Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Brighton, UK

Don’t be fooled – Brighton does not mean bright and sunny. It’s the UK in winter so I don’t expect too much.

Harrods was our first port of call yesterday, in the rain. We bought some lunch in the food hall and pretty much got out of there – it was great but crazy busy. Our cupcakes weren’t fresh, which was a shame.

Once we’d packed the car we drove the entire 70km from London to Brighton, where we booked in at the Crown and Anchor, a little pub on the highway where we’re staying. Our room is nice and big, with a spare bed and a very large shared bathroom. The pub downstairs is very civil so we slept really well! We hung around for dinner at the pub – the chef was suppose to arrive at 5:30pm. At 6pm we were informed that the chef wasn’t coming in. We ordered take-away pizza and ate it downstairs instead. It was edible but it wasn’t the best pizza ever. But we got to eat it in the pub with a glass of wine. We were down there for about three hours, reading magazines and playing cards (it was rainy outside).

It took a while to get going this morning. I was up at 7:30am, then Ebony then Tegan. By the time we got ready to go, it was 11am.

Brighton Pier was the object of the day. And the pebbly beach. The pier is a pier with an amusement park on the end of it. The pebbly beach is very pebbly – when the waves wash over the pebbles, it makes a deep WHOOSH sound as the pebbles all move against each other. Landscape evolution in action! I took some great photos today. My wide angle lens hasn’t come off my camera for weeks. It makes taking photos of buildings and busy landscapes so much easier.

Fish and chips were on the menu for lunch. We got two to share between the three of us, which was perfect. I got to eat both lots of mushy peas though, which was a bonus. We also checked out some great white cliffs up the road, made of a rock I don’t know that weathers to really clayey-chalky white, which is why the cliffs are so spectacular. Interest level from the other two parties was very vague so we moved on to The Lane where we saw lots of beautiful gems and silver and bought some cupcakes.

After last night’s attempt at a pub meal, we decided to check out Sainsbury’s for easy dinner options. It’s no Marcs & Spencers, but it was good enough. The cases (albeit tiny) of beer/cider were half price so we stocked up too. Conveniently, the massive tins of Roses chocolates were on special too. We got two.

We sweet talked the pub kitchen downstairs in to microwaving our dinner (he wasn’t impressed though) and ate our half-cooked meals in our room. The girls had soup, I had laksa with a side of broccoli and peas.

Tomorrow we’re driving to Bath and then to Bristol. I’ve got my alarm set for 7am, when I plan to open up the blinds and start packing so we get on our merry way. Two nights in Bristol and then we’re off to our Christmas destination – woo!

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