Anyone would think I took off to the middle east or India or something for a few days.
Nope. Just Brighton on the south coast of England.
It was the Queens Diamond Jubilee extra long weekend recently. It's impressive that she's reigned for sixty years. What a job! And she still works hard. She really is admirable. After a failed attempt at witnessing the Thames River Pageant in real life I caught a cheap bus ride 2hrs south of London central to Brighton where I'd booked to stay a couple of nights. In the light rain I managed to find my hotel and check in and then decided to just stay in. I put the tv on to actually SEE some of the pageant and then got back to my e-book that I was already sucked into.
Monday I started late due to some more book reading. I ate the bit of food I had with me before venturing out to roam the streets. I found a running store that I eagerly stepped into. I've been jogging again lately and my body has been responding. I love it when I get that feeling in my legs like they just want to be moving. (I do a lot of sitting down as a part of my recreation and hobbies.) I found in that store something I celebrated over. Shock Absorber make a run bra! And it works wonderfully. For a girl like me, good support is hard to find. It was definitely worth the spend. I also bought a little bumbag to slip my keys, phone and ipod into when I go out jogging. Okay, moving on.
I continued roaming the streets. Stopped by a mini supermarket to stock up on a few meals--had a fridge in my room. Then on down to the shore. I made sure I stayed out lots this day as it was suppose to be the best day weatherwise. It was overcast and a bit cool but at least it was dry. I walked all the way down to the marina and then back along the shore a bit. They call it Brighton Beach but I still maintain that a beach requires sand. It's just a shoreline, you brits. So I sat down on the rocks, and quite nice rocks they are. Smooth so not uncomfortable to sit on and pretty patterns of various kinds all over them. I ate my lunch--including a jubilee gingerbread--and read some more before getting too cold to sit still any longer. As I wondered back along the shore the sun came out which was lovely. It seems more...right, to be at the seaside with the sun shining.
I had bought two movie vouchers in an online deal and when I received them I realised I selected the wrong ones. They had to be used outside of London. I had two and since I wasn't probably going to get out of London again before their used by date I decided to use both while in Brighton. On Monday I went and saw What to Expect When You're Expecting which I have been wanting to see. I quite enjoyed it. It was more like the movie Valentine's Day with multiple stories going on sort of interlinked but not really all a part of the one story line. Multiple pregnancies obviously but a whole variety of experiences. And a laugh. It has a good cast too. When I stepped back outside it was early evening and the sun was still shining. I quickly ducked back to my room and then went down to the shore again. This time I had music in my ears and my on-the-go art kit with me. After a while I sat on the rocks again and drew. As the light began to slowly fade I walked back toward Brighton Pier. I wanted some night shots. I strolled around the amusement pier. It wasn't very busy but I had fun watching the big spinning arm, especially standing half underneath it where it looked like it flung over the top and would come down on top of me with a splat. I also had a laugh watching three older men ride the Wild River together. One of those rides in the log boat around the water path where you do a huge splash down the hill. They screamed and everything. Ha ha. Then I headed back to my room to eat and read and go to sleep late.
Tuesday was much the same but wetter and included more window shopping. I'd prepurched today's movie ticket based on what I could use the voucher on and what time the showing was. I ended up going with Snow White and the Huntsman with Kristen Stewart (aka Bella) and Chris Hemsworth (aka Thor) and Charlize Theron as the evil queen. I really had no idea what it was about, apart from a vague idea of the fairytale. It was entertaining though. As for Kristen, her Snow White role was very similar to her Twilight role. From the movie I went straight to the bus station to catch my ride back to London and found out along the way I had the rest of the week off. Sweet.
Click on the pics for a closer look. Oh, and that out-of-place building is the Royal Pavillion, a place you can pay to look around in and houses some art and stuff.
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