gnine: (Travel)
gnine ([personal profile] gnine) wrote2009-11-14 05:45 am
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Travel Log: Brighton, England

So, [livejournal.com profile] cienna and I , both having time off, as we're students and share the same reading week, but also, both being students, were strapped for cash, decided to take a nice, fairly cheap, daytrip to Brighton this past Wednesday. And we had a marvelous time.



Meeting up at Victoria station at the unbelievably early hour of 10 am (that's right, I got up before noon, hell, before 10! Voluntarily! Go me! ^_^), we took the 50 minute train ride down to the coast.

After a bit of back street wandering, we came across the Royal Pavilion (it's kinda hard to miss):





But, with the heavily overcast skies, we chose to hold off going inside until we went down to the beach for a bit. (Luckily, we avoided any real rain, and it even started to partially clear up as the day wore on).

Down by the shore, we found a nice boardwalk, with this cool metal sculpture:



Also got a nice view of the pier, which we walked out on later in the day:



Being a cool, overcast, Wednesday in the middle of November, there was almost no one about and we had the beach practically to ourselves...



Also, being mostly overcast, the bit of sun peaking through the clouds made for some spectacular light-play over the Channel:



(What can I say, I don't get tired of looking out over the water...)

Feeling nippish, we wandered our way to the Lanes, an area of small shops and restaurants:



Where, after a nice Italian lunch, we headed to this little bakery specializing in cupcakes, for dessert. With so many varieties, we couldn't narrow it down and wound up getting four to split:



After lunch, we headed back to the beach, to walk the pier:


As well as wander the beach a bit more, giving me a chance to do my usual craziness, ie dipping my feet in the water, no matter the time of year nor the weather:



Whaaat? I can't help it! I mean, the English Channel, new body of water...how could I resist? ^_- (Also, walking on those rocks in bare feet? Not an easy feat, lemme tell you! ^_-)

Following that, we headed back to the Royal Pavilion to take the tour. Sadly, there was no interior photography allowed, which was pity because the place was spectacular! If totally ostentatious and over the top...but in a crazy, faux-Chinese, late 18th century kinda way! Especially the Banquet Hall, featuring an amazing chandelier, clasped in the claws of a dragon, and the music room, with another crazy chandelier and these gorgeous murals of snakes and dragons.

A few pictures can be found on the website here if you're curious.

After the self-guided audio tour, during which there was much snickering at the blatant innuendo about how King George liked to..."entertain" at the pavilion, we headed back down to the beach to catch the sunset...or what we could see of it behind the heavy cloud cover.





And that was our day at Brighton Beach. The weather held, the company was great fun and it turned out to be a fantastically fun day trip!



"Hi from Brighton!"

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[identity profile] xparrot.livejournal.com 2009-11-14 05:48 am (UTC)(link)
lovely! but I'm jeeeeealous! *flail*

(...also are you planning on sleeping tonight or what? XP)

[identity profile] gnine.livejournal.com 2009-11-14 05:54 am (UTC)(link)
*huggles* We'll go lots of cool places whenever you get around to getting here, I promise!

Also...err...*shifty eyes* Eventually...but less about me, more about YOU, how goes that WRITING! *cough*
ext_20958: (spirited away // at sea)

[identity profile] acchikocchi.livejournal.com 2009-11-14 09:35 am (UTC)(link)
Beautiful shoreline! *_*

[identity profile] gnine.livejournal.com 2009-11-14 04:08 pm (UTC)(link)
It really was! Yay, coast! \o/

[identity profile] bagheera-san.livejournal.com 2009-11-14 11:38 am (UTC)(link)
So, would you study in Brighton? Because U of Sussex is one of my possible choices for my year abroad and I CAN'T DECIDE. It definitely looks nice even in bad weather!

[identity profile] gnine.livejournal.com 2009-11-14 04:09 pm (UTC)(link)
It seemed really nice. Not too larger, but big enough that there seemed places to go, things to see. And a straight shot to London, in under an hour, which is always nice as well...It is a bit touristy though, so in the summer months, you'd have to contend with that...not sure how you feel about that one way or another...But, it was a really nice place.
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[identity profile] gnine.livejournal.com 2009-11-16 02:14 am (UTC)(link)
I can't wait either! It's gonna be so fun!

And yeah, we were both thinking HP as well while wandering around those back streets!

Good luck with Nanowrimo! *huggles*

[identity profile] bluemeanybeany.livejournal.com 2009-11-14 09:10 pm (UTC)(link)
From a slash perceptive, did you know that Brighton is considered the gay capital of the uk.

We were in London today with Mother-dear seeing John Simm. The wind and rain was pretty bad but you probably slept through it :) Did your night piccies from Alexander Palace turn out ok, the whole firework display is up on youtube.

[identity profile] gnine.livejournal.com 2009-11-16 02:16 am (UTC)(link)
Huh. I did not, but fun fact! ^__^

Lemme know how the play was, curious about it and still considering trying to go if it's god.

My pics turned out pretty well, some better than others...shooting at night is never fun :-p. I'll have to check out the youtube. *huggles*

[identity profile] bluemeanybeany.livejournal.com 2009-11-16 11:19 am (UTC)(link)
ah whilst not being as bad as "The Author" I still thought the writing was fairly bland with no emotional connection whatsoever with the audience. The acting was good though and John Simm was cool- in fact one of the coolest actors Ive seen on stage. Id give it two stars and say the only reason to go see it is because John Simm is in it- and he is bound to be in a better play at some point.

On the other hand I thought Waters of Mars was freaking awesome.

[identity profile] gnine.livejournal.com 2009-11-18 02:20 am (UTC)(link)
I enjoyed Waters of Mars as well, especially the end! Oh DOCTOR! *huggles him* Proving once and for all why the Doctor reeeallly should never travel without a companion!

Can't wait for the Xmas special...though at the same time, *whimper* Don't wanna lose him!!!

[identity profile] crashtestskater.livejournal.com 2009-11-26 03:51 am (UTC)(link)
glad to see you're having fun. I agree about the Doctor and Water of Mars. I don't want to lose my Doctor.