A Summery Day Trip from London: Brighton

On a no-party weekend while house-sitting in London in August, the thermometer hit 30 degrees and we decided we needed to find some sort of body of water. 30 minutes later, we were on the train at Clapham Junction, empanadas from Chango in hand and on our way to Brighton.

Just moments outside of the train station, we aimed ourselves towards the sea and walked. On the way, we discovered The Lanes, a wildly creative little shopping district...as well as the Royal Pavillion, a building which transported us in an instant to New Delhi.

We finally got to the beach and apparently all of heat-scorched Britain had the same ideas as us to come down to Brighton. White, sun-deprived bodies were scattered everywhere, covering every centimeter of rocky beach available. Fortunately, a little stroll down the way to lesser-known Hove revealed lesser-known beaches.

We strolled down the main boulevard back towards Brighton, and along the way, people watched and took in Brutalist architecture. We decided to go onto the pier.

Bad idea.

It was full to the brim of people and the wood felt like it was about to give in to our weight dropping us 50 meters into the sea below. We quickly got off of it deciding it was time for beer.

A quick accidental drag bar detour later, we made it back to the lanes to satiate our thirst with some IPAs and our hunger with some traditional Sunday roasts at cozy lil William the Fourth.

After dinner, we walked around the city to digest a bit. At every turn we were charmed in some way, by colorful houses, narrow allees, and sunsets.

We now understand why people choose to escape the hustle of London to come live here. While it still has the feeling of being a little neighborhood of London, it has a much more laid-back demeanor plus access to the sea at everyone's doorstep. If anyone lives in Brighton and needs us to watch their cats in the summertime, give Fabio and Ryan a call ;).