Day Trip to Brighton

The journey for today is Brighton, in the South of England. Brighton is a little seaside port town that is popular with Londoners because of its beaches; it has a long history and can be found in the Doomsday Book (1086) as Bristelmestune. Brighton’s beaches aren’t sand, but rather rock — rock that looks an awful lot like the infamous Brighton rock candy.

I rather liked Brighton. It was a cute little place with hippies, skaters, surfers, and punk rockers. As we walked through streets and amongst vendors, I met one lady (people are friendly here) who’s sister lives close to us in Calgary. It really is a small world. I also managed to find a peasant blouse; one that I like.

There are many sights to see in Brighton: the Royal Pavilion, the Brighton Pier, the West Pier, Brighton Museum and Art Gallery, Volk’s Electric Railway, St. Nicholas Church, and a major draw for people: the Brighton night life.

The Royal Pavilion looks like something you would find in Asia and not England. It was originally built in the 1800s for the Prince Regent (King George IV) and was used as a seaside retreat and occasional royal palace.

We spent a large amount of time in the Brighton Museum and Art Gallery. Here they had an impressive display of photographs of Brighton over the centuries. The thing that really struck me is the town hasn’t changed much over the years. The people and clothing all look different, but the sights and buildings are exactly as they were a century ago. I found it kind of comforting to know that there are places in the world that don’t really change.