We decided not to do our day trip today since it would make more sense to see the sights on the way to Canterbury tomorrow. So we had another nice day of exploring Brighton, and as a bonus it was beautifully sunny. We visited some of the same places again (including Subway for lunch!) and also discovered some new areas of the city.
One of the new highlights was the 11th-century Church of St Nicholas, perched high on a hill that gave us good exercise to reach. We learned about it thanks to David's research on Brighton - I had assumed there weren't any old churches due to the newness of the city. But this church was part of the small village that has been here since a long time before King George and the Victorians arrived.
We also visited the Brighton Museum, or at least the ground floor of it. It gave us some good background on the history of the city and included a modern art gallery and various other artifacts.
On this visit we went inside the main building on the pier, which is filled with arcade games and slot machines. It was an impressively large place, with nearly every game you could think of, and clearly attracts young and old alike.
We also explored a very interesting shopping district called North Laine, which reminded me of the hippy neighborhood of Portland I can't remember the name of. There were some really interesting shops in there, including artsy home decor, funny T-shirts, handmade clothes, wholefood cafes, etc. There was also an army surplus store, which among its many treasures had old RAF uniforms and an FBI jacket! It's a good thing limited space keeps me from buying stuff, or I would have been suited up like Mulder and Scully in no time.
This evening we had a delicious early dinner at Pizza Express then went to a movie at a big Odeon theater on the waterfront. It was a very nice way to rest our weary walking legs. We saw Stardust, which was enjoyable. The marketing for it compares it to Princess Bride, and we both take exception to that - it is nowhere near the genius of that classic! But it was still a good way to pass two hours.
On the way home we walked by Love's Fish Restaurant where we ate last night, and this time we saw the owner Allan Love. He is apparently a minor celebrity of some kind - a singer, it seems. We had never heard of him before we saw the TV show on the restaurant, but it was still fun to peer at him through the window.
On to Canterbury tomorrow...