A Walk Around Brighton and Eastbourne

Last weekend found me again at the coast. It had been a glorious week and continued on through the weekend.

The last time I was in Brighton the children were small. Their father and I took them down to the Pier and spent the afternoon along the promenade. That is as much as we saw of Brighton, and probably as much as we could cope with at that time with small children in tow.

This time was completely different. My guide grew up in Brighton and I received a running commentary on the area along with some amusing anecdotes. Unfortunately, my camera decided to go on strike on Saturday. Initially it was quite a bummer, but me ever the optimist and it being a glorious day, I decided that fate just wanted me to relax and enjoy being in the moment. Brighton will still be there and I can come back another time.

As I didn’t have an opportunity to take photographs, I will refrain from commenting on the architecture, of which there is a wide variety of styles and colours. I will say that I did find it all interesting.

We wandered around through the famous Lanes to look at the many unusual shops, restaurants, cafes and tattoo parlours. We eventually made our way through the crowds to walk along the seafront. As it was a very sunny day, there were many people out with their children sitting on the beach and enjoying the sunshine.

My guide took me to a lovely seafood restaurant that looked out toward the promenade and the sea and had a late lunch. The place was packed, which is always a good sign. It was wonderful to eat, drink, have lovely conversation and watch the world go by.

As with all good things, lunch came to an end and we wandered back to the car via a different route, this time through the main shopping precinct. Brighton is a very busy, bustling town and seems to have all the main high street shops as anywhere else, as well as a few cultural amenities. As and when I visit Brighton in the future, I will let you know what is going on. I was quite interested in visiting Brighton for the fact that they do have Argentine Tango there!

I have been spending the last few weekends in Eastbourne. Compared to Brighton, Eastbourne has a quiet, genteel charm. The town is relatively small in comparison, is very clean, slightly shabby with Victorian architecture mixed in with some of a more contemporary design. The seafront is extremely well maintained with some very beautiful buildings on the main coast road. The beach has a blue flag. You can walk along the lovely seafront all the way towards Beachy Head. I haven’t been that adventurous yet. There is plenty of time for that.

After having had a wonderful champagne brunch to celebrate Mother’s Day, we went for a walk down to the seafront and to do a little exploring. We also managed to get my camera working! I was really pleased as this was the first time I was able to take photos of Eastbourne and the weather continued to be gloriously sunny.

We didn’t really go very far beyond the seafront. It was so beautiful and the tide had gone out a bit. We wandered onto the beach and I took some photos. I just loved the way the water made patterns in the sand.

Before we headed back home, and as a special treat, we went to Favo’Loso for some fantastic ice cream and coffee. This place is a combination of a cafeteria, ice cream parlour and diner. It was packed full of families out with the kids. Some people might find that quite daunting, but I found it rather nice. My children may be grown up now, and although I prefer to have my evening meals child free, I still find it pleasant to see families out together as long as the children are relatively well behaved.

I found an article from The Independent about Eastbourne that you can read here, and which will give you a flavour of this lovely seaside town.

You can also learn more here and here.

If you would like to see some more photos, here is the link to my web album or you can view the slideshow on my sidebar.