British Seaside

August 3, 2007

Brighton, England

I woke up today after roughly three hours of sleep, and really did not feel like doing anything. Brighton had been the perfect destination to pick for that day. After the two-hour bus ride (which Freya and I spent sharing new music with each other) , we hopped off the bus and headed straight for the beach, just a few hundred metres away. It was absolutely breathtaking. I know that I have used that word a lot as of late, but it truly was not what I expected. The water was not dirty at all, but actually reminded me faintly of the crystal clear water one would find in the Caribbean, the pier had so much character, and the town just screamed “charming.” Freya, Julia, Alex, and I started walking along the pebble beach until we found the other girls, who had gotten there earlier. We just sat on the beach and took it all in until Geiler’s arrival. Lindsay had invented this game with the pebbles. Basically you take a pebble and chuck it at the rocks, and then watch the path it chooses to take. Personally, I found it more engaging than rock skipping. It was really interesting. We hung out on the beach for awhile, took several pictures, and then decided to get lunch (fish and chips for most, chicken and chips for me), which we took back to the beach to eat. After devouring a truly delicious seaside meal, we made our way to the Royal Pavilion and its surrounding area. The parks were extremely picturesque, and there was a museum there that was pretty neat. I was the only one who wanted to pay to go into the Pavilion (it’s written about very highly in 1,000 Places to See Before you Die), so I went in alone and the others waited for me. I am so glad I did. Of all the palaces, castles, churches, etc. that I have been in on this trip, it had my favorite interior. It was so unique in comparison with the rest. Most of the rooms had an Asian or Middle Eastern theme, and there was bamboo everywhere. The palace was still glitzy and the walls were still covered in gold, but it had an extraordinarily different air to it. I really enjoyed it, and the audio tour was a great way to learn all about George IV and his many wives and mistresses, as well as his family relations. It was also neat to hear what Queen Victoria thought about the palace (she was not a fan).

After the Pavilion, we walked around town a bit, through street markets and other shops. Most of the girls decided to get their palms read, while Geiler and I watched for awhile with boredom before wandering around. They all had fun, and for the most part they seemed to happily embrace the prophesies the palm reader had predicted for them. There was also a lady on the street giving holistic massages, and observing her give one had to be one of the strangest things I have ever seen (she reminded me of Phoebe because she cleansed this guy’s aura—she actually said that). She would massage him for a bit, then make him stand up and do some yoga-like stuff, and then she started to sing and dance in some unintelligible tongue while he just watched and let his body and mid be invigorated. This massage had to last a good half hour or so, because I went in a number of stores after watching for awhile and she still had the same patron when I was done with all of them.

Did I mention the weather was perfect this day? There was not a cloud in the sky, and the high was 70 while the low was 64. There was a light breeze off the Channel (I think it was the Channel), and I couldn’t have asked for anything better. While Brighton reminded me A LOT of San Diego (the weather and the feel of the town), I am sure in all actuality it was much more like Newport, Nantucket, or the Hamptons.

After wandering around for awhile, we went back to the beach for a bit before walking the pier and the boardwalk. The pier was sooo cool. It is extremely large and filled with rides that looked like a lot of fun, but were far too expensive to be justifiably enjoyable. After walking down the pier, Alex and I went to relax on the beach while the others explored so much. We lay down on the pebbles, soaking in their heat while enjoying the cool air emanating from the sea. We were deep in conversation when I heard a sputtering, spit noise. I turned and all of a sudden I see this nasty green and white stuff all around Alex’s mouth. She spits it out, and instinctively wipes her mouth on my jeans, and then my arm. A seagull decided to relieve itself while flying above her, and it was duly disgusting. After she fully realized what had actually happened, she ran down to the sea to wash off. I followed suit, since I now had bird doo on both my arm and my finger. My jeans, I decided, could wait until later.

After a bit more time on the beach, we gathered up some bread and cheese and had a picnic on the beach in front of the pier, while playing a new rock game—actually two. The first one I started, and it was throwing rocks at this plastic cup to see how far down the hill of pebbles you could make it go. Geiler decided to change the game to “fill up the cup with pebbles.” They were both a ton of fun. Then, at around 7, it started getting a bit chilly. Sometime around 7:P30, most of our group was too cold to stay on the beach, because of the wind and almost nobody (myself included) had brought a jacket or sweater. We walked back to the station, and waited for the bus to London. The ride home was a ton of fun, as Freya and I spent it exchanging riddles and playing “Twenty Questions.” Once back in London, we snacked for awhile in the kitchen and then I crashed.