At the seaside

Lubisz morze czy wolisz góry? Ćwicz angielski, a przy okazji dowiedz się czegoś o sobie!

If you love the seaside, you’ve got no problem. You know perfectly what you can do there. But don’t panic if you’re afraid you’re going to get bored to death (zanudzić się na śmierć). There are so many things you can do there apart from laying on the beach.

1. Read a book. Before you go, choose a book you’ve always wanted to read but you’ve never had time to.

2. Not only the beach. At the seaside there are also parks, forests, fields… If you are getting bored with sand all around, go for a trip, climb a cliff (from the safe side, of course)…

3. Make your diet rich. Fish is healthy and where can you get fresher fish than at the seaside? Smoked (wędzone), fried (smażone), grilled (pieczone) – you can eat it everyday.

4. Museums. Take a map and find something that you’ve never seen before. Wouldn’t you like to visit a lighthouse (latarnia morska) and see how it really works?

5. Beach clubs and parties. Very often the entrance is free!

6. Walks down the beach. You don’t like laying and sunbathing too much? You can use the beach to get fit.

7. Make a collection! A collection of stones or shells for example. If you already have one, you can make it bigger.

8. Be a builder! Let’s say you like the beach but you don’t want to sit doing nothing. If you don’t have a younger brother or sister, buy the cheapest bucket (wiaderko) and spade (łopatka) and build a sand-castle. If you are shy of people who pass you by with a strange smile on their face, don’t worry! They would also like to play with sand but they don’t have enough courage (odwaga).

 

Test yourself!

Can you be a successful seaside-holiday maker?
(Przetestuj się! Czy możesz być zadowolonym wczasowiczem nad morzem?)

With the test below you can easily check if you are the person who can be satisfied with seaside holidays. If you don’t like the beach, see what you can do to have a good time anyway.

Choose YES or NO for each sentence. YES – it’s true about you, NO – definitely not true.

1. Water always relaxes me. YES NO
2. I’ve never been afraid of water. YES NO
3. I love watching ships. YES NO
4. I love active sport. YES NO
5. I love walking without shoes. YES NO
6. Holidays are to take everything easy. YES NO
7. A nap on the beach. That’s the greatest thing in the world. YES NO
8. I have to have a great suntan (opalenizna) after holidays. YES NO
9. I love it when it gets really hot. YES NO
10. I can’t imagine holidays without being a bit lazy. YES NO

Answers

Mostly YES
Seaside is perfect for you! You love sun and finally you can spend most of the time on the beach doing nothing (some people would say). But you always do something. This is a special type of relax for you and you ­wouldn’t have it anywhere else. If you are bored or you need a change, you know what to do or where to go. Actually, for you there’s no summer without going to the seaside.

5 YES/5 NO
If you go to the seaside, you’ll have a great time if you are with proper people or there’s something interesting going on. You like the beach but you’re not bothered if you are not there all the time. (Lubisz plażę, ale
nie dzieje Ci się krzywda, gdy nie jesteś na niej cały czas.) In your case (W twoim przypadku) it’s not about the place, it’s about what you’re doing.

Mostly NO
Seaside? No way! In your opinion all you can do there is go to the beach and you really don’t like it. You won’t believe that you can do different things not only sunbathing. If you want to have a good time, you’d better choose some other place for your holidays. Anyway, if you finally go to the seaside, try to have fun (staraj się dobrze bawić). Don’t go to the beach if you don’t feel like. Just do some other things.

 

In the mountains

You love climbing (wspinaczka) and you can do it all the time? That’s great! You are afraid that there’s nothing else to do in the mountains but climbing and you don’t want to be tired all your holidays? You are wrong! Going to the mountains means you can do a lot of different things.

1. Take photos. In the moun­tains it’s so easy to take many interesting and beautiful photos.

2. Ride a bike. If you are afraid you may get bored with walking, a bike is the perfect solution. You don’t have to be a professional biker.

3. Extreme sport. If you have enough money and an instructor who can teach you everything, you can try some extreme sport. There are many courses of rock climbing (wspinaczka skałkowa) or canoeing.

4. Culture and cuisine. Being in the mountains may bring you many profits if you keep your eyes open on what you eat, where you go and people you meet. People who live in the mountains are aware of their culture and if you are interested, they will be more than willing (będą bardziej niż chętni) to teach some of their language, how to cook their dishes or how they celebrate different holidays.

5. Get a summer tan. You think that only at seaside you get sunbathe? Wrong!

6. Trip from shelter (schronisko) to shelter. You don’t have to go back to your hotel every evening. Every morning you will wake up in a different place and you are close to the nature all the time. Don’t forget a sleeping bag (śpiwór)!

 

Test yourself!

Can you be a successful mountain-holiday maker?
Przetestuj się! Czy możesz być zadowolonym górskim wczasowiczem?

You know that the mountains are beautiful but you’re still not sure if you could have a great time there. If you want to check if it’s a good place for your holidays, answer the questions below.

Choose YES or NO for each sentence. YES – it’s true about you, NO – definitely not true.

1. I don’t mind walking a lot. YES NO
2. I can’t wait to see a mountain landscape. YES NO
3. I love sheep. YES NO
4. I like to get physically tired. YES NO
5. If I get tired, next day I’m ready for new adventures anyway. YES NO
6. I love climbing mountains. YES NO
7. As long as it’s safe, any type of weather is good for a trip. YES NO
8. I don’t have to spend a whole day on the beach. YES NO
9. I love the fresh smell of the mountain air. YES NO
10. Mountain cheese is one of my favourite food. YES NO

Answers

Mostly YES
Mountains are perfect for your holidays! You couldn’t choose better. You like everything that is there: food, climate, weather, people… You will go for a trip everyday and even if you are exhausted (wyczerpany, wykończony), it gives you energy. You love mountains and it’s the place you can ­really relax.

5 YES/5 NO
You don’t mind mountains (Nie masz nic przeciwko górom). Of course if you were to choose, you might think of places that would be more interes­ting to you but when you are finally there, you can have a good time. You are not the greatest fan of climbing in the world but you know perfectly what to do not to get bored.

Mostly NO
If you have arranged going to the mountains, you have to try really hard not to get angry. Yes, it makes you angry that you have to climb the moun­tains, you are tired and after one trip you need at least two days off. But holidays are not to make you feel bad. Try to do other things. Go to the swimming pool or go by train or bus to other towns and villages. You don’t have to walk all day long to see how beautiful the mountains are.