To the Beach!

Last Saturday the U.K. rain finally decided to take a break which was perfect timing for my day trip to Brighton!

The city is only about an hour south of London by train but it feels like a completely different world from the hustle and bustle of the big city. As Brighton is located right on the beach and comes with its own version of a Conney Island like pier needless to say I wasn't in London anymore.

We started our day by visiting the Royal Pavilion which is a palace where the royals would come to get away and escape for a vacation. The palace is definitely unlike any of the others I've seen in England. The exterior reminded me of something you would see in India and the interior was completely filled with Chinese decor. No pictures were allowed inside unfortunately....womp womp

When we finished up our tour inside we walked over to the pier to get a proper British meal of fish and chips for lunch. The pier was quite adorable as it was filled with old fashion roller coasters and arcade games. I felt like I needed to get some cotton candy or a funnel cake at this point to complete my experience.

After I was filled up on my favorite British meal  my study abroad group and I took a walking tour around the city. I had heard before from my flatmates and coworkers that Brighton is known for being home to the boy's town of Europe and really celebrates diversity. I appreciated hearing the tour guide talk about this as well and how proud the people of Brighton are to be so accepting of others from all races, religions and sexualities. I think the rest of the world could learn a thing or two from these people!

But anyways, we managed to take a nice stroll along the beach and then make our way through the city. The Brighton Festival was also going on so the city was definitely lively with people out and about enjoying the day.

When our tour was over we were free to roam around the city as we pleased since our train ticket was open ended. My friend and I decided to check out some of the cute little shops selling all things British for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee coming up. It's been hard to resist buying everything in the stores but I've been "trying" to remind myself that all my stuff does need to find its way back home to Chicago some how. After taking one last stroll along the beach we made our way back to London (hopefully) a little more tan than when we came.