Brighton up sunshine!

It's almost been two weeks since I arrived in London and I'm finding that my day trips outside of London are my most memorable experiences so far.  Maybe I've been in London too long.  Perhaps I'm just over the big-city lifestyle.  I'm not too sure, but when RB suggested we go to Brighton this week, I relished that opportunity.

After an hour on the train, Katrine, RB and I arrived at the beautiful beach-town of Brighton.  The first thing I wanted to do in Brighton was to get a happy snap of the famous face-in-the-hole cartoons on the pier (pictured).  It was the first thing we did and after that I was ready to leave Brighton!  But Katrine and RB had other plans.

Katrine really wanted to try the national food of England: fish and chips.  There was no shortage of fish and chips restaurants around the pier, but we decided to go for a walk away from the beach to find a not-so-commercialised fish and chip shop and it was well worth the wait.

We visited the Royal Pavillion (pictured), a holiday home for King James IV.  I had never been so impressed by the interior design of a building.  Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take photos inside, but I can tell you that it was oozing with rich colours and meticulous detail.  There was an interesting Asian influence in most rooms.  The fascinating thing was that back then, none of King James IV's staff had ever been to Asia, so the building represented a very odd interpretation of Asian art.  For instance, in the dining room, there was a one-tonne chandelier decorated with nine giant bronze dragons.

English people are funny.  A day in the park for them is like a trip to the beach for us.  Whenever I visit a park in London, there are big groups of bikini-clad girls and topless guys.  Ironically, at Brighton Beach, this wasn't the case...I felt like we were the only ones stripped down and willing to swim!

The pier itself is undoubtedly the highlight of Brighton.  It was filled with amusement rides, arcades, stalls, deck chairs and plenty of happy faces.  We chilled out on the deck chairs for a while and it was the most relaxed I'd felt in years (pictured).  Hopefully I'll return to this beach-town in a couple weeks to experience the night-life and visit a friend I met in KL who returns to Brighton next week.

XOXO,
Gossip Girl