Pride and Prejudice

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Well, this is my first entry in my blog since I left the USA. I landed in Heathrow on June 8 and took a train to Cantebury, which is in Kent, to stay with my roommate Caroline and her parents. It was a lovely way to begin my journey. I slept in the next day ... and then we drove to Brighton for the day to meet some of Caroline's friends, Mike and Blanche. (I think my friend Andra would have loved to have visited Brighton ... shout out to Pride And Prejudice. Unfortunately, I did not see a Mr. Darcy anywhere.) We picnicked on the beach and walked along the pier. Caroline's parents then took me to see the Royal Pavillion which Queen Victoria built as a vacation house near the beach. It's quite the vacation house. We also wandered through a section of town called The Lanes. These lanes are actually extremely narrow alleys lined with jewelry and miscellaneous shops that twist and wind their way through town. It reminded me of some of the narrow passageways found in Venice ... although there are no canals in Brighton. :-)
What a way to begin my trip!

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Photos

The Royal Pavillion
Queen Victoria built this structure to serve as her vacation "house".

Jen by Brighton Pier
I was surprised by the beach when I sat down to have our picnic. The beach was stony rather than sandy.