Greetings from Brighton! It is our second day here and we are really enjoying it. Yesterday morning was rather hectic - we just barely finished packing and cleaning the apartment as the check-out man arrived at 10AM, then we dropped off several boxes at DHL in Oxford to send home, then met a guy outside London to give him a monitor he bought from David on eBay. Then we were officially on vacation!
As a major bonus, yesterday was a very sunny day. We had a pleasant drive (freeway all the way) and arrived in Brighton around 2:30 or so. We liked the looks of the city as we arrived - lots of big parks everywhere, and that white-and-pastel architecture that seems to be characteristic of British seaside towns. Our B&B has a great location near the waterfront and a great nautical theme. It also has free unlimited wireless internet, which allows me to post this!
Seizing the fine weather while it lasted, we headed immediately back out to walk along the waterfront and explore the famous Brighton Pier. Some quick background: Brighton is the closest beach to London (about an hour's drive directly south), on the English Channel coast. It was just a small fishing town until sometime in the late 1700s, when a doctor proclaimed that bathing in sea water - and drinking it! - was essential for good health. Visitors started to trickle in for health purposes right away, then they really came in droves after a steam railway was installed in the mid-1800s.
Brighton is still one of the most popular seaside resorts in the UK and it seems nearly all Brits have fond childhood memories of coming here on weekends and summers. Nearly everything along the beach in Brighton is tacky and kitsch, but that seems to be a major part of its charm. (And it's true of seaside towns in any country, come to think of it.)
The place must be absolutely packed in the summer, but it is pleasantly non-busy this time of year. The many carnival rides on the pier seem to be operating but no one is riding on them, giving it an interesting ghost-town feel. The restaurants are also mostly empty and all the prices are lower than usual. Perfect!
Some photos from our evening walk last night:
Today the weather was not good, but we had a nice long wander all over the city regardless. It was nice not having any major sights to see or photograph for my website for a change! After weaving our way through the city centre, we walked back towards our place along the beach.
The only 'sight' we toured today was the Royal Pavilion, which was quite interesting. It was built by King George IV (1762-1830), son of Mad King George III (who lost America in 1776).
When Brighton began to be popular as a seaside resort, George IV built a palace here for giving the lavish parties that he spent most of his time on. (At the time he was still the Prince Regent, governing in place of his insane father.) It has a really interesting Oriental design, inspired especially by India and China (parts of the British Empire).
Pictures weren't allowed inside, but it was a lavish, very tackily-decorated palace. The dining hall was very impressive, with a huge dome overhead and a great metal dragon perched on a chandelier over a long elegant table. The kitchen was one of the most interesting rooms - very large, with wonderful long wooden tables laid with all the original pots and pans filled with stuffed game and fake food.
We had lunch at Subway, which was actually quite thrilling for us. There are Subways in most major cities, but we'd never been to one since we left home and lately had really been craving it. The smell of the bread as we came in the door took me right back to my lunch breaks from PERS! And the pop was self-refillable and full of crushed ice. It was fantastic.
Dinner was also a fun experience, as it was at a restaurant we'd seen on TV a few week's ago. It was featured on an episode of Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares, in which the famous no-nonsense chef turns around a failing restaurant somewhere in Britain. It's called Love's Fish Restaurant (a name picked by Mr. Ramsay) and happened to be right up the hill from our B&B.
It was fun to see the place in person after seeing it on TV and the food was quite good too. The mushy peas were actually the major hit! They don't normally interest either of us much, although they're usually edible. But these were very good - they actually tasted like fresh peas and were the brightest green we'd ever seen. The fish was also interesting - it had the unusual touch of curry in the batter.
Tomorrow we are going to take a day trip to some nearby sights, including a castle with a moat!