We left BBC Television Centre for the green leafy lanes of Norfolk on Saturday. Our destination was Thetford, a typical English market town with a strong Portuguese influence thanks to 50,000 of them that have settled in the area over the last decade.
This is where our problems started. We’ve got three methods of getting to air on Radio 5 Live - one involves a stand up telephone line, one involves logging onto a satellite, and one involves 3G mobile technology. Sadly, we couldn’t make any of them work.
With the start of the Portugal v Turkey game fast approaching, a local Portuguese language newspaper editor packed us on our way to East Dereham, 20 miles up the road. Eureka! We found a connection to the wider world.
The Black Spot Social Club is on an industrial estate and by kick-off was heaving with Portuguese workers from the local meat processing companies, including the beautiful Bernard Matthews.
It was quite a passionate but civilised gathering, too. Lots of children eating dinner with their families whilst watching the Group A game but with plenty of Mediterranean fervour on show as Portugal won 2-0.
Octavio’s karaoke before the game and some traditional dancing afterwards were my own personal highlights of day.
Then the fun and games really started. Our hotel, as we headed back towards London, was supposed to be an hour away, yet it took us two and half. Without Sat Nav we would never have made it down the windy country lanes of Essex.
The journey hit surreal proportions when, in the distance, we could see two light beams high in the night sky. As we were near the coast, I thought they must be from a lighthouse. My producer, Garth, thought air sea rescue. We soon discovered they were coming from an all-night rave!

bbc.co.uk