As I had never been to Brighton and said I wanted to go, Annie gave me a birthday present of two days and a night in Brighton, what FUN!!!
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We caught the train from London to Brighton and, on arrival went straight down to the beachfront to see the sea and beaches which are pebbled rather than sandy. Then it was on to our beachfront hotel with ocean views to check in before heading for the infamous Brighton Pier.
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Although I had not been before, it really was a bit of a trip down "Memory Lane" for me as the pier has a lot of the same things as the Durban beachfront in South Africa had about 25 years ago and was somewhere I spent a few holidays with my parents. It starts off with a HUGE amusement arcade filled with all sorts of electronic and mechanical games where people were trying desperately to reach the highest score or pick up the fluffy toy with a crane. Then there are the obligatory food shops selling hot-dogs, candy floss, toffee apples, ice cream and, of course, the renowned Brighton Rock, a hard round sticky candy stick with a pattern or name all the way through the inside of the stick. Finally, at the end of the pier is the amusement park with all the different rides ranging from children's carousels to the most exciting of them all, a pendulum ride which swings all the way around 360 degrees. We could not resist this so went on the pendulum ride and it was BRILLIANT!!!
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Something else Brighton is famous for is Fish & Chip shops which there are plenty of along the beachfront promenade. We stopped at one, bought some chips and went and sat on the pebble beach to eat them. The pebbles can actually be quite comfortable once you form them into a "seat" of sorts.
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The rest of the day we spent wandering along the beachfront promenade admiring the piers, new and old, and the grand and imposing Regency style buildings. The opulence of the buildings and giant squares that they were built around are magnificent to look at and wander through. One building that we could wander into was The Grand Hotel, Brighton's top hotel which is beautifully furnished in what must have been the same style as the period it was built.
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Our second day was spent exploring The Lanes, a maze of narrow, windy old cobbled streets full of interesting shops and restaurants. And then it was time to catch our train back to London. Brighton is a really fun and interesting place to visit and certainly on my list of places to recommend to UK visitors and residents alike. |
