Our summer vacation (part 1)

We walked the streets of Berlin, and we saw the wall

Walked through the gate of Brandenburg and visited a mall.

I ate a Belgian waffle and saw amazing art,

But also homeless people, with a broken heart.

Addicts in their own world, hitting the air,

Talking to their demons, in their despair.

We didn’t feel safe, and it was sad to see

Other people’s children not being free.

We left Berlin for Prague and found another mood,

Stayed outside the city center and ate some Asian food.

Prague was packed with tourists that flooded the streets

Where every other store sold cannabis and weed.

We saw the Dancing House and the beautiful bridge,

We rented a boat and watched teenagers and kids

Splashing around, being silly and young

While listening to a floating bar’s song.

We left Prague for Poland on a beautiful day,

Stopped and saw the Bone Church along our way.

It’s covered in art, made of skulls and bones,

Not like Catholic churches with gold and precious stones.

I wondered what their lives were like when I looked into their “eyes”,

Once being little children of every shape and size.

Now dangling from the ceiling or stacked against the wall,

And I wondered how they’d feel about it all.

Our trip then continued, day becoming night,

When we passed the Polish border, we saw a flashing light.

We were hit by a car that tried to speed past

As we were turning left, but instead we crashed.

I called 112 while my husband ran to see

If the driver was okay and make sure she didn’t flee.

We sat there for hours as the night became dark,

Saw a stray dog and listened to it bark.

The cops came at midnight and gave us a fine,

Said this was our fault, and it didn’t help to whine.

We paid right away so we could all go,

Tired from waiting and feeling kind of low.

We woke the next day to a picturesque scene

Of beautiful mountains and cows in between.

We drank our morning coffee and breathed in the air

Of total perfection and forgot the unfair.

The days in Zakopane we made sure to spend well,

Relaxing, having fun, and enjoying the hotel.

We climbed a pretty mountain in 24 degrees

While sweating (some crying), longing for a breeze.

The view made it worth it when we reached the top,

We felt pride and satisfaction, and we were happy to stop.

We took in the beauty and sat beside a nun

That also climbed the mountain, just for fun.

In a tourist-packed Lidl, we tried to buy some food,

But we could hardly move, got pushed, shoved, and glued

To the corner of the store where it felt like a trap,

And my husband looked like he was just about to snap.

We decided not to go to the center anymore,

Kept to our little town and the local store.

We went up another mountain on some kind of train

Where I ate a giant hot dog, grilled over a flame.

We giggled with joy on the gravity slide

Where I felt like a child trying not to collide.

Going faster and faster down the hill,

While frantically laughing and enjoying the thrill.

And so went our beautiful mountain days,

What a wonderful, wonderful, perfect place.

We must come again and stay for a week,

Strap on our boots and climb every peak.