Brighton

During my visit to London over Christmas holiday, my hosts took me to Brighton for a quick visit to the sea. Brighton is on the southern coast of England and is a quick train ride away from London. 

We were greeted at the train station by Alex's sister Jordan whom we would be staying with that night. After dropping our bags, we headed down to the water front for an evening walk, and were rewarded with a magnificent sunset. Starlings were flocking over the pier and the whole scene was surreally beautiful.

photo courtesy of visitbrighton.com

On our walk, we passed through the grounds of the Royal Pavilion. The Royal Pavilion was built by George IV and is quite an architectural contrast to the rest of Brighton. Successors of George IV used the Pavilion for an escape on holiday, but Queen Victoria wasn't too taken with Brighton and picked a new vacation destination for the Royal Family. Now the Pavilion serves as Brighton's main tourist attraction.

The next morning we had a fashionable tea experience at Metrodeco, a tea and furniture shop wrapped into one.

Pinkies out, please!

Brighton has an zesty atmosphere and I really enjoyed the eccentric vibe. I can imagine city folks from London flocking to the pier on a summer day much like their wintery replacements did during our sunset walk.