As I mentioned in my previous post, I managed to make it down to Brighton for the first time since getting to the UK (I know, I know!) on the Bank Holiday weekend. Getting there seemed to be a bit of an effort. My plan was to take a train directly from my closest tube, Farringdon but I totally forgot that they close it on weekends for the Cross Rail project. I ended up walking down in London Bridge to catch one but there was a bit of a stuff up and instead of being a fast train to Brighton, we had to get on a slow train that stopped almost everywhere on the way to Croyden before having to change again for the Brighton train.
By the time I got to Brighton I was pretty famished so headed for one of the many cafes I’d noted down if I happened to be in the area. I ended up at Nia’s, a large bright cafe full of wooden tables and a small handful outside in the sun. Of course all of those were occupied so I took a seat where I could absorb the bustling atmosphere behind the counter, grab one of the many local magazines they had and indulge in a very tasty eggs benedict for brunch. Awesome value too with a flat white for about £11 including service. I’d definitely come back again.
After breakfast, I wandered the North Lanes for a bit. It had a very colourful and alternative scene with lots of tiny little shops, plenty of cafes and a big variety of just interesting people around. I particularly liked a lot of the painted buildings that was done one of the streets.
Very colour and really detailed. I definitely preferred this much more than “The Lanes” on the other side of Brighton, even more full of tourists and plenty of stores that looked like high street ones.
Of course, you can’t really visit Brighton without visiting the beach and it was definitely crowded the day I went down. I took it from the three people that were swimming (out of the 1000+) that the water wasn’t exactly inviting. I took their cue and didn’t even try to go down, instead simply walking up and down the beach side walkway and down to the cheesy Brighton Pier. I even wandered up into some of the residential parts of Brighton (the Fiveways) where they were having some artist open house exhibitions before heading back to London.
I really enjoyed the vibe and the atmosphere of Brighton. It probably helped they had great weather. It seemed like a very nice part of England and I can understand why people enjoy living there and commuting to London instead.
