Visiting Brighton In The Rain

 

 

It's not often I visit somewhere soggy and grey with the wind howling up my skirt and don't feel like running to the nearest café and bolting the door, but Brighton is different it has this strange effect, of making you feel like you are on the set of some magic show, which leaves you feeling curiouser and curiouser . Everywhere I looked smiling visitors and locals, coated in thin plastic macs were skidding around the shiny boards of Brighton Pier. Dodging in and out of amusement arcades and sitting on the shingle beach eating pale fat chips doused in vinegar,

 

 waiting to be blasted by the sound of another wave crashing onto the beach. After the frustration of trying to capture a giant one-eyed furry yellow minion with a useless/rigged metal claw, it felt like the right time for a game of mega air hockey, my winning streak back,
 Christmas shopping was next on my list. I found some leopard print soaps in Heals, a whoopee cushion in a sweet brown vintage box (there are little people in my life) pop art, cartoon ceramic cups, with phrases like Zap and Pow in pink and purple and some Choccywoccydoodah activity books.

 

 

 

 

 

 I wanted a giant felt robin and a stripy Christmas mitten, but decided to calm my Christmas shopping fever by experiencing the Zen of Brighton's eastern inspired pavilion. You're not allowed to take photographs inside, but I managed to snap it's fairy tale peaks peeping out of some trees. Whatever you do, if you ever go to Brighton, visit Brighton Royal 

Pavilion!

 

 

 

 Some people get goose bumps listening to music. I get goose bumps about unusual buildings and clothing and this place gave me a lot! It was a real Charlie and the Chocolate factory moment when I stepped into the entrance, the first things I noticed were giant chandeliers suspended by huge carved dragons, blindingly bright emerald green and yellow walls. Bamboo everywhere, including the banisters that ran up the side of the grand staircase, nodding Chinese figures and ornate hand knotted pink and gold silk rugs, but what I love most about it, none of this was taken from a real idea of the East. The Palace was never intended to last, it was created for the Prince Regent to inspire playfulness, based on the designer's brief to recreate the east and fun loving Brighton sprung up around it. If your lucky and it's not too busy you can have high tea upstairs, check out the tea pot! If you fancy freezing your bum off and sampling the delights of the Pav you can find out more here.