A couple weeks ago there was a school trip down to Brighton, but I didn't sign up for it. Afterwards, everyone told me how awesome it was so I decided to go on my own :) Last minute, my friend from Sweden who is going to school at AIU, Elin, decided to come with! It was soooo much fun. In fact, it was one of the best days I've had here.
The first thing we did when we arrived was tour the Royal Pavilion. This place was
amazing. It was built by the Prince of Wales, who later became King George IV. It's design is very oriental - I kept forgetting I was in England, not touring some palace in China or India.
Usually I get bored with audio guides, but the audio guide for this place kept my attention for most of the tour. Of course, there was no photography inside :( Which is a big shame, because it was SO gorgeous. My favorite room was the Banqueting Room. It was designed to make you stop and stare in awe and amazement - which it did. I stole a picture off the Internet to give you a good glimpse.
I fell absolutely in love with the main chandelier in the Banqueting Room. You can't see it in the picture, but at the top there is a really cool dragon sculpture that is holding the chandelier in its claws. Below there are six more dragons holding lotus-style shades in their mouths, giving the illusion of dragon's breathing fire. The chandelier is 30 feet long and weighs a ton. I think I stared at it for a solid 15 minutes.
After our tour of the Royal Pavilion we headed to a local pub for some grub! We both got the traditional British meal of Fish and Chips. What we (Americans) call fries, they (British) call chips. What we call chips, they call crisps.
After lunch we headed to the beach :) Brighton is located on the south coast of England and is a popular seaside resort town. Even though we went in the middle of November (not ideal beach weather) it was still more than worth a visit.
Just a couple of different angled shots.
Elin is really into photography too, which made it extra awesome having her with. We spent a lot of time photo-adventuring around the beach - SO MUCH FUN!
Our attempt at getting a picture of us together :) We set the camera on countdown timer a lot that day.
Lately I've been adding quotes into my pictures to give them a little more edge and meaning. Something fun and new.
Here you can see the pier (you'll see more as you keep reading/looking). It reminded me of something you would see in California. There were arcades, amusement park rides, food vendors, and a couple of restaurants/bars on it.
Right when we got down to the beach, I went really close to the waters' edge to get some sweet pictures.... and of course the tide came up and drenched my feet. I was wet. The whole day.
Oh, and it was lightly raining almost the whole afternoon. So we were wet and cold ALL DAY. But that's okay, the rain somehow made it more fun :)
You can see some water spots on my lens :/
The rain ended and we got a rainbow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And the sun came back out.
After we explored the pier, we walked along the sea front. We decided to go into a pub (we were still wet and cold) to warm up, enjoy a few drinks, and watch the sun set.
However, there were a lot of clouds, so needless to say it was a crappy sunset.
And then they set candles on all of the tables to make it "romantic." Haha.
The next few pictures are some long-exposure nighttime photos I took of the beach, pier, and streets. Once again, I failed to realize the water spots on my lens :(
On our way back to the train station we walked by the Royal Pavilion again. It was so pretty at night! They had an ice rink set up out front.
A friend told me I HAD to go to this cafe called Bill's and get some dessert. So Elin and I ended our fun day in Brighton with some delicious cheesecake :) Yuuuum.
The perfect ending to the best day.
-Tried catching the Hogwarts Express at Platform 9 3/4 at King's Cross.... fail.
-Went to Harrod's (HUGE department in London) and gawked at its enormous selection of fresh seafood from all over the world.
-Ate at Wagamama with my friend Kelsey (right) and her sister Jessica (left) who was visiting town.
-Did some shopping along Oxford Street and wished everyone back home a Happy Thanksgiving :)
-Had our own version of a Thanksgiving meal with some friends: chicken, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, squash, salmon cream cheese appetizers, and ice cream. Hahaha, not quite traditional, but it worked.
-Went to Borough Market, a huge food market in London, and shucked some oysters. Yum.
-Had a small photoshoot around Hyde Park!
Thanks for visiting Andrew :)
