Brighton Beach

May 18th

Sunday was largely uneventful. I don't have any pictures. I was already for church on time, but got sidetracked and suddenly that flat was empty and it was 9:20, when church starts. Oops. I made it over to the Hyde Park Chapel for Sunday School and Sacrament meeting though. The rest of the day I wrote papers, ate, walked around London, and had a little fireside with George. I'm glad I finished my papers early to Skype people and then talk in the common room till late into the night. We were on one.

May 19th

The MDT girls were nice enough to let me tag along to their trip to Brighton. So fun! We went right after class to the train. The trip was an hour and a half.

The country in between London and Brighton is lovely. Our tickets were much cheaper than we thought they would be too. Just another reason to live in London, the beach is close.

Hello Brighton!

It was a fifteen minute walk from the station to the beach.The shops were bright and everything was happy. How can you be sad on the beach?

Really feels like summer now! Brighton is a pebble beach, not sand. There are pros and cons for sure. Walking in shoes is so nice. The pebbles rarely get stuck in your shoe like sand does. The London weather is cool and nice on hot days as well so the ground wasn't scathing. You don't really need a blanket either. Problem: no sand castles and walking without shoes is murderous.

We rented chairs for the day and just sat there. We read, sang, wrote in journals, and just watched the beach. We decided Brighton is a college town since there were lots of people our age, or just a little older than us, chillin on the beach. Sadly, everything starts closing down at five. If you want to eat dinner on the beach, eat it fast!

Atlantic Ocean!

Not sure what this structure is out on the water. What was weird at this British beach was the minuscule waves prevent sports like boogie boarding and surfing. Instead people paddle board and kayak. The water is pretty cold, but not much worse when we tried to surf last year in the Pacific at California.

Shopping along the beach.

Made it over to Brighton Pier after a few hours of lounging. 

We were told we had to try these fresh donuts. Most of the girls loved them. I though they were so-so.  

Most of the pier is food shops, a big arcade, and carnival rides at the end. They were closed too or we would have done the roller coaster and maybe some other rides. Brooke, Carolyn, and I lost Emily & Colette for awhile. By the time we all met up nearly everything on the beach was closed. I guess it makes sense since it was a Monday. The weather was too beautiful.

An Indian Palace in Brighton? It's pretty cool.

Gardens. Gardens Galore!

Lots of street art in Brighton. I almost think they encourage it. Things did get a little sketch when we might have wandered onto gang turf, but the graffiti was really cool.

Brighton has an arts festival going on, but I have a feeling they just have these flags up all the time. It is such a fun little city.

Over the rooftops.

As we were walking up the street we passed a Krispy Kremes. The guy working the counter was closing and throwing trays of donuts into the trash. What? We all just stared at him. Colette yelled through the window, "What? What are you doing? You're just going to throw them away?" We all laughed even though we were still gaping. He laughed too, and then ran out and handed her this box of assorted donuts. Brighton donut boy, you are our favorite. They were delicious!!

End of the line. We road the train back to St. Pancras with just enough time to catch the tube. The people next to use were extremely noisy and kept offering us laughing gas inside balloons.... It was pretty interesting. They were nice, but we kept refused. Six hours of the beach. I love it.