[Holidays] Brighton

Last weekend I took a long holiday down in Brighton with some friends from my undergraduate days. I had to drive down, which was a long journey, but I was able to stop off in Coventry both ways, which really helped make the journey bearable!

It’s many years since I went to Brighton, and I never really saw much of the place. We either went to the beach, or were on the seafront for the Brighton Speed trials. It was therefore rather nice to actually explore the town a little more. My friend James, the driving force behind the trip, has fond childhood memories of wandering the lanes, and of the beach, and was keen to show the place off the rest of us.

Arriving in Brighton on Friday afternoon, we checked into our hostel (where by design we had a room to ourselves) and spent a quick couple of hours on the beach. Sadly the beach at Brighton is stony rather than sandy, which makes it less comfortable to lie on and walk around on. But we made do, before heading into town for dinner, and then back to the hostel for some board games.

Saturday saw us having a lazy morning, doing some food shopping before hitting the beach once more for the rest of the day. Sadly the weather wasn’t ideal, but we made the best of it. I went swimming in the sea, which although a bit on the cold side was rather enjoyable, and polished off my book. The evening saw a trip to a sushi restaurant, where the five of us enjoyed a boat full (literally; it was a wooden boat full of sushi dishes) of delicious food.

Sunday was rather more pleasant, and after checking out we pottered around the shops and the lanes. The Brighton lanes are full of fascinating shops, winding alleyways, and market stalls. We found an old-fashioned pawnbrokers style shop which appeared to sell everything under the sun, as long as it was second-hand, and a really pleasant little café, We also managed to find the shops that we were really interested in: Dave’s Comics, and large comic-book and boardgame shop, Montezuma’s chocolate shop, and Choccy Wocky Doo Dah. No prizes for guessing what they sell. I spent far too much money on chocolate, books and games, for both myself and other people. We then stumbled upon a wonderful tea shop where we stopped for lunch. Sadly it was too hot for me to try one of their speciality teas, but I bought some for Ellen.

After returning to Coventry, James, Alex and I took a trip to Taylor John’s House for an open mic night at which two of James’ friends were performing. We weren’t able to stay long, as we were all very hungry, but we saw some excellent sets, as well as some that weren’t so great.

It was a fun weekend, if a bit expensive. On top of all my shopping in  Brighton there was also the petrol to drive the length of the country twice, which was no small amount. But in the end it was worth it