Brighton

Okay, welcome to Brighton! National Express (a coach service here in London), was offering discounted bus tickets, and I ended up snagging a round trip ticket from London to Brighton for only £2! Very cool. It was only a 2 hour ride away, and very do-able in a day trip. In fact, I almost spent too much time there, but I got the opportunity to see a lot.

Yep, the classic Brighton beach chairs pictures. There are a lot of these, so get ready.
I don't know what it is about sea-side cities and carnivals, but where there is a sea-side city, there are usually a hot-dog stand and a merry-go-round.

So many deck chairs! And the new pier in the background. Yes, you have to pay for the deck chairs, I think it was about £2.50 a day (cheaper than Hyde Park!).

This is the remnant of the old pier. While I think it had been closed since the late 80's, it didn't burn down until 2003. It had slowly been disintegrating and falling down since it's closure, but a fire broke out in 2003 and damaged anything left on the actual pier. What remains is just the shell.


I saw this wonderful square while walking to the Hove from Brighton. Not sure if it has any significance, but it reminded me of the Royal Crescent in Bath.
This is the Hove. It is a smaller little area of Brighton just west of the main pier, and it famous for the brightly colored beach huts. They are very photogenic.... so get ready!




They are so colorfully painted and yet muted from being expozed to the elements - a perfect combination for the beach. Well, the rocks. Brighton beach isn't so sandy...



This was taken while standing on the new pier. Some of the metal work, I believe, was taken off the old pier, as signs around the new pier indicated that they were from the late 1800s.
I wasn't there late enough to see all the light illuminated, as I was there in the dead of summer and it stayed bright until 9 or 10 p.m. But come winter, I will return and see everything all lit up.
After walking the beach and the pier, I left to go see the Royal Pavillion, stopping on the way to watch the seagulls fight over bath water in the local fountain.
This is the Royal Pavillion. It was a former royal residence built in the 19th century for the then Prince Regent. It was built in the same style prevalent in India during the 19th century.
It's awful pretty.
I didn't go inside because I wasn't really interested in paying to see another royal residence - plus, you can't take pictures inside, which frustrates me.
So I walked back to the pier. I walked all the way out to see the fishing pier which you can see in the far background of the photo. From there you can see the beginning of the white cliffs of Dover, although Dover is still a good 80 miles away.
This was a covered walkway that followed most of the eastern side of the beachfront. Not sure, but it sure looks Victorian in design.
This is the view looking back towards the new pier - walking back from the fishing pier (which had a nice view but wasn't exciting in and of itself).
I took one last walk around the new pier before walking back to catch my return bus. All in all I spent over 10 hours there, and probably could've cut that down to about 6 or 7, but I did get the opportunity to relax for a bit on the beach and see some of the things that I probably wouldn't have if my time was tighter.

A lovely little city indeed.