When I was a student at university, I used to travel by trains a lot. It was a convenient means of transport for me, as it was cheap with my student discount and quite fast. Not the best one, though. Sometimes, noisy co‑passengers in the next door compartment were a pain in the neck. I also heard of unpleasant theft incidents but I’d never experienced that myself. Once, I visited my cousin in a distant city. I booked the ticket well in advance and got on the train. The journey took more than nine hours and, as it was a direct train, I let myself fall asleep. I slept soundly until I heard the announcement informing passengers about reaching the final destination. I grabbed my bags and got off. Immediately I started looking for my lovely cousin, but she was not there. I was waiting for her for another half an hour, getting more and more irritated. Had she forgotten to pick me up? At last, she called me. When I answered, I heard annoyance in my cousin’s voice. I found out that she was also waiting for me. Then, out of the blue, I spotted the name of the station… I couldn't believe it! I must have taken the wrong train! Well, at least, I got a lot of sleep!

I love hiking in the mountains more than anything else! Breathtaking views, wild animals seen at dawn, peace and quiet in the forest cabin. I don’t mind going there alone, but last year my sister decided to join me. I was happy to tell her what I know about the mountains, explaining what’s allowed and what’s prohibited. We went hiking almost every morning. On the fifth day, I decided to show her the largest Polish mountain lake, that is Eye of the Sea. The peaks that surround the lake rise about 1,000 metres above its surface. The sun was shining and there weren’t a lot of people on the trail. We enjoyed the time together. After a while, the weather started to change, which is not surprising in the mountains. It was getting cloudy and windy and I understood a storm was on the way. It was too late to retreat. Besides, it wasn’t going to be my first storm. I had experienced them many times. I looked at my sister and saw her hair sticking out in the air. She looked as if she was a dandelion. She looked so funny that I couldn’t stop laughing! The thunderstorm was raging around while I was having fun with my sister. We didn’t care that we were soaked to the bone. On the way back, we met two men who were worried about the passing storm. One of them explained that electric charges in the air shortly before the discharge can lift hair all over the body. When that happens, there is a high risk of a lightning strike somewhere very close… We stopped laughing at once.

My parents work hard all year round, so during our holidays they want to relax and forget about cooking, doing the dishes and filling in papers at work. When we go on holiday my parents expect high standards. Unfortunately, even the best hotels cannot guarantee safety. Once, being in Egypt, we learnt a lesson we will never forget. That was my very first trip to this country. I was very excited when we got to the resort. We stayed in a luxury hotel room with an en suite. They served exotic fruit and drinks for free. We really wanted to taste some unknown fruits, they looked mouthwatering. It was hot outside, so we kept sipping water all day long. That night was one of the most horrifying experiences we have had so far in our entire lives. In the afternoon that day, we started to feel sick. We got a temperature, stomachache and the traveller’s nightmare: diarrhoea, which wouldn’t stop. We couldn’t move anywhere but to the toilet. We only started to recover on the fourth day and finally managed to leave our room. The receptionist, who my dad bumped into by accident, told him we suffered from a very common illness called Pharaoh’s Revenge that is caused by bacteria or other viruses that our immune system is not familiar with. That almost ruined our holiday. And now, we are more careful and never drink tap water. My mum always peels fruit and we never mix dishes. She says that following these simple hygiene rules might help us avoid such unpleasant experiences.