Off to London (via Brighton and the pub)


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Europe » United Kingdom » England » East Sussex » Brighton
June 29th 2014
Published: July 5th 2014
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The alarm was most unpleasant and went off less than 2 1/2 hours after we went to sleep. I tried to get out of bed a few times but my head was lead. I'm not sure how I managed it in the end but it was clear that I was being punished for the big night out.

Nik (legend that he is) was downstairs at 0500 as he had promised and looked marginally better than I felt... must have been the whiskey he poured into my glass I reckon.

Checking in at Amsterdam was easy and two bacon and egg muffins improved my state slightly. As we had booked Easy Jet, there was no lounge for me to sleep in waiting for the flight and we spent 20 minutes standing in the queue to board. I slept pretty much from the moment I sat down to landing at Gatwick.

Paul, Jen and the new addition to their family, Caitlin were at the airport as promised and we had a coffee at Costa to give us a little time to catch up. Caitlin was suitably unimpressed to see me (I think she's already developed a healthy disdain for drunks) but I think the relationship improved over the following days. Needless to say she took to Jo immediately.

In order to take advantage of the English summer (no... seriously... it was hot and dry), we headed for Brighton where several coffees and a walk around the town and the famous Brighton Pier helped me feel a little bit better about everything. It was great to catch up with the Bowmans again - it had been more than 12 months since their wedding in Cornwall.

The Harrow Inn is a favourite watering hole just outside of London and it was immediately apparent why. Their Sunday Roast served outside on a nice day is hard to beat. The beef fell from the bone and the addition of Yorkshire pudding to any roast should be compulsory worldwide.

Paul dropped us to our hotel in Crystal Palace in the late afternoon and I may or may not have had a nap (things were still a little blurry from Amsterdam) in between being dropped off and walking around town to find some dinner. Most of the food places were closed, something I don't understand on a Sunday night - one of the busier nights for food places in New Zealand. We found a mainly take-away place that had two small tables if anyone was really desperate to dine in - we were. The pizza was actually pretty good and we brought half of it back to the room to cover any case of morning munchies should they arrive during our stay in Crystal Palace.

I tried to watch the Costa Rica v Greece game but slept through it. I hoped to wake up with a clear head in the morning.

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