If you've found yourself in a really relaxed, calm mood, where the worries of the world simply pass you by, you're either in one of two places: one of those special' cafes in Amsterdam or in the North East.

I don't need to explain the Amsterdam thing, but if you haven't been paying enough attention to the Northern Echo for the past week or so, I might need to expand on the North East.

According to a survey, the North East is the home of peace and tranquillity, so a week has been organised to celebrate this.

As far as I can gather, lots of events are being held to celebrate how quiet our region is. Harps seem to feature quite a lot in the events. Visit a museum while a harpist plays. Enjoy a walk in the park, with the company of a harpist. Party in Newcastle's Bigg Market on a Saturday night, where one thousand harpists will play the current chart hits...

Now, one of the events taking place during Peace and Tranquillity Week was cloud watching.

You might see where I'm going with this.

Looking at clouds has its limits. "There's a cloud, it looks a bit like Jet from Gladiators. There's another one, it looks a bit like a Jaffa Cake." That's as far as it goes for me. Perhaps, for the more scientifically minded: "There's a Stratocumulus."

But this isn't looking at clouds. This is WATCHING clouds. It hints that there's quite a bit of time spent doing it. Like watching paint dry, to pluck a completely random example out of nowhere.

So do the cloud watching sessions go something like this?

Cloud watcher one: What can you see?

Cloud watcher two: Erm... clouds Cloud watcher one: What do they look like?

Cloud watcher two: There's one that looks like a snail holding a cricket bat.

Cloud watcher one: Wow!

(half an hour and a severely stiff neck later...) Cloud watcher one: What does it look like now?

Cloud watcher two: It still looks like a snail, but he's holding a baseball bat now.

Cloud watcher two: Fascinating.

And that is presuming there are clouds to watch. What if we are graced with endless blue skies? But hang on, this is County Durham, there'll always be clouds to watch on a peaceful, tranquil day.

For more details about Peace and Tranquility Week, which runs until September 15, visit www.peaceandtranquillity.net.