My ABC Weekend: Adventures in Brighton and Canterbury!

Hello hello hello again my amazing readers! I know I'm overdue on a post and it might seem like I'm slacking- but I'm not! This week marks three more weeks I have left here in the UK until I fly back to the US, and while I can't wait to get my butt on that plane, I feel like I still have so much I want to do while I'm here!

This weekend, I took two day trips outside of London, which are so much fun. Since England is pretty small (about the size of Oregon), it is really easy to hop on a train, ride it for an hour, and end up someplace completely different. London is a great city, but it is...a huge city. Like I've said before, sometimes I feel like I'm in a NYC on the other side of the Atlantic. When I'm craving real British-ness, I head out for a mini-trip to another place to get my fill. This weekend, I went to historic Canterbury, and quirky Brighton.

The Brighton Beach

I just got back from Brighton a few hours ago, so I will write about that trip first since it is perfectly fresh in my mind. To get there, we took a train from London Victoria (a major under/overground train station) and rode it for about 50 minutes southeast of the city. When we got off, we saw a small little town with unique shops, and people bustling around in the sunshine! For those of you that have spent a significant amount of time in England, you will know how unusual, and exciting, it is when the sun decides to poke his head out from the constant clouds for a bit. Our day in Brighton was absolutely gorgeous, with lots and lots of sun. It was really windy, and unfortunately, we weren't able to go in the water at all because the waves were so rough, but we had a great time walking around the small town and loving the sea air and sunshine. Once we got off the train at about 11:30, we stopped at a small beach cafe right on the pier for lunch, and then walked down and explored some of the really small stores that were underneath the pier. There were art galleries, bead shops, beach boutiques, print shops, and other unusual places of business.

A cartoon painted on the
door of a fish-and-chips
shack showing
Brighton's pride in being
the place to go for a
"dirty weekend"

After banging around in those for a while, we walked down the actual pier that Brighton is so famous for. It is now like any beach-town pier, with junky rides, cotton candy and souvenir shops, but at one time it was highly popular and unusual. Wealthy Londoners would take weekend trips to Brighton for a "dirty weekend," which meant one filled with drinks, gambling, and prostitutes. Brighton is still proud of its heritage, and along with their bizarre pride in being the place to go for a less-than-upstanding weekend, it is also home to a large gay and lesbian community. I really enjoyed walking around and seeing gay pride flags on shops, and men and women holding hands with their partners enjoying the beautiful day just like anybody else. Regardless of the variety of opinions held on the subject, it is undeniable that it is always a beautiful thing to see two people completely in love with one another.

The Royal Pavilion 

After we had our fill of the pier, we stumbled upon the Royal Pavilion that is also located in Brighton. The palace is a royal residence, so in the event that HM feels like a beach weekend, she has a place to stay. The palace looks like it was taken right out of India and placed in the small town of Brighton, and because it is so drastically different than anything around it, it is striking. The area around the grounds are beautifully manicured and filled with breathtaking English gardens. Today, there was a big band outside playing music for all the people napping and having picnics on the grass. It was so beautiful that we laid down for a while and soaked up some sun. We accidentally took a brief nap, and it certainly isn't everyday that you can say you wake up in the backyard of a palace! After grabbing a quick dinner, we headed back to London. It was the perfect Sunday by the sea!

Cocoa Cafe's Macaroons!

PS: On our way out, we stopped at a small, family run French cafe and bakery. We picked out a few of their famous, home made macaroons that were TO DIE for! Of course, I thought of you all, and took a picture (at left). The flavors: coffee, black forest, raspberry and milk chocolate, lychee and raspberry, passion fruit, pistachio, rose, and coffee. They were even more delicious than they look!

Yesterday, we were able to take another really great day trip to Canterbury. The town is most notably  featured in Chaucer's Canterbury tales as the place where a group of pilgrims are traveling to to see the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral. It took about an hour and forty minutes to arrive there via train, and it was another great day to travel out into the English countryside. We weren't able to get into the Cathedral, unfortunately, because they were closing it early. We had a really great day, regardless, and explored the university located in Canterbury, and enjoyed going in and out of the small, owner run shops and striking up conversations with locals. We were able to eat dinner al fresco at an italian restaurant in the main square, and listen to a group of young English boys play their guitars for gathering crowds.

Old King's School Shop,
2012 

Old King's School
Shop, 2008

One of my favorite things in Canterbury and probably in England in general is this old house that used to house a shop for King's School, which is a prestigious private school located in Canterbury. The  house was built circa 1647, and the years have really taken their toll on the structure of the building. When I came to London four years ago with my family, we took this picture in front of it (left) and today, the house looks like this (right). I never would have guessed that four years ago, I'd be back in England exploring the same towns that my parents took us to, but I am so glad that I was able to come back and re-experience what an exceptional nation this is.

This is the last weekend that I will be in England, as next weekend I will be visiting Scotland, and the week after that I will be in the south of France. It was a really great last weekend to have in England, but I am looking forward to experiencing other parts of the United Kingdom and Europe! Until the next post (which I promise won't take so long to publish!)- cheers!