carpe-diem

I stayed in London with my friend, Jasmine in this September due to the ongoing student visa implication procedure for my Master degree. Jasmine’s auntie is warm and friendly. She suggested lots of places in London for us to visit, both the tourist sites and residential areas. I discovered various appearances about London in a month. I was enjoyed the time to staying with them.

In a beautiful Weekend, we decided to have a day trip to Brighton, a seaside resorts on the south coast of England. It is a popular day-trip destination for Londoners as it only takes an hour and 30 minutes drive from London. It’s not far away from London, but I didn’t manage to visit it when I was in the South. I was excited the day before the trip.

On the day, the weather was pretty nice, sunny and warm. The British love a sunny day. The normal weather in the UK is cloudy and wet, and I dislike this kind of weather. Although I am a winter kid, I love summer rather than winter because I can’t deal with the cold. Everyone wants to get out and enjoys the sun before the winter comes.

Brighton isn’t huge, neither small. The greatest thing about the city centre is the tourist areas and residential retail quarter are close to each other. It’s easy to observe and discover interesting stories or lifestyle here. Even we just stayed here for less than a day, I still enjoyed the time here and pleaed to visit apart of this beautiful city.

We went to the beach first. People were sailing, and some of them moved their boats back to the beach. I have no idea how it works and what is the feeling of sailing. It should be fun. I saw a girl went back with her smile, she seemed to enjoy it. We sit on the beach, enjoyed the sunshine and finished our brunch. It’s warm, but it wasn’t a comfortable place because of the gravel. We didn’t stay there for a long time, we then headed to the pier.

Brighton Marine Palace and Pier, known as the Palace Pier, is a Grade II listed pleasure pier. It is one of the representative architectures and popular attractions in Brighton. It is a Victorian-style pier opened in the 1890s. It was one of the chain piers in Brighton for the marine purpose, then became an entertainment venue in the 1900s. Now, it features a funfair, restaurants and arcade halls.

We walked through the walkways out to sea. It’s a different feeling of the sea a mile away from the seaside. It’s still broad and boundless, but much closer to the sea, and silent. The only sounds are waves, wind and seagull. I looked back to the beach and the city, it’s a different world, prosperous and bustling. I know why little mermaid wants to have legs and stay on the land. We didn’t play any rides and games there, just took some pictures and read the stories and history about the pier on the signs.

After that, we went to the Royal Pavilion, a Grade I listed royal palace built for the Prince Regent in the 19th Century. The Pavilion is in Indian-style which is a special symbol in the city. Now the Pavilion is partly open to the public as a park, but the Pavilion itself becomes a museum and charged. The museum is showcasing the history and stories of the architecture and the royal life. The day we went to, a mini-orchestra was playing music in the middle of the garden. The residents were sitting on the picnic mat or on the grass, having food and listening music. Also, some people were reading books, chatting, and sleeping on the grass on the other side of the park. It’s relaxing and leisurely.

We had fish and chip at one of the fish and chip restaurants near the beach. Someone said it was the most delicious fish and chip restaurant in Brighton. Taste is objective, some say good and some say no. For me, I love it, the fish is tender and crispy. I had cod, and my friend had the other fish, I forgot which one did her choose. I love cod and salmon, and I only order these two when I having fish.