A weekend away in Harwich - Writing Wednesday

Hello everybody and welcome back to another blog post, 

On Friday afternoon, me and my family packed our bags, got in the car, and left for the industrial seaside town of Harwich. If you don't really know my family well, then you won't know that we often do these sort of spur of the moment things where we spontaneously get away and either have a day out or a short weekend away just to relax and have fun. On Friday, we thought it was a good idea to begin our half term holiday with a short weekend away. I knew that this was something that we were going to do but I only found out on Thursday that we were going to Harwich so it was kind of a nice surprise. I was headset on not doing any work on the holiday so I literally brought nothing in terms of school work with me. My mum insisted that we all just enjoy ourselves on the weekend so I literally made it my mission to basically chill out and do nothing. It was very refreshing and I'm glad I did it! I feel like the first term of sixth form as a year 12 student is always really hard so you kind of need a break just to consolidate your mind and bring yourself back to the present moment. I was ill quite a bit this term because of the new school environment so I just needed to take a good break, which is what I did and overall I had a really nice time. 

This is where the Kindertransport took place. Some 10,000 children arrived in the UK on ships from the North Sea to try and escape Nazi persecution.

I feel like people really underestimate seaside towns like Harwich. Yes, it's not exactly your typical or idyllic seaside town with beautiful sandy beaches and completely wild and desolate landscapes but in it's own right, Harwich is a very quirky and vibrant place that really showcases the atmosphere of the British coastline. When we first arrived, let's just say that there was a dodgy smell in the air and the sky was gray and horrible and the environment was overall very industrial with the big ships entering the ports. However, once we entered our apartment and looked out of the old windows to see that amazing rooftop view, we soon realised that there was really nothing to dislike about the place. On our first walk, we explored the promenade, took photos, watched the ships that came in from Austria, and explored the small pier in front of our apartment building. It was a lot of fun and in a way, seeing all the hustle and bustle of everything, didn't really bother me that much. Seeing those immense ships come into view, with all the big metal crates stacked on top of it, really made me appreciate where my foreign items come from. Perhaps the next time I'm annoyed about a late Amazon delivery, I will endeavour to think about the many times that one of those crates falls into the ocean.

An old cinema in town that is still open today.

The next day, I woke up and had my breakfast of toast and a cup of tea, overlooking the picturesque rooftop view. I then got ready and went for another walk with my family but this time, we went a little further down. We walked along the promenade, past the colourful beach huts and saw some more of the coastline. Unfortunately, when we were walking by the beach, we saw a dead seal lying dishevelled on the sand. The sea was quite rough so it probably got caught in the rip. However, the lower coastline was really pretty. It looked like a beach because it was looking out to the sea rather than the estuary where the ships came in. We also walked through the town. We were a little bit scared because we saw these children rather dangerously playing catch in an apartment upstairs and the window was open so that kind of turned our stomachs a bit. My mum was also looking, in a rather middle class fashion, for quaint little shops to go in but I don't think that Harwich was that sort of place.

When we got back me and my sister watched a bit of Kangeroo Jack. It's a really stupid film but so hilarious so if you haven't watched it already then you definitely should. 

After that, we had some lunch. The night before, we ate a really nice t-bone steak and that day, we decided to eat some of the leftovers cold. My parents had gone out to get some fish but surprisingly, there wasn't much available aside from crab so we just ate that instead. We also had some really nice homemade mayonnaise that my mum made to go on the side. It was really delicious!

After lunch, we ate some biscuits and digested for a bit, before heading to... The truth is, I can't remember the name of the place because it was so bad. We basically wanted to drive to another beachy area near Harwich and after a 30 minute car drive, we ended up in the most plastic seaside town ever. To be honest, if I was little, I would have loved that place because it had arcades and fair ground rides but it just didn't have that same picturesque vibe as the old town of Harwich had. The beach on it's own was beautiful but there was this really scary fair on the pier. You could see this massive wave from the sea hitting the side of the wooden pier and all the while, at a distance, you could see these children going down this log flume on the pier. I don't know about you but I would literally be scared of falling into the ocean if I was on that ride. There was also this hotel in the town called the Pink Hotel and I felt sorry for the people living there because you could hear all the noise from the arcades. I don't know, maybe this town is just not my cup of tea but still, you should have seen it.😂

In the evening, me and my sister made dinner because my mum was a bit tired. It was kind of stressful because everyone was tired and no one really wanted to cook so we were just not all with it. We were also having trouble with getting the induction cooker to work because we're so used to gas cookers at home but we made a meal eventually. It was a sausage stew and for the amount of hassle we took to make it, it was quite nice actually. ❤️

To finish off the evening, my dad went to the pub whilst me, my mum, and my sister watched Strictly Come Dancing. I was really impressed with Harvey and Maisie's performance. They are going to be the two best dancers of this year I think. We also watched MacMafia and oh my God it was so good. The gangster atmosphere is probably the best part of the series. It just gets you pumped! I would definitely recommend watching this if you have the chance.

The next day, we left the apartment at around 9:00am. Overall, it was a really great trip, despite it's dramatic moments. It was nice to get away and relax since I know that I can forget to do that sometimes. 

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Have you ever been to Harwich? What's your favourite seaside town? Let me know in the comments below and I'll be sure to reply to them. I ♡ hearing from you! 

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Bye,

XOX, Juliette

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