Part 3 - All Brighton All Day

On this our 2nd full day in London(9/10/15) we had prearranged a trip out to the seaside town of Brighton. We bought our tickets online at the Southern Railway site before flying out to London. We saved a small amount of money doing it this way. 

This morning we started out our breakfast at an adorable and cozy little Lebanese place called Maroush Bakehouse, that is literally right next door to us. I had another Americano with milk and sugar and a breakfast combination that I can't recall the name of. My meal came with a spicy Lebanese sausage, fried eggs, mixed beans with parsley and olive oil, mushroom, cucumber, tomato and a side of fluffy nan-like pita bread. I loved this breakfast. It was delicious and surprisingly not too heavy. The coffee was made with Illy espresso, so it was perfect as well. 

Deanna ordered two fried eggs and an English breakfast tea. She loved her breakfast as well. This place also is a full scale bakery so we ordered some butter croissants to pack in our bags and take along for the train ride to Brighton. 

We then hit the Earls Court tube and caught the District line to Victoria station. It's about a 4 stop trip and very fast. 

Victoria station was our change (or transfer) for the train to Brighton. This train station is absolutely insane. I've never been anywhere as busy and full of such orderly chaos. It seemed to run like a finely tuned watch, but for the tourists like us that had no clue what to do or where to go. *Sidenote* Toilets are rarely free in places like this. So make sure you have a bit of coin on hand if you have to use the Loo to take a wee. We saw a few people jumping over the gates to the bathroom in protest. 

Victoria Station

50 pence to wee. Approximately 75 cents. 

We had our ticket receipt and went to the information booth and were guided to print out our train tickets from the machine next door to it. Simple and easy, but the machine prints VERY SLOW. 

After that we asked someone where the Brighton train might be and were told to go to a range of platforms. We had about 10 minutes before our departure time at this point. We went over to the gates to these platforms and didn't see anything about Brighton the boards above them. With hopes of not getting on the wrong train and winding up in North England, we asked another worker for help and he guided us to yet another group of platforms even further away. 

We had a slight jog in our pace now while we tried to make our train. We got over there and saw Brighton on the board, but nothing about which platform it would be loading from. We asked someone again and they said the train wasn't here so they didn't know yet. AHA! That makes sense. So we had time and jumped into the market to grab some wine, water and juice for the train ride. Did I mention that Victoria station has like a billion stores and restaurants? 

The train pulled up and we got on and sat down. Right before departure, we heard a group of friends get on the train, panting and gasping for air because they too had barely made the train by running across the station. We were happy with our nearly perfect timing. And off we went!

The wine and croissant were a perfect treat for the ride over to Brighton. The croissant from Maroush was made with perfection. It had a crisp outer shell and a soft and moist inside with plenty of flakes. 

As we headed away from London we saw the apartment complex in Battersea Park where we were originally thinking of staying and were so grateful for the choice we made to stay in Earls Court instead. The apartment complex seemed run down and was right next to the train tracks. What a difference that location would have been compared to where we wound up. 

London to Brighton

View from the train over the River Thames

The countryside en route to Brighton is gorgeous but too often the view is blocked by trees. I wish the train was elevated more to allow for more viewing along the ride, but it wasn't too bad. 

We arrived in Brighton and began wandering down toward the beach. It's about an approximately 20 minute walk from the station to the beach. When we hit the beachfront we began walking along the front of the shops along the shoreline. The beach is covered in smooth small rocks. There isn't typical sand on this beach until you dig down deep or go down to the low tide points. 

Brighton

Brighton

Saint Paul's Church

Brighton Beach

We walked out on the Brighton pier which was pretty long and provided some great views looking back at Brighton. I never feel like piers have much to offer, but this pier did have a couple of arcades and a variety of shops and some basic rides. I would say it was better than a lot of piers I've been to, but I'm not a huge fan of pier attractions in general. 

Something weird that I noticed when using the restroom was the giant hole behind the men's room wall where someone could potentially snoop on you while you do your business. Then I noticed the warning label about "No diving, shallow water." Did they mean don't dive through that tiny hole, or were they referencing the Trainspotting scene where he dives in the toilet? lol. 

Anybody down there? 

No Diving!

We took a break for lunch at a restaurant called The Madeira. It sort of reminded us of a chain like Applebee's or Chili's. It was warm out and we wanted to cool off indoors, so we decided to settle on this place. Deanna got a BBQ chicken sandwich, which she liked and I got some Sausages and Mash. We also had a fried shrimp appetizer that wasn't bad. The food was uninspiring, but edible. We also took the opportunity to have a couple more pints. 

After our lunch we went over to the Brighton Wheel to go for a spin. I don't always care for Ferris Wheels, but I was thoroughly pleased with the value of the Brighton Wheel. It is an enclosed capsule and you get to go around at least 3 times. I think we got about 6 or so. The value is definitely worth the trip and the views are breathtaking. 

After the wheel ride we walked around and saw some graffiti on the seaside road. 

We then went down to one of the many beach-side bars and had more pints and relaxed for awhile. This particular one was called Ohso Social Beach Bar & Restaurant. They have lots of seats and a great view of the ocean. Again, you have to order from the bar and take back to your table yourself. 

One other thing I've been meaning to mention is the difference between UK and US toilet setups. Almost every toilet I've seen in the UK has a box behind the toilet where the plumbing and water holding tank resides. Interesting, but it seems more difficult to deal with should any issues arise, but maybe they have a better system? 

We walked around town some more making our way North away from the beach toward the train station. We still had about 6 hours to kill at this point.

We walked through the Pavilion Gardens which encircle the Royal Pavilion building. This building is so ornate and very cool to see in person. We didn't go on any tours, but snapped plenty of pics on our walk by it. 

Royal Pavilion

Royal Pavilion

Royal Pavilion

Royal Pavilion

Royal Pavilion

These guys were good

We continued our way up through the Brighton streets toward "The Lanes" district. This is a super cute and artsy area full of tons of shops, pubs, cafes and enough things to spend your entire day getting lost in. We had to pull away from a few places to avoid getting stuck wandering their infinite shelves of trinkets and finds. 

We wound up stopping to have a pint at the White Rabbit pub on Kensington Gardens near Gloucester Road (pronounced Glouster). We stayed there for a bit to kill some time and people watch. The majority of people in Brighton seemed to be in a great mood and enjoying their day. The weather stayed nice and warm up until the sunset. We watched down the Lane as the shops all began closing up for the night. 

Pints at the White Rabbit

Our walking journey continued as we meandered the streets toward the train station again and came across Trafalgar Ln which was filled with street art and graffiti. This was exciting because I am very behind on my search for street art around London. So I managed to nab a ton of pictures at this point. 

Some of the highlights:

After our art photography session we wandered up the road to a pub called The Prince Albert. The venue is a pub with bar food options and an area upstairs where live bands often play. It is very lively and full of college students- but don't let this deter you from stopping in for a pint or a snack. We hung out in the corner with our pints and had some fried calamari (not great) and chicken wings (very good) while never being annoyed or bothered by anyone. 

We finally wrapped up our trip by wandering up to the Brighton train station to hang out and wait for our departure. 

Brighton Station - Guy Playing Piano

Photobombed

In conclusion, Brighton is fun and full of things to discover. The beach area is a typical beach town with tourism features, but we both felt it is much more interesting than many others we've visited. We both think we could come back here without hesitation and spend more time discovering the town. There is a nightlife there and also many places we didn't get to see. If you can go there, do it. It's worth the simple 1 hour train ride. It would even be worth spending the night there to really take more of the local attractions in. 


We never get tired of the English accent. It's fun to hear and noticed the variations that exist between folks. 

We caught Nima on the live cam wandering about the apartment! MEOW!

Today we are going to the National Gallery next and to a few other London touristy things. 

Our full photo album is located here
(Many more photos and we'll be posting on facebook in one large album later):
https://goo.gl/photos/rRMpDJXDXoF5QsS98