Brighton

On Saturday, Laura and I went to Brighton.  We took the train
from Victoria Station and it took about an hour.

I knew that Brighton was something of a beach town and that many
Londoners frequented it on sunny Saturdays, and that my Aunt Kathleen
once saw John Denver preform there.  Beyond that I was clueless.

Turns out that it's an odd place.  Too me it's a slightly
dysfunctional mix between Wassaga Beach, Las Vegas and Brussels.

The beach itself is pretty neat, in that it's expansive and on the
southern coast of England, but it's made up of large coarse gravel. 
The rocks have been smoothed into roundish stones about 1 inch in
diameter.  If I were a Geologist, I could probably explain why this
beach opted for stones of a 1 inch diameter, rather than the more
traditional sand that seems to be all the rage these days.  But alas
I'm not a Geologist, so I just chalk it up to fact that Mother Nature
must have stock in Brighton's beach-footwear businesses.


There are lots of things to do there, including swimming (if you're
brave and have an ample resistance to hypothermia), dining, going to
Brighton Pier and visiting the Royal Pavilion.


The Royal Pavilion was a palace built for King George the fourth when
he was still price regent.  It was built like an Indian Palace and it
is pretty spectacular.


We met up with Dr. Who,
and he took us for a ride in his TARDIS.

Yes we went traveling in time and space for awhile before we got
hungry and had dinner in a little sidewalk cafe. There are lots of
little restaurants there that reminded us of Paris or Brussels. 
Rather un-British.

There is a very populous and flamboyant gay population in Brighton. 
They have a large gay-pride parade and do a lot of activities.

The Brighton Pier is a large Pier built on iron pillars that go into
the ocean floor.  There is an amusement park and food stands all over
it.  Kind of like a cheap fair, only over looking the ocean.


They sold a lot of Jellied Eels.  Yummy!  You might think that this is
some kind of gummy candy that are made in the form of Eels, but they
aren't.  It's actually Eels dipped in Jelly.  I saw them and promptly
suppressed a projectile vomit.  I'm not sure which is more disgusting,
projectile vomit or Jellied Eels!  But it's fun that I was able to
discuss both of them in this one paragraph!

Anyway, it was a good time.  Here are all the pictures.