Brighton

Last weekend we had friends visiting from Belfast and after our intended plans went askew we decided to head to Brighton for an overnight stay. We were supposed to go to to the Jabberwocky music festival to see some cool bands but the festival was cancelled at the last minute (stupid ATP!!!!).

We headed to West Sussex on Sunday after a late-night at Vinopolis in London. So slightly hungover I drove the two-hours and we got in at 2pm. We followed our fearless leader Matt who was very adept at getting us around the town.

We stopped for lunch at the Green Chair and I had a yummy veggie burger with halloumi and pesto. MMM. Then we wandered the Laines and found some amazing shops (I could have bought everything in Edited and Zoing Image).

I was really surprised by Brighton. I expected it to be a quaint, posh seaside town like Aldeburgh or Southwold, but it was very run-down in parts and had a large homeless population. I liked that it was a bit grittier than Aldeburgh and I fell in love with all the veggie/vegan restaurants and food stores. There is even a vegetarian shoe store!

Brighton also has a large gay community and we wandered into a block of flats and shops lined with rainbow flags. We stopped down this road at The Black Dove for an afternoon cocktail (I had the Paloma). The decor was so dark and eclectic but I felt it would have been more at home in Tennessee. It just had that Appalachian feel. The downstairs had a room (which was really creepy when I was the only one in there) where I imagined a Nina Simone-esque singer croning through the thick cigarette smoke.

We then made our way to the sea where Matt decided to take off his shoes to dip his feet in the water and then preceded to get soaked by a large wave. Up on the pier Matt spent a large amount of 10p coins trying to win Minions (all the call machines seemed to have the Despicable Me characters). I tried once then gave up in frustration. Instead I opted to spend £3 for 5 minutes on a trampoline. Two minutes in I was exhausted- seriously it was hard work. I could spend hours jumping when I was a kid.

After another round of cocktails at Laines Brewery we headed to The Blue Man for North African Tapas and a lot of wine. The food was pretty good. I had most of the veggie tapas to myself and I think their tortilla was the best I've ever had. The hummus however was a bit bland. After my husband was hit on by the barman (he wanted him to move to Brighton!) we left after a few hours.

We stayed at the Best Western on the main seaside road. It was acceptable but by no means nice. My prerequisite was my own bathroom and a bed so I can't really complain. It was cheap. We left the next morning after a very hungover breakfast of toast.

I would definitely go back to Brighton. I'd like more time to explore- especially the shops and the restaurants. Maybe next time someone will hit on me!