We spent three hours getting here from Ampthill; two trains and two rides on the Tube plus a significant walk to our hotel, all kitted up in my backpack. I was pretty pleased to sit down and take a breather at the hotel.

We are at Southend-On-Sea.

We happened to mention we were coming here to a Scotsman we sat next to on the plane from France. He told us it should be called Southend-On-Mud, and after we saw it at low tide, we understood what he meant.

We went for a walk around the place and noticed it was vey busy with families enjoying the Sunday of a long weekend. There is a very long pleasure pier ( in fact, the longest in the world, but we were not up to testing that fact) with amusement parks and rides. Everything was buzzing.

A real beachside feel to the place, complete with Mr Whippy.

Now, to answer the question I posed…

We are here because we fly out from the local airport this morning for Poland (Krakow). We have never been to Poland before but Edward said it was wonderful.

A new adventure coming up – the first could be having nowhere to stay. I have booked an apartment for four nights on Airbnb but have no contact details.

More to follow.