This is a Polish Church of Peace,
Built in Jawor and Swidnica.
The Catholic ruler, King Ferdinand,*
Allowed Lutherans to build three on his land.
But he didn’t want them to last, so it was understood,
They had to be made from mud, straw and wood.
He decreed they should not possess bells, towers or domes,
Which is why they were built in the shape of homes.
And they had to be outside the city wall,
Way beyond the urban sprawl.
The exteriors are plain to please “the flock”,
The interiors were all really high Baroque.
The irony is two churches survive today,
Proving Ferdinand the Third had feet of clay!

*King Ferdinand III

This is an Ethiopian festival that
Celebrates Epiphany or Timkat.
It is one thousand years of age
And the priest, with the tabot, takes centre stage.
This is a plate covered in embroidered cloth,
Embodying the Ten Commandments, to which they plight their troth.
The main participants are splendid fellas,
They wear satin and velvet and carry cloth umbrellas.
The procession moves to the sound of bells?
And censer smoke, so exotic smells.
It takes place by the river very late at night,
And ends in the morning, with first light.
A golden cross is “baptized” in the river then,
A candle put out. And next year they’ll do it all over again.

This poem is about The Tsukiji Fish Market or The Tokyo Metropolitan Wholesale Market

This is a market that does not have a dearth
Of fish of all kinds – it’s the largest on earth.
At 5 am you can wander around
And find fish of all kinds, to amaze and astound.
Octopus, tuna, shellfish and crab,
And tanks of exotics, both splendid and drab.
Hundreds of fish are sold here each hour,
And you can buy one, have it cooked, then simply devour!

Lake Nakuru is framed by a bright pink line,
Of flamingoes resting or choosing to dine,
On bits and bobs along its shore,
Under acacia trees, that provide shade and more.
The flamingoes feed on plankton rich in vitamin A,
Which gives them their glorious pink display.
Lake Nakuru means ‘a dusty spot’,
But that is something that it is not,
It is shallow, saline and covered with birds,
When they take off together, you’re lost for words…

This imposing symbol’s the Brandenburg Gate,
It represents communist Germany that existed of late,
Because it once divided East from West,
It was one of the gates that kept East Berlin suppressed.
Originally, there were eighteen gates in the Wall,
And when it came down this is the only one to survive at all.
Now it stands for a reunified country and metropolis,
Designed to mimic, appropriately, Athen’s Acropolis.

This is La Gomera, a beautiful isle,
Where time has stood still for quite a while.
It’s like a land that mankind forgot,
Columbus’s ship’s about to come into shot!
Subtropical forest from 50 million years ago,
On this isle in the Canary Archipelago.
This wood is like a velvet frieze,
Mosses smother the limbs of trees,
And ferns crowd densely to your knees.

This is the Chateau de Chambord,
A masterpiece of Renaissance decor,
A hunting lodge was Francois I’s desire,
But it is now the largest castle in the Loire.
Its construction took twenty years,
Oodles of money, blood, sweat and tears.
It contains 440 rooms,
With numerous artistic and stunning heirlooms.
It has a double spiral staircase at its core,
So you can avoid seeing those you simply abhor.
Ironically, despite all this savour faire,
Francois declared it “too windy” and spent only 42 days there!

This is the railroad from Qinghai to Tibet,
It is beautiful travelling to get there and yet,
It is also a journey you’ll never forget.
It is a masterpiece of engineering,
Using techniques quite pioneering,
All mod-cons, precision steering.
It is laid on an area that is earthquake-prone,,
An astonishing feat for that alone,
It forms the country’s transport backbone.
Liquid nitrogen was used to give stability,
Its windows are sealed hermetically,
And each one is protected against UV.
Oxygen has to be piped on to this train,
To allow each passenger to survive the terrain,
Each carriage resembles an aeroplane,
The view between Golmud and Lhasa leaves a lasting impression,
To board it you need a governmental concession,
You also need a medical pass to cope with decompression.

The Potala Palace is a beautiful thing,
A building of grandeur to make your heart sing.
A palace and temple, for years it has stood,
This building composed of earth, stone and wood.
The walls look as if they are made of silk,
But their whiteness is due to the use of milk.
This building contains some 10,000 shrines,
And 200,000 statues that Buddhist practice defines.
Yet it’s most valuable scriptures and artworks divine,
We’re lost in the uprising of 1959.

If you dive near Flic en Flac,
You won’t want to venture back.
It has the island’s longest beach,
And a sandy reef just beyond reach.
It’s protected by the surrounding coral,
And here, dear reader, is the moral,
If you want a great view of the Indian Ocean,
Get your walking shoes into serious motion,
And if you want your curiosity piqued,
It’s in Mauritius’ Rivière Noire District.