Brighton England – Part 2

Brighton England – Part 2

Lanes

Travel in Brighton – 2014

Go back to the start of this trip – here.

Once in Brighton we looked for the Tourism or Info offices. There aren’t any! You might want to go on-line and do a search of things to do before you get to Brighton. We found their local municipal offices where a man kindly gave us a map.

We took our map and headed to V Bites, a vegan cafe owned by Heather Mills. (Sir Paul McCartney’s ex wife.) We ordered breakfast and looked at our map, deciding what to see and do. V Bites also sell vegan alternatives to animal foods. Think along the lines of vegan deli meats, cheeses and even . . .

More lanes

. vegan tuna.

Brighton is famous for it’s “Lanes”. Their Lanes are narrow, often cobbled alleys with old specialist shops selling antiques, crafts, hippie chic clothing, organic foods and fair trade coffees. I can’t work out how many actual Lanes or lane areas exist as also found Lanes in Hove. You want to walk around in the area from the seafront up to where the station is. If a spot looks quaint, walk there, it might turn out to

Royal Pavilion

be yet more Lanes.

We found a place called hiSbe – short for – How it Should be – a fair trade, organic supermarket that focuses on sustainability. Wow! The next vegan place we ate was called The Loving Hut Cafe. It’s a hut in a park run by an Asian couple. Expect yummy curries as opposed to toasted sandwiches. The couple are

Brighton Marina

committed vegans by the looks of things. Lots of anti-cruelty leaflets scattered about. Forks over Knives video runs over and over.

We walked past a good few other veggie restaurants but a quick glance at the menu was enough to put us off. Won’t name them, but no way am I ever paying those prices for food. I don’t care who the chef or owner is. Most nights we holed up in our room and watched

Loving Hut vegan food

our tiny telly. We had both been hit hard by a cold or flu. (Can never tell the difference.) We just wanted to sleep. And we did a LOT of walking in the day.

On a whim we decided to take a bus to Brighton Marina. The buses run from next to the train station. Our bus took a meander via council housing and residential areas to the marina. One doesn’t realise how tidal the UK coastline is. Or how fierce the waves can be until you see the breakwater designed to shelter the boats in the marina.

Brighton Marina is a housing, boating, commercial, residential and social space. We walked around the harbour and along the breakwater. And we had a nice hot cup of tea at one of the cafes.

The promenade is quite a stretch. You can

Even more lanes

walk for hours if you like walking. The actual pier is a bustling place. It’s bursting with games arcades, amusement rides and daft things to do. Expect flashing lights and tin can music. In the height of summer, people flock in their droves to Brighton. Apparently the 2008 Pride festival saw 150 000 people crammed onto Brighton Beach. Europeans love the sun. We’re a bit more used to covering up and sun protection in Africa.

Another eatery we visited for a really early supper was Iydea. And what a good idea it was to visit that time. They

hiSbe

have a food “happy hour”. Great food. Great value. There are two of them in Brighton.

Yet another area we went to was the Cultural Quarter. I really wanted to go to the Brighton Museum and Art Gallery, which is free. But it’s closed on Mondays. We left it to our last day so never got a chance to go back. Sigh! It’s set in lovely gardens. A great place to sit and enjoy a take-out lunch. Right opposite is the Royal Pavilion. A palace built in 1783 for the Prince of Wales. It

Brighton Marina

might be a British Royal Palace but this pavilion looks like something you would find in India. Like the Taj Mahal. I really don’t what that Prince was thinking. It looks out of place to me.

I’m sure we missed out on so much. But we took in a lot. I’m glad we didn’t go in the height of summer on a bight sunny bank holiday weekend. That would be my idea of hell. We picked the right time to go. Just the wrong place. Given it’s proximity to London, good chance there will be a next time.

Go to – My Holidays and Trips – at the top of this page to read about other places we have visited. Or just click on – this link.

Brighton England

Brighton England

What to do in Brighton – 2014

Beach huts on the Promenade

My husband has a 90 year old aunt who lives in North London. We go across to visit regularly. She loves having us come over. She also doesn’t love having us around. She’s lived alone her entire adult life. She wants to know we care. We help with things she can no longer do. But she gets a fright every time one of us pops up. She cannot get used to other people in her house.

Brighton Promenade

We decided to go to Brighton for three nights to get out of her hair. We chose Brighton because it was the quickest, cheapest and easiest place to get to from London. Plus my husband had never been there. My primary income is derived in South Africa. The current exchange rate is horrible. We’re paying R19 for £1. I can buy four to five cups of coffee in SA for the price of one in the UK. It was my decision to stay in a hostel. My husband has never done so before. I used hostels in Scotland

Art deco buildings

and Orkney with friends. Read about those trips – here – and – here. The accommodation was acceptable to fabulous.

So I found us a hostel in Hove which is about 2 – 3 miles from Brighton. It looked fine on the web.

Greenie on Brighton Pier

We found instructions for the bus and got there easily. The guy who managed the place was a really nice chap and I feel bad for saying this, but the place was awful. He told me it was owned by a charity and all proceeds went to a good cause. He also said they were looking at fixing it up.

Our rooms were clean enough. The linen was garish and well worn. The shower had a gaping hole and no trap. I lost a razor down there. There were notices on the walls imploring people not to

White cliffs

make a noise. The communal area was dark and dingy. The kitchen cupboard doors had fallen off. I wouldn’t use anything there or eat there.

I also suspect this place is used by homeless people. The same faces constantly lurked outside drinking beer and I could smell weed. Maybe that was the charity? A place of safety perhaps?

We decided that we were only sleeping there and resolved to get out as much as possible. Turns out

Seaside eateries

Brighton is a mecca for vegans, vegetarians and organic foodies. Who knew? Happy Cow listed loads of places to eat out. We walked along the promenade from Hove into Brighton instead of catching the bus. Much nicer.

There are brightly coloured beach huts along the way. As you come into Brighton you can see beautiful white cliffs. The sea was calm and flat that day. The beach is pebbled. A novelty for us. South African beaches are white powder sand. I LOVED the art deco beachfront apartments. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Agatha Christie Poirot series were filmed in Brighton and Hove.

Brighton Beach

More on Brighton in the next post – here.

Go to – My Holidays and Trips – at the top of this page to read about other places we have visited. Or just click on – this link.

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