Trip to Brighton - Picture of the Day (Sunday)

Rottingdean is a beautiful village with lots of old buildings, the Kipling gardens, the windmill and the coast. The view across the village pond to the windmill on the hill was lovely. However the village was amazingly busy and the house prices were somewhat ridiculous.

Trip to Brighton - Picture of the day (Friday)

For decadence the Royal Pavilion is sumptuous but it is the way that it relates to the role of tourism that interested me especially. The way that George IV made the area popular and the way that people visited it for the healing properties of slat water baths. This and the royal patronage allowed Brighton to grow. This continued until the advent of the railway allowed the urban working class to visit, Brighton grew and became less exclusive and the Royals feeling too exposed and needing more space for all the children forced Victoria to sell it and return to Buckingham Palace.

Trip to Brighton - Picture of the day (Tuesday)

A trip to the marina district to see what was there. You can use the electric railway although this leaves you some way away from the centre and with no obvious way of getting there. It was a bit disappointing. There were a few unique shops but too many chains and too many empty shops. The flats reminded me of every new river/ coastal development such as Riverside Norwich, Ipswich and Swansea. The most interesting thing was seeing the boats for sale and how much they cost especially the ugly ones.

Trip to Brighton = Picture of the day Monday

So the thing that happened on Monday was the early alarm call courtesy of the seagulls. Thanks a bunch. We spent the rest of the day mooching around finding out what was there are a quick look around the shops.

A also decided that all sea gulls could be divided into evil and good. This is a good one, something to do with the eyes and the legs.

Trip to Brighton - Picture of the day Saturday

The glamorous life of a lifeguard in the UK

Brighton sea life centre = Picture of the day Thursday

An interesting place set under the promenade in a Victorian arches. There were a range of exhibits but the ones that were outstanding were.

1. The turtles - large and graceful projecting a powerful sense of calm.
2. The rays - the way that they playfully came to the surface and were very interested in the outside world
3. The sea horses - the lots of different sized ones were cool.

Two areas that they have to work on.
1. The queueing system in the rain was slow and damp
2. The boat trip - how did we get all the way there without realising we had to book. If you go I suggest booking the trip - then seeing the other exhibits - then going back and taking the trip.

What is normal?

We stayed in Kemptown - the bohemian end of Brighton (according to Wikipedia) where you are expected to be outrageous and if you don't wear a silly hat, strange coloured t-shirt or interesting hair both on your head and facial then you kind of stand out. It raises the question that if everyone is outrageous does that make it the new normal?