New York, London, Paris ... Blackpool? It’s not very often you would see those four grouped together in one sentence, but as far as my kids are concerned, it’s up there with the world’s most exciting and vibrant cities.

In fact, given the choice they would rather spend a weekend in Blackpool than almost anywhere else.

I know this because I recently asked them to describe their top three ultimate dream holidays for research purposes.

In first place, Luke suggested an all-expenses paid trip to Microsoft HQ in Silicone Valley, CA, testing and reviewing all the new Xbox games.

This would, of course, be impossible to organise, so I pointed out a few likely flaws: for example, ‘if’ such trips were available then there would be a billion teenage boys in the queue and a 20-year waiting list, by which time he would be 35 and the technology would be so much more advanced then that games might be projected onto the surface of special contact lenses or, better still, injected directly into the brain.

Meanwhile, console players would be in museums alongside other quaint antiquities of the Noughties, such as music CDs, Croc shoes (“Oh how could I ever have worn those?” we will say) and the George Foreman Grill.

In second place he had a trip to Prague. Not because of its fascinating history, its unparalleled medieval architecture, nor even its location in the epicentre of eastern Europe but simply because it is the “heavy metal music capital of the world” and therefore a kind of Mecca for obsessive metal-heads such as he.

In third place, and thankfully slightly more accessible, was a weekend at Blackpool Pleasure Beach.

Finn on the other hand wanted first and foremost to go for a sleepover at Jeremy Clarkson’s, test driving Ferraris and generally enjoying the sardonic craic.

Now, the likelihood of being able to organising this particular jolly was always going to be pretty slim. But after having described him as “loathsome” in this column recently, the chances of a personal invite to hang-out together with the big man and his motors had been radically reduced to, well, nil.

Second on his list was to go and see Iron Maiden during their current Back in Time world tour. “But mum, this is probably their last ever tour ... the last chance we will ever get to see them play live!” he pleaded, sounding like a seasoned gig-goer. The fact that in his 11 years he had never seen a single heavy-metal concert didn’t seem relevant. Neither did the fact that Iron Maiden’s ‘world’ tour didn’t include Northern Ireland.

But still, I decided to look into it just for research purposes at least.

And then third choice was — you guessed it — a trip to Blackpool Pleasure Beach. At last, a trip that was do-able, affordable and could conveniently be incorporated into a visit home to family in Lancashire.

So, kiss me quick and squeeze me slow — that is exactly what we did last week. We took the overnight ferry and were in the Las Vegas of the North by 9am.

I was too scared to go on anything but the boys worked the Golden Mile, experiencing everything from the Valhalla Viking log flume to the heart-stopping Big One and, EEE by gum, it was a grand day out too!

Next up: to Prague to see Iron Maiden in concert! Will a 40-something, house-music loving housewife be able to pass herself off as a heavy metal headbanger, or will I be exposed as a chummy-mummy imposter just there to chaperone my kids?

Watch this space ...