Blighty Day 16: Brighton

We woke to the sun streaming in our back window and thought this will be the pattern for the day but, alas, it clouded over and the sea mist came in from the Channel. This did not deter the intrepid travelers - off to catch the bus into Brighton. 

The Royal Pavilion at Brighton. Built by the Prince of Wales in 1815,  to entertain his friends,  was later sold by Queen Victoria to the city of Brighton in 1850. 

We were fortunate when boarding the bus that the two front seats of the double-decker were vacant, so we had a great view along the southern coastline and of Brighton. 

Kids uptop and upfront on the bus!

It had been many years since we had been here with much has remained the same but, oh, the crowds! I can understand why Brighton is a popular destination, it has much to offer all ages. 

So we set off on foot through the old section known as The Lanes. This is a series of small alleyways and passages that have a whole array of shops - particularly  numerous jewellery shops, restaurants and other niche shops. 

Specialty shop exclusively of ducks!

"Choccywoccydoodah" shop exclusively selling chocolate!

And, a ball shop!

The Lanes - without people for an instant!

We came across some interesting galleries on our wanderings. Some paintings were very intricate and unusual, while others stood out for their colour and brush work. 

This picture of the Queen is built up from individual miniature paintings - very skilful and unusual. 

This Monetques painting reminded us of the Thames last Monday morning early as we drove across Blackfriars Bridge. . 

And, beautiful and colourful flowers. 

Later we strolled out to the iconic pier with every conceivable sideshow-ally fun activity for the young. There was hardly a ride/activity not being used to the full. We settled for the traditional fish and chips! 

Late afternoon we hopped on the bus and returned to Telscombe Cliffs for our second night- and a most beautiful sunset played out later in the evening. 

Blighty Day 14: Lunch

Missed a day somewhere! Oh, London! (Perhaps someone is getting a little slack.)

Anyway, picking up the story, we woke to our alarm at 5.30 this morning, scrambled out of bed, dressed and away by 5.45am. Getting out of London on a Monday morning isn't nearly as difficult as arriving on Friday afternoon. Nevertheless, an early start means that we miss much of the traffic and we don't get caught up in the London Congestion Zone. As we were leaving Aldergate we were detoured past Smithfield, the home of the very ancient meat market of London. 

After clearing the city we stopped and had breakfast before getting more supplies. This all took time, and later we drove on to Norma and Colin's place in South Croydon for lunch. It was great catching up with them and we enjoyed a very delicious lunch. 

Whilst sitting around chatting we noticed the resident fox sleeping in the centre of their back lawn. What price for this sighting if this was Tassie!

We left late in the afternoon and drove on to the Gardiners Arms in Ardingly where we are spending the night.