Whilst on a trip to Peru in 2009 I met up with Mark, Carole, Lisa and Marilyn and we became firm friends. Four of us were from the UK and lived within visiting distance. Our fifth friend was from Canada so not so easy to visit. We made promises that we would all keep in touch and perhaps meet up in other parts of the world Whilst those of us in the UK have met up on numerous occasions and have had weekend trips to Europe, only four of us were in China together in 2010 and a different group of four in Costa Rica in 2011. So it wasn't until 2013 all five of us managed to meet up in Berlin. A great reunion. Last night four of us were together again reliving our past escapades. Today three of us went to Brighton for a day at the sea side.
We walked along the pier. The pier was opened in 1899 at a cost of £27,000. A huge sum of money at that time.
This was the West pier which closed in 1975 but was subsequently destroyed by fires and storms and the remaining iron structure partly demolished in 2010.
The pier funfair was empty and looked very forlorn and sad.
Looking further along the coast you can see Brighton's latest attraction the i360. It claims to be the world's first vertical cable car and takes you up to 450ft giving great views across Sussex, although half of that would be out to sea!
The pod, which can accommodate 200 people looking out from the windows at the same time, rotates slowly giving you a 360 deg view. The cost is £15 but we decided not to bother. Instead we wandered back into the town for a pub lunch
Afterwards we visited the Brighton Pavilion. Although I have seen it many times I have never been inside. I assumed there wasn't much to see. No cameras allowed, unfortunately, but what a gem. An absolute wonder and delight of Georgian extravagance. It was built as a Royal residence for George, Prince of Wales who later became George IV. It was built in three stages starting in 1787. The domes and minarets were added by the architect John Nash in 1815.
Queen Victoria disliked Brighton and was persuaded to sell the Pavilion to the town who used it as assembly rooms. The fixtures and fittings had been removed and relocated to Buckingham Palace and Windsor but in the late 1860s Queen Victoria returned large quantities of unused fixtures and fittings. George V and Queen Mary returned many more after the first World War.
Since the end of WW2 Brighton council has spent time and money restoring the Pavilion to its state at the time of King George IV. In the 1950s Queen Elizabeth II gave over 100 items of furniture on permanent loan to the Pavilion.
This is the Banqueting room taken from John Nash's
Views of the Royal Pavilion 1826
Our final outing of this holiday was to have a delicious cream tea on the balcony of the Royal Pavilion overlooking the gardens. That night we needed to be at a hotel near Gatwick so I could get M to the airport early the next morning. We had had a great time, with lots of laughs along the way and we are looking forward to our next holiday together wherever or whenever that might be.
We love Brighton - our daughter attended Sussux University so we've been a few times. I wouldn't want to be in that pod with 200 other people even if they paid me!
ReplyDeleteit's cool, reconnecting
ReplyDeleteHow fun to get together with your friends on vacation! What an interesting place.
ReplyDeleteI would have loved going up in that thingy. Or did it have a glass floor? In that case I am less inclined. The cream tea sounds delicious. I can just picture it in my head: freshly baked scones with clotted cream and jam, cucumber sandwiches, little cakes, nice hot tea. Ok, I have to stop now, I am drooling!
ReplyDeleteHow nice to have a traveling group to explore the world. Where are you off to next?
ReplyDeleteSo nice to share this travels with friends. Brighton is a lovely place and cream tea ....what a delicious treat.
ReplyDeleteIt is nice to make such like minded friends. Piers with carnival amusements always seem sad and neglected places to me. We watched something similar to i360 in Singapore in 2008, perhaps not as large. The Pavilion looks whimsical.
ReplyDeleteI hope this finds you and yours doing well. May we display your header on our new site directory? As it is now, the site title (linked back to its home page) is listed, and we think displaying the header will attract more attention. In any event, we hope you will come by and see what is going on at SiteHoundSniffs.com.
ReplyDeleteThat must have been fun to catch up with travel buddies. It looks like Brighten still can attract the visitors.
ReplyDeleteSo cool that you made such good friends traveling and even better that you have been able to continue to meet in such great places. I am surprised that any of that iron pier is still standing.
ReplyDeleteA really interesting place but what a pity the fun-fare was empty. It's great to keep in touch with travel buddies because you share so many memories - cream tea on the balcony sounds like my idea for ending a fabulous day out!
ReplyDeleteAlways nice to be able to meet friend with whom we lived great adventures!
ReplyDeleteAt first I thought I was looking at the one tall structure in Seattle. Yes, we need to remember our veterans who died for us.
ReplyDeleteI have never been to Brighton, so I really enjoyed this post. That Pavillion is really something, and nice to be reunited with your friends.
ReplyDeleteFor some reason, the only way I can comment on your blog today is to leave my comment as a reply to someone elses. Oh, well, it works.
DeleteHow fun to meet and share another adventure. Ive always meant to go back to Brighton as I was there in the 80s on a very cloudy, gloomy, and cold day in late November.
You certainly have had a friend-filled busy autumn!