way to the world's cultural heritage.

    Bratislava is best known for its fine dining—the remarkable UFO restaurant. You can enjoy a meat-filled dinner here in an amazing setting.

    Customers who come into the Waffle House recognize server Evoni Williams, a soft-spoken 18-year-old from Texas City. It all started with a Facebook post. On the morning of March 3, Laura Wolf was eating breakfast at the Waffle House in La Marque when she overheard an older man, who reminded her of her late father, tell Williams he had trouble with his hands. The man, later identified as regular customer Adrien Charpentier, had an oxygen tank nearby and needed help cutting up his food. “Without hesitation,” Wolf wrote, Williams “took his plate and began cutting up his ham.”

    Impressed, Wolf posted the moment on her Facebook page to share the warmth and kindness with all. The following day, Williams's Facebook notification（关注）began to light up. Her friends saw Wolf's post and tracked her in it.

    Williams had no idea that someone took a photo that morning. The diner was so busy that a line extended outside the door. She said helping Charpentier was reflexive. She has been working at Waffle House since last June to save for college, and this, she figured, was just the right thing to do. “I would want someone to help my grandmother or grandfather,” Williams said.

    The post began to make its rounds in La Marque and eventually landed in front of the city's mayor, Bobby Hocking. He decided to declare March 8 as Williams's day, and also received an email from Texas Southern University President Austin A.Lane, asking if the school could present Williams with a scholarship.

    Williams still works at Waffle House five days a week and plans to do so until she starts classes in the fall at Houston-based Texas Southern. Wolf said Williams does not have a car to get to classes, but some people have offered to start a GoFundMe page for her, proving that a moment of a kindness can change a life.

    If you're new to San Francisco, paying the city a visit, or simply looking for a new playground for you and your dog, here are four of the finest dog parks in San Francisco.

    Corona Heights Dog Park

    Often visited by residents from all over the city because of its nearness to the Randall Museum, Corona Heights Dog Park offers pets and owners breathtaking views, after a steep hillside climb, and a fenced dog area that allows dogs to let loose without a leash （狗链）. Owners will also enjoy the playground, tennis courts and basketball courts.

    Dolores Dog Park

    The grounds of Dolores Park once served as camps for those who were left homeless by the 1906 earthquake, but now often visited by crowds of Mission District people. Four-legged friends can also wander about carefree off-leash while making friends with other members of the doggie community.

    Pine Lake Dog Park

    Noteworthy for its place as a rest stop for hundreds of species of birds to fly to and from warmer climates, Pine Lake Park is also prized by city dogs and their owners for their nice hiking paths, picturesque lake suited for swimming, and an off-leash area on the park's west end that lets dogs run free.

    Buena Vista Dog Park

    At 146 years young, Buena Vista Park is San Francisco's oldest park. Dogs and owners with plus energy will love burning it on this park's steep paths and winding staircases. Dog owners should have good control over their dogs, as it's quite easy for dogs to get separated when going through Buena Vista's many twists and turns.

    It has been a year since I found out my friend had passed away. I still store his phone number, even though I know calling the number will never reach him again. I feel like if I deleted (删除) his phone number, it would mean he was really gone.

    Over the past few years, we have planned to travel together just to see the dolphins in the sea. However, for some reasons it didn't happen, yet I always took his calls over the years. We shared a lot of interests.

    When I knew that he had been diagnosed (诊断) with a very serious illness and was in hospital, I remembered sending messages to him. I did not receive a message back, so I left a voicemail. A week later, I sent him a message once again. However, I still didn't get a reply. I thought he was busy. During the next several months I was very busy, too. Suddenly, in that mid-summer, I received a short message: "Sorry, Marlynn, He has passed away."

    I was very sad and surprised at the words. I was very sad and regretful. I regretted that I let the months pass without trying again. I worked with many people who had also lost their best friends. The sadness is often unspeakable. There is guilt (内疚), helplessness and sadness that is difficult to put into words.

    Now I try to be grateful for the times and memories we have. I realize the best thing that we can do is value the ones we love.

    The cold and icy land that is the Eskimo's home is a dangerous one. The Eskimo once believed that to be safe from danger he had to obey taboos(禁忌). Taboos were rules that told him what he must do and must not do.

    The Eskimo had taboos connected with almost everything he did. He had to keep them in mind at all times. He believed that to break one would bring disaster. For the Eskimo, it was taboo to store reindeer(驯鹿) and seal (海豹) meat together. He could not even eat them on the same day. He believed the Goddess Sedna had separated the land animals from the sea animals. He thought bringing them together would cause the hunting to be bad.

    There were other taboos concerning animals. When a dead seal was brought into the house, the women had to stop working. They had to give its spirit a drink of water. If they did not, the spirit would be angered. It would keep other animals from being caught.

    When the Eskimo broken a taboo, he believed a black cloud formed around his head. He had to tell the others in the village what he had done. He thought that if he did not tell his neighbors, they would catch the black cloud. Then the whole village would have bad luck.

Everyone has a phone in their pocket nowadays, but how often do we really use them for their original purpose-to make a call? Telephone culture is disappearing. What brought us to this moment, and what are its effects?

"No one picks up the phone anymore," wrote Alex C. Madrigal on The Atlantic. The reflex of answering-centu20^th—telephonic culture—is gone."

The shift is of course due in large part to more communication options: Texting with photos, videos, emojis, reaction gifs, links and even voice messages can be a more attractive option.

Texting is light and fun, not nearly as demanding of your attention as a phone call. It can also be done with multiple people at the same time. Social media, email and video calls have also eaten away at traditional phone calls.

In recent years, another reason has caused people to ignore phone calls completely: robocalls. Robocalls are automate messages from organizations verifying your phone number or telemarketers trying to sell something. Americans received 22.8 billion robocalls halfway through 2020, equaling an annual rate of 45.6 billion, slightly below 2018 numbers, according to YouMail, a robocall protection service and blocking app.

As telephone culture disappears, what is the loss of a singular family phone doing to the family unit? Early landline phones unified family members, whereas mobile phones isolate them.

"The shared family phone served as an anchor for home," said Luke Fernandez, a Weber State University computer-science professor and co-author of Bored, Lonely, Angry, Stupid: Feelings About Technology, From the Telegraph to Twitter. "With smartphones we have gained mobility and privacy. But the value of the home has been diminished, as has its ability to guide and monitor family behavior and perhaps connect families more closely," Fernandez said.

Of course, as technology progresses, lives always change for better or for worse. With the loss of telephone culture, families will need to find other ways to unite.