I am off on a trip on my own. Yes ! Alone! I can't wait to get going to Europe to see some cities I really want to visit. It is great because I can choose what I want to do in each city. I am going to travel by train on the Eurorail.

     The train trip was fast and the views of the countryside were amazing. Now I am in Salzburg, Austria. The quiet hills of Austria are a great place to relax. The movie The Sound of Music was filmed around this area. Mozart, the famous musician, was from here. I listened to some of his classical music.

     The train ride to Amsterdam was a long one. It gave me time to write some postcards to send back home. Amsterdam is a fun city, full of friendly locals and many tourists. I spent the whole day visiting the art museums here. The museum about the famous Dutch artist Van Gogh is filled with history and beautiful art. I took a boat ride and saw local people in traditional dress. I even got to taste some delicious Dutch cheese.

     Copenhagen, Denmark, is one of the safest places in the world. I spent a busy and nice day at the Tivoli Amusement Park. It is a huge park which even has concerts and dance shows. Hans Christian Anderson, a famous writer of children's books, was born in this city. I found a lovely bookshop and bought two of his fairy tale books, The Little Mermaid and The Ugly Duckling. My travels alone are done! What an adventure this trip has been! I love it.

    Mak Som was an old lady in her seventies. She was often seen collecting unwanted boxes from rubbish bins. She would then put them on her old bicycle and sold them to the rubbish station. Many villagers had offered to take her in (收容) but she refused. She wanted to be independent. At night, she would sleep on a bench in the park.

    One day, the village headman called a meeting. They discussed Mak Som's condition and decided to build her a small house as a surprise gift. After buying the necessary materials, the villagers started working. Even the children went to help. They liked carrying tools or just passing things for the workers.

    Mak Som was curious and asked others what was happening. Someone told her that a villager's relative was moving in and people were only helping to build a house for him.

    After the house was completed, the villagers decided to hold a party in it. The headman invited Mak Som to go there together. He then said that the new house was a gift to Mak Som. She didn't want the house at first and said that she didn't have enough money to pay for it. After making her believing that it was a gift of love from the villagers, she finally accepted. With tears of joy, Mak Som thanked every one of the villagers. The villagers were glad that they had done something for this elderly member of their community.

    I felt very sad not to be able to get the ticket to the film Titanic last Friday. I learned in the newspaper that tickets could be bought at the cinema box office in Richland Hills every day between 10：00 a.m. and 4：00 p.m. Because I work from 9：00 a.m.to 5：30 p.m., the only time I could go to the cinema was during my 45-minute lunch time. It is a pity that the cinema is on the other side of the town, and the bus service between my office and Richland Hills is not very good. But if you are lucky, you can make the round(往返)trip in 45 minutes.

    Last Monday I stood at the bus stop for fifteen minutes, waiting for a bus. By the time I saw one coming around the corner, there was not enough time left to make the trip-so I had to go back to the office. The same thing happened on Wednesday. On Thursday my luck changed, I got on a bus right away and arrived at the cinema in twenty minutes. But when I got there, I found a long line of people at the box office. I heard one man say he had been waiting in line for fifty-five minutes. I found that I would not have enough time to wait in line. I caught the next bus and went back across the town.

    Then on Friday I understood my only hope was to make the trip by car. It was not cheap, but I felt it would be worthwhile to see the film. The trip by car only took 10 minutes, but it felt like one hour to me. When I reached the cinema, I was delighted to see that nobody was waiting in line. But I quickly found out that it was because they had already sold out all the tickets.

Traveling can be expensive. But there are some ways to save money when traveling. Try the advice below on your next vacation and your wallet will thank you.

Look for city tourism cards (旅游卡). With the card, you can pay less at restaurants and shops. You don't have to wait for a long time at busy tourist attractions(旅游景点). You might even get free tickets to top tourist attractions. City tourism cards can save your money and time without question.

Don't get the best room. How long will you stay in your room? Will you just be sleeping there? Do you really need a bigger room with a good view? Find a hotel outside a city. It can help you save some money by choosing a hotel away from big tourist attractions, because you are always doing the same— go to the attractions and then return to your hotel to sleep.

Book a room with a kitchen. Although some people might not like to cook on vacation, I don't mind making breakfast in my room. We always eat at a nice restaurant on our last night of the vacation. I always prefer(更喜欢) to eat breakfast and lunch at the hotel and then spend much money on a delicious supper.