I do like to be beside the seaside

---

Part of my plan while living in London is to not only travel to exotic European cities, but to see more to the UK itself. In a first step in that regard, I headed to Brighton with Trav on a sunny Sunday in August.

While it had not been that long since I had set foot by the ocean, Trav had been oceanless for 6 months, hence the choice of destination.

Now Brighton is on its way to being a real beach - no sand, only pebbles, but people lying on said pebbles (on towels!! - not the most comfortable proposition - although deckchairs are also thoughtfully supplied for a small fee), (small) waves and seagulls. There is, however, no smell of the ocean (or at least there was not on 27 August), which is disappointing. The way the deckchairs are all lined up along the beach in perfectly straight lines seems excessively ordered for a beach (see picture below).

Brighton seems like a typical English seaside town (although the actual town is massive compared to what I was expecting). There is an entertainment pier with rides, games and lots of ice-cream/fairy floss/toffee apple etc stalls, and (not so typically) the twisted metal frame of an old pier which burnt down many years ago. I actually preferred the old pier which looks amazing against the ocean. There is talk of removing it for safety reasons, which I think would be a real shame.

Trav and I had a lovely lunch of fish and chips by the water. It was quite windy, so too cold for swimming, even though the water temperature was not too bad and some (presumably) English people were swimming, although I did wade briefly.

On the way to check out the Royal Pavilion (an Indian style building with amazing painted walls inside which King George IV used to live in) we found an orchestra playing in the park so we ate ice creams while relaxing in the sun. All in all, a very enjoyable way to spend a Sunday.

---

Photos

Fish, chips and beers
A perfect seaside lunch

Old pier
'I like the old pier better than the new pier'

Royal Palace
Way cool