A Grand Day Out

Weather forecasters warn that the "Beast from the East," the notorious cold spell that Britain faced last winter, could reappear in days. That was all the excuse we needed to take advantage of the sun while it lasts, so we made a jaunt to Brighton.

In all the trips we've made to the U.K., we've never been to Brighton, so it was new to us. It's only about an hour from London by train, so it's an easy day trip.

We had plenty of time, so we ambled through The Lanes, the narrow, winding passageways pictured on the wall mural below, where antique shops, jewelers, and others ply their trade.  

Don't you love the name of that cafe, ChoccywoccyDoodah? That's not where we ate, but the name almost persuaded me. Instead, we chose a cozy pub that served breakfast all day, which we couldn't pass up for lunch.  I've written in previous blogs about the "full English breakfast" and people other  than me have termed it "a heart attack on a plate." It is--and we love it!

Of course, if you visit Brighton, you have to visit its iconic pier, and we did just that. It isn't busy during the winter, but it also lacks interest, unless you want to while away your day in an amusement area. But the sun was warm.

Finally, we finished our Brighton sightseeing by stopping by the Royal Pavilion, built by George IV when he was Prince Regent. He was called "The Prince of Pleasure," and was once described as "a bad son, a bad husband, a bad father, a bad subject, a bad monarch, and a bad friend." Extravagant and fond of drink and parties, he had the Royal Pavilion built to reflect the exotic East, with its domed exterior and Chinese-themed interior. He had never visited those realms, and the building is part monstrosity and part fairy-tale fantasy.

We were surprised to find that some rooms, even though excessive with decoration, were actually very pleasant, and we could easily have been comfortable in them. Others, like the music room, were so over-the-top with gilded dragons and serpents and rich decoration from ceiling to floor, that they completely overwhelmed us. (Photography is forbidden, so I took a photo of a postcard of the music room. Because this blog is not a commercial one, I trust this is "fair use." At least it would be in the U.S.)

Queen Victoria did not like the building, which exposed her too much to the public and didn't even offer a sea view. She had most of the furnishings removed and wanted the building demolished. But it was saved by the British Parliament. It gradually decayed, but in recent years, it has been refurbished and, over time, the British monarchy has returned some of the pavilion's original pieces. Others have been painstakingly re-created. We considered the visit worth it, if for no other reason than that it is a curiosity of historical value.
After our "grand day out," we hopped the train and made it back to London before the evening rush.