Still playing catch up…
My uni friend Ali and I planned a trip to Brighton that is directly south from London on the coast. Initially we decided to catch the Thames Link train from Bedford that travels directly to Brighton without transfers (through London). We decided however that it would be cheaper to drive in our little rover. When we hit the M25 (London’s outer ring road) we began to think differently. We travelled one exit in 25 minutes and decided we would be best to get off the motorways and travel on the back roads or the A roads. Ali skilfully navigated until we hit an eight-way intersection that made us panic, we ended up heading to Windsor (the opposite direction to which we hoped to travel). We went on a nice sight seeing trip of Surrey (one off England’s posher shires) and eventually pulling over for a picnic next to a local air field…ah the serenity. We arrived in the vicinity of Brighton 6 hours later (when the train would have taken 3 and a half. Our camp ground was actually in a small town east of Brighton called Seaford, we camped right on the beach – if it could be called that, with a pebble coast line and no surf to speak of. After pitching the tent we headed to the toilet block to freshen up for our big night in Brighton.
We caught the surf express that travelled along the coastline affording us great views. As we approached Brighton my preconceptions of this coastal town were blown out of the water – it was a huge sprawling city. We spent an hour or so walking the coastline taking the glitz and glamour and tackiness. It appeared to be a big destination for buck’s parties and hen’s nights which kept us entertained. We ate at a local pub, drinking a bottle of Australian wine and catching up on the details of Ali’s recent trip to Turkey, Croatia and Greece. We then walked over to Brighton’s famous pier that embodies British seaside tackiness, with roller coaster, merry go rounds and stands testing you skills with the odds hopelessly stacked against you. We enjoyed some Belgium waffles and then walked backed to the train station for a good nights sleep.
The next day we packed up and jumped on the seaside express. We spent some time walking though the boutique shops and trash and treasure shop. Brighton has great shopping and bargain hunting, as it has a diverse community (all sorts of “alternate” lifestyles) there are a good variety of shops.
We dragged ourselves away from the shops to do some sight seeing. We visited the Royal Pavilion, which looks like it should be in India next to the Taj Mahal. This palace of similar vintage as Chateau de Versali, an era of decadence for royalty, was built by King Richard IV the son of “mad” King Richard III. The facility was built primarily to have huge parties in. King Richard IV isn’t remembered as a great king and the palace fits in with the Brighton tackiness as the Asian architecture and interior design was reproduced by those who had never been to Asia so is a mishmash of the east meeting the west.
Ali and I headed back to the car via the shops not looking forward to the potentially long trip home. The traffic was fantastic and I arrived home to my husband by dinner time. After being together every day for six months it was nice to have a period of missing each other (even though it was only one night), as they say, absence makes the heart grow stronger.