Beaches and Georges

February 20, 2010

Coffee is my best friend! Ah, I wouldn’t have survived this weekend without it. Well, I probably would have survived, just not ever happily. We had two day trips this weekend and a lot of other stuff going on. Crazy weekend! And crazy week coming up… spring break starting Thursday! Bah!

Okay, so on Friday morning I loaded up on coffee after waking up way earlier than I cared for, hopping on a coach bus for two hours, and driving through the crazy streets of London. All fifty of us Wisconsinites headed down to the coast for a day in Brighton. And I fell in love. Brighton is beaches, shopping, palaces and museums. My perfect vacation. We lucked out with the weather. It was forecasted to be pretty cold with possibilities of rain/snow… the dreaded sleet! But we didn’t see a drop until we were on our way home, cozy and tired inside our warm bus. Ah, what a great day. Brighton in south of London and right off the English Channel. A small town feel only 50-minute from London by train. It is really great.

We started off our day driving along the beach before we all hopped off the bus at the giant Brighton Pier. Seriously, that thing is huge. It has an entire amusement park at the end and about a zillion shops lined on either side. We took loads of fun pictures and had a blast for the first few hours of our trip there. The beach is not one you would like to swim in or lay out to catch some sun. There is no sand, but rather these sharp, gray rocks and really cold water. I guess it is February. It just looked so nice and inviting when we drove up, but it was cold. Trust.

At 1PM, we headed a few blocks into the city, away from the water, to meet our tour guide/program advisor Brit for a tour of the Royal Pavilion. This huge, Indian-style palace was built by one of the King Georges (seriously, there is like eight), so he had a nice place to stay when he visited his mistress. Brighton used to be a really small fishing village on the cliffs until King George built this ridiculous pavilion and then the upper classes flocked there for holiday. They also thought a bath in seawater did the body good, so many rich people came to Brighton to heal their bodies ailed from eating too much and doing so little… poor babies. Soon, Brighton was booming and today, it still feels like a small town by the sea. It reminded me a lot of Madison for some reason. A lot of small shops and nice people!

We couldn’t take pictures in the Royal Pavilion, but the interior was very extravagant. Everything was painted and decorated in the oriental style. There chandeliers in that place were monstrous, sparkly, and held up by giant dragon statues on the ceiling. Wow. We also toured the grand kitchen, which was my favorite part. I’m not sure why. It was interesting to see all the old equipment and ovens. I wish we could have taken pictures…

But my favorite part of the trip was the Lanes. They are this crazy block of narrow alleys that are lined with shops, restaurants, and pubs. And when I saw narrow, I mean a few shoulder lengths, I can touch both side if I stretch by arms out at both sides narrow. But so fun! It is so easy to get lost in that maze because there is no order. Everything is crazy. We got lost. We found fudge. We were happy.

And then we got on the bus to come home. And it snowed/rained. I feel like I haven’t done Brighton justice with this small post. It was great fun and I definitely want to go back before I go home. We never seem to have enough time on these day trips. The time flies by because there is so much to do and we always have fun.

Hal and I nailed down our spring break plans after we got back from the coast. We scaled back a bit. On Thursday afternoon, we are taking the Chunnel (the Channel Tunnel under the English Channel) to Paris, staying there until Monday, and then coming back to England. I think we are staying in a B&B in Rye or Dover for the remainder of the vacation. Just relaxing on the coast. Having to do nothing! Our friends Julie and Laurel are doing all this with us. I think it will be great. We just have to find a place to stay in Dover! Can’t wait.

Love,
Kelly