Blogs from Brighton, East Sussex, England, United Kingdom, Europe - page 7

Brighton, was originally called Beorthelm’s Tun or farm, after the fifth century Saxon invader, Beorthelm, who made the first settlement on this patch of English coastland. That vast farm, became so big and prosperous, it became a complete town, but all the fishermen lived outside the farm, just a little further east, under the cliffs. The fishing industry thrived and fishermen daily sold their catches on the beach, a custom that continues on a very small scale to this day. Brighton has been a port since the fourteenth century. It was used despite its lack of natural harbour because of the prevailing winds that blew onshore, and the ease of transport to London. At one time it was the quickest London to Paris route. In 1806 a proposal for a wharf along with 50 warehouses and ... read more

How long is it since I have updated this blog? Eons, and I have missed you - and I am sure you have all missed me ... but did any of you get me a publishing deal? No you bloody didn't, so be very grateful I am back! Well, what can I tell you - greyer, wiser (possibly), wider (definitely). In the years since I have last been here, I have held down two jobs ... yes, it surprised me too! I have also joined the local sea kayaking club. I love the sea - I swim in it regularly (in the English channel), I take dozens of photos of it, I walk along the beach, and a few times a month I stagger down Kemptown's pebble beach carrying a kayak, eventually make it into the ... read more

It was pouring rain in Cardiff when we woke up (what happened to summer, UK??) so we were a little worried about what the weather would be like when we got to Briighton. After breakfast we caught a taxi to the train station and then the 8:55am train to London Paddington Station. We got to Paddington at 11:02am and had 42 minutes to get the tube from there to Farringdon Station. The tubes run quite frequently so we only had to wait about 4 minutes for the Hammersmith & City (pink) line, and we arrived at the train station by about 11:30am, giving us time to spare. The train to Brighton was almost empty so we had plenty of room to relax (even though the view between London and Brighton isn’t exactly scenic). We arrived in ... read more

Leaving Dallas was very hard. The three weeks we spent there were so much fun and we felt like we were spoilt rotten, it was lovely! Donna took us to the airport and we parted ways, heading for our flight to Washington DC. At this point, we really didn't want to leave and we were very thankful that Donna had been so good to us. Basically, the day didn't go too well. Our flight was delayed, they kept changing gate, we didn't even get to sit next to eachother and the hostel that we had booked for DC emailed us saying they had expected us the night before.... Yes, today was going to be a good day. The flight wasn't too bad and when we arrived in Washington DC we went straight to the Information desk, ... read more

Just a quick first entry to say we've got our round-the-world ticket booked. 1st stop - Delhi!... read more