I do love to be beside the seaside, and it's been a while. To my right, the waves are breaking; to my left, a beautiful pine forest. The sand is incredibly soft: a gorgeous place to be, apart from the temperature which is approximately zero. Yes, it’s Baltic in the Baltics. But come summer the beach here at Jurmala in Latvia will be picture-postcard perfect.Of course this podcast is completely free, as is my weekly travel email. You can sign up at independent.co.uk/newsletters. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.