Day Eight: Brighton

PICTURES: First, Me and my feet on the beach (note the stones). Second, Me with the sea behind me, compliments of Kat. Third, The Bright Pier viewed from the beach. Fourth, the beach and its few fall visitors. Number Five, the waves crashing on the stones.
Six, Flowers


Today we went on the first trip for the British Life and Culture class, it was to Brighton. It was a very very very long day. I woke up at 7:00 so i would be able to leave my apartment by 8:30, so that i could make it to the campus by 9:30. It was a lot of planning. I even laid out my clothes the night before and planned what i was going to have for breakfast the night before... and then i did it.

I am not sure how long the drive was, because i slept both there and the way back. It was best to sleep on the ride, because they drive horrifically over here. I though we were going to kill at least 10 people, so i decided to ignore it by sleeping... it was good, i felt refreshed.

When we first got there we were taken up into the lanes (small street shopping centers), and then were left to do as we pleased. Kat and i got bagels and Allie ran off to take pictures. I enjoyed my bagel, it was a tune melt, poppy seed. Then we wandered a lot. The streets were full of really cute and small shops. You could find everything from kitchen shops to clothing shops to more adult like stores right next to each other. There was very planned and artistic graffiti all over the alley walls, some of which was disturbing, but i enjoyed most of it. In our wanderings we made it onto the Brighton Pier, where all the rides where shut down. We walked all the way to the end and really enjoyed being so close to the sea, it was beautiful and it just felt so great and fresh. On the sea where big boats and many sailboats which were fun to watch speed around. On the pier we also got ice cream with flake bars (yeah Hanna, i think you know what i mean, haha). It made me really chilly, because i was already cold and then ... yeah, kind of self-explanatory.

After we wondered around Brighton for about 2ish hours (?) we had a tour in the Royal Pavilion at Brighton built by King George and visited twice by Queen Victoria. It was very, very beautiful. The artwork and sculpture in the pavilion will stick with me forever. We were not allowed to take pictures, but the pictures would not have been able to truly show how fabulous and expertly skilled everything in the pavilion was. Also, i like the excuse not to take pictures, haha. It was an oriental themed Pavilion, which was an interesting concept to me. It seemed that every room had a very beautifully sculpted dragon. I cannot even describe it in justice. They said that in the time that it was used, it was a very popular party estate and the rooms were hot and filled with the sent of spices. In the dining room there was a chandelier that weighed one ton, and was held on the ceiling by a very large silver dragon. It was said that some people were afraid to eat under it, do to the intimidation of the art.

It was.... great!

Then we had more time, so after i stole two maps of Brighton, we went to the Art Museum. They had exhibits of chairs, Egyptians, WWII in Brighton (they had been hit by air raids, just like London), and other world art such as pacific art and other artwork that resembled the art of native americans. That was also really fun and interesting.

Then we walked back to the beach because i wanted a rock, i got three. We sat and looked out at the ocean after an apparent photo shoot, which i did not realize was happening (if you can tell by the picture of me above, haha). Allie and Kat went to get fish and chips and then i saw a girl who was on the plane with me, so i went over to talk to her. Her name is Jade, and whether she likes it or not she is my new friend, haha.

We went home, i slept and then i made dinner. Aka: i made pasta, and then Allie and i ate it. The end.

OH YEAH, also there is a really tall, cute, red headed, Norwegian boy running around. Just thought i would share.