Everyone has a special place, a place where you can be you, where you can find peace and harmony. A place where you know you are just happy being there. For some it’s a quiet place, for others it’s a loud, bustling, full of people and movement place.

Tomek, 18
I love nature. I have some favourite walk tracks near the place I live, but I spend my summer holidays with my friends in the forest in Masurian District near Szczytno. We’ve got our favourite campsite. You have to walk 7 kilometres to the nearest shop. I’m so happy and relaxed there. While being far from the city I forget about how stressful life can be. And you know what? In the city I feel as if I am going crazy when I hear a dog bark. In the forest where everything is so beautiful, I don’t mind it! They can bark as much they want and all I’ll do is smile.

Julia, 17
My favourite place? There are many places I like visiting but if you’re asking about a place where I feel like I’m in a fairytale, where the streets and buildings take me to another world and people are so colourful that you want to watch them for hours, I would say: Paris. I’ve been there already four times and every time I go back it’s exactly the same. I don’t know what’s in this city but I feel so artistic. Old buildings mix with modern pieces of art, history with the future projects. It’s a city of love and art. And the language! It’s the most beautiful language in the whole world.

Mark, 17
When I was five, my parents took me skiing to the Swiss village of Zermatt, near the Matterhorn. We’ve been travelling there ever since. Although it is an expensive holiday, we try to be in Zermatt at least once a year. You’ll always find snow there. 365 days a year! The Matterhorn glacier paradise is Europe’s largest summer skiing area and it’s such pleasure to ski over there. There is also the highest sightseeing point in Europe, which is accessible by cableway! It’s 3,883 metres above sea level! Such a view of snow as far as the eye can see. That’s why I love this place so much.

Joanna, 18
Some people say there is nothing to do on a beach but believe me! I never get bored there. I don’t travel abroad so I don’t know what the Spanish or Italian beaches look like (I think I would like them). Anyway, I like the Polish seaside. The weather can be moody sometimes but in general I get quite a lot of sun. There is one small village near Karwia. There are not many tourists and you can really relax. It’s about 4 kilometres away from the beach – but that’s what I like. You walk everyday, you spend the whole day on the beach, you go for lunch and if there is a beach concert or party, you stay longer. Than you go back to your room tired but totally satisfied.

Improve your vocabulary!

bustling – ruchliwy, zabiegany
walk tracks – trasy space­rowe
campsite – kemping
to bark – szczekać
a fairytale – bajka
pieces of art – dzieła sztuki
a glacier – lodowiec
accessible – dostępna
cableway – kolejka linowa
as far as the eye can see (idiom) – jak okiem sięgnąć
seaside – wybrzeże
moody – humorzasta
the whole day – cały dzień