Eastbourne - Brighton

When I was in Eastbourne for Christmas, I met Sarah, one of Henry's cousins who lives near Brighton. She told me I should visit Brighton sometime and she would show me around the city. I got in touch with her and took her up on her offer, catching the train to Brighton this morning and spending most of the day exploring the city and sea front with her. It's definitely easier and a lot more fun to see the highlights of a place with your own personal tour guide!

Sarah took me down The Lanes, a character-filled (literally), colourful shopping area covering a few narrow streets. She was able to advise me regarding the shops were worth visiting or skipping.

The Lanes.

I'm not into getting punctured with multiple piercings, but I thought this was an interesting storefront.

One street in Brighton has several parking areas with the surrounding walls smothered in beautiful graffiti.

"So good! So good! I got you!"

Sarah took me to one of the most creative restaurants I've ever been to for lunch - it's set up as a bit of a marketplace with fruit and vegetables sold near the front of the shop with the walls lined with colourful bottles of sauces or other products for sale. Judging by the appearance of the restaurant, you expect the food to be served quite casually, but everything tastes and looks amazing and the prices are reasonable. I definitely recommend Bill's if any of you are ever in Brighton!

I snapped this pic as we entered the restaurant and quickly had a server ask me to put the camera away.

We walked through town, past the Royal Pavillion, and down to the seafront.

The Royal Pavillion.
Thanks, Sarah, for the tip on where to find the reflection!

There seems to be a bit of a rivalry between residents of Brighton and Eastbourne regarding which city is nicer and has a better sea front. Brighton seems to have more going on but Eastbourne seems cleaner and has a more relaxed feel to it, so I think my preference would depend on the day and the friends I was with.

Brighton sea front.

Shells for sale at a shop along the sea front.

Sarah's feet on the pebble beach.

Sarah loves being outdoors, so I told her she's more than welcome to visit me in Canada as British Columbia has amazing opportunities for camping and hiking. She looked at me sceptically and asked, "Are there bears?" Most people go to Canada because they want to see bears, but Sarah isn't one of them (nothing in the UK preys on humans and she likes it that way). I told her about bears and cougars and how they're not really a threat but you have to be aware of them and be careful. She looked at me like I was crazy and said, "All we have to worry about is the weather and we still manage to kill ourselves!" I got the impression she views a trip to Canada as flirting with disaster.

Brighton's West Pier.

The Brighton Pier.

We walked along the Brighton Pier, through the arcade, and past the rides at the end of the pier. When we entered the arcade, a man madly shoving coins into a machine caught our eye. We stopped to watch for a little while and noticed a couple who had stopped for the same reason. We chatted briefly with them and they also expressed their shock at seeing this man emptying a container of ten-pence coins into the machine. The game has a sliding tray which catches your coins and, depending on how full it is, sometimes slides the coins off into the tray below and the build-up of coins eventually moves forward, pushing coins into a dispensing tray and occasionally dropping prizes into the dispensing tray as well. The man was obviously trying to get a cell phone to fall out. It was heart-breaking to watch him emptying so much cash into the machine. When we finished at the pier, we went back to see if he was still there. He was, and the other couple had returned at the same time for the same reason. None of us could believe that he had spent so much time emptying money into the machine, moving at a frantic pace to keep the coins moving through the slot. The coin kiosk was nearby so I went and asked the attendent how long he had been there. She said she wasn't sure how long he had been at that specific machine (at least an hour), but he often comes to the arcade and today he had been there since 10:30 a.m. It was now 4:30 p.m. As we watched, he finally emptied his container and left, the cell phone still inside the display case.

A sad compulsion in progress.

Sarah checked the floor and found a few coins, sharing them with me so we could try out these games of sheer luck. We split them and dropped them into a couple of machines. We continued checking other machines and the floor for spare change and were amazed by how many were left behind. As I expected, the games are set up to make us all losers and after a few minutes and lots of laughter, we left empty-handed.

Brighton Pier.

Sarah - friend and fabulous tour guide!

As we walked along one of the streets, Sarah pointed out an old theatre and I stopped dead in my tracks and gasped at the production that was being advertised. I know most of you won't understand why this means so much to me, but I know my family is going to get a good laugh out of this.



It's a West End production of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers! My all-time favourite musical and a movie I've watched so many times that I could probably quote the whole thing and sing along with the songs!

"My name's Adam Pontipee."
"Odd name I must say."
"I live on the mountain. Have a farm up there. There's high grazing meadows, sheep, milking cows. Only thing it ain't got, it ain't got a woman. How 'bout it?"
"How 'bout what?"
"I just told ya - how 'bout marryin' me?"

It makes me laugh just to type out such ridiculous lines. Best movie ever. Yes, I know I'm a loser, but I've watched that movie since I was a little kid and I still love watching it. I've seen it at least twenty or thirty times all the way through (I bought the DVD a few years ago). I can't believe it's a stage play too!

David, I look forward to reading your comments. Come on, admit it... I know you love the movie.