The day started earlier than intended, that dreaded hotel sleep interruption: The fire alarm.

A loud siren. Silence. A loud siren again. Another pause, before it kicked in a third time.

This time when it went silent it stayed off. I checked the time, just past 7am, too early to get dressed and start the day.

An hour of gentle snoozing later I got up properly, packed my bags, used the wifi one last time. I found a cafe, not in the city centre, nestled amongst student housing the other side of the station. So my bag and I took a walk up there and found it. Closed.

There was another cafe next door, advertising a full English. Their menu was a brutal lie, Halal beef and chicken sausages, no bacon. I didn’t even go in, walked back towards the station.

A shawarma cafe was open, its window offering shawarma, shawarma with salad, shawarma with chips. A plate of falafel. That would work, a veggie but tasty breakfast. I walked in, asked if I could sit at one of their tables for breakfast, was welcomed but also warned. They could do shawarma for breakfast but nothing else. Not even falafel.

I moved on, ended up in the station earlier than planned, had to wait for the train.

The rest of the day was sat on the train, various people sitting opposite me between different stops, a man across the aisle using his laptop. A woman got on, sat opposite him and he started chatting her up. They kept it going for two hours until I got off.

The bus to my village stops outside the station. I got on, read my book. Got off. I’m home. Legs are sore, shoulders surprisingly sore, but it was a good trip. Got me out, let me see somewhere new, cost less than a concert ticket. The train was pennies over £20 for the return, making me consider another trip next week. I’ll recover from this one first, see how I feel.

Distanced walked today just 3km. It’s enough.