Brighton

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So I took a weekend trip to Brighton and Portsmouth the first week that school started in October, mostly because they were nearby and it made sense to explore the UK while I was there. Set off bright and early on a Friday morning. The train ride to Brighton was relatively short - around an hour if I remember correctly, and I spent the time catching up on my readings (once a law student, always a law student).

Brighton is well known for its beaches and its vibrant, laidback atmosphere and true to form, the moment we stepped out of the train station it was like being in a whole other place. I'm writing this all from memory but I do remember the weather being really, really sunny. After we dropped our stuff off at the hostel we headed out to explore - not difficult, since everything was within walking distance. The aspect of Brighton's beach which sets it apart from others is the fact that instead of sand, there are miles of grey pebbles, stretching on endlessly. It's actually quite a challenge to walk on them, but once you find a place to settle down and you start observing the pebbles they can actually be quite hypnotizing. It was so nice to be by a beach again after so long, never mind that it wasn't hot enough to suntan. Another thing which struck me about Brighton is that it seemed a little dated - the architecture of the buildings and the general vibe of the place all seemed very eighties tourist, not that I would know what the eighties was actually like. Nevertheless, it did seem like a great place for families and friends to hang out. The beach had all the essentials of a proper coastal town - a pier with rides and an arcade, hot dog stands, beach chairs, umbrellas and overpriced restaurants scattered along the boardwalk.

After we got tired of playing with pebbles (I did find one really nice heart-shaped rock) we spent the afternoon at the shops, which were fun to explore because they had a certain indie vintage-esque vibe about them, and there was one particular shop selling really pretty cupcakes. Dinner was at a Japanese joint where the waitress was a really nice girl AND they had bubble tea! Score.

The next morning we checked out the pier. None of the rides were open, but it was quite worth a walk save for the fact that it was freezing cold - nothing like sea breeze to add the wind chill factor to a misty morning. After that we had lunch and checked out the Royal Pavilion, which is some sort of pleasure palace built by King George IV and has a weirdly Indian-influenced exterior. The gardens surrounding it were pretty too. We ended up having Thai food as an early dinner before taking the train over to Portsmouth. Portsmouth is a university town AND a port town really not unlike Southampton (in fact, they're known to be rivals) so it was no surprise that the entire Sunday there was spent shopping. We did go to the beach though - quite a walk, but worth it in the end, and as I would later learn sunshine is a very precious commodity.

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