Anyway, this weekend has been all about exploring Brighton, the town closest to us. Sussex is a campus that's pretty much surrounded by countryside...except four miles away is the town of Brighton & Hove. Originally they were two towns very close together but then joined together and received a royal charter officially making them one city. So the correct name is Brighton & Hove, but most everyone just calls it Brighton. It's a cute little town with 2-lane traffic, lots of crazy pedestrians who must want to get hit by a bus and many, many shops, restaurants and pubs. Apparently it's always busy and bustling but still retains a small town feel--a stark contrast to LA, and a pleasant change.
Oh, and this post you get pictures! Yay! I apologize for some blurry pictures. Picture-taking while on a bus is an art I have not perfected.
So these pictures were taken today on our bus tour of Brighton and the area.
The countryside is gorgeous. It's just green rolling hills as far as you can see.
Small town nestled in the countryside. And look Chelsea, SHEEP!!
More rolling hills.
Back to yesterday...
Yesterday was an expedition into town. We went to Argos which may just be the strangest clashing of past and present shopping habits. You go into the store and look through a huge catalogue (anyone old enough to remember the good ol' Sears Roebuck days?) and punch the numbers into this mini computer near the catalogue, which will allow you to see if the item is in stock. In order to conserve space, Argos is just a small storefront and the stock is actually in a huge warehouse in back. So if your item is in stock, then you write down the number on a sheet of paper and the quantity you want. Then you pay for the item and wait for the employees to collect all your items (around 7ish minutes for me) and then go to the counter to get them. Personally I'd rather browse through shelves, but I guess this does facilitate faster shopping (not having to go through the aisles, not having to ring up each item individually, etc.) and eliminates the inconvenience of maneuvering with a shopping cart. At the very least it's quite an experience.
Next was a trip to get everyone a mobile who didn't already have one. Thanks to Chelsea (!), I got to avoid the hassle of trying to figure out which phone to get, which plan was best, etc. Kids were quite confused, but I was fortunate enough not to share in their confusion. Plus, no one seems to know about Skype. Everyone was concerned about calling rates to the US. You don't need to worry about all that! I don't even know who would be, say, in Brighton and think all of a sudden they want to have a 20-minute conversation with their parents. You're not going to call your parents unless you're in your room anyway, so don't worry about it!
After that I just kind of meandered around by myself. Shopping is very big in Brighton since it has such a variety and multitude of shops. When I got sick of walking on the main street with all the people, I just turned on a street and headed uphill into the residential area. The houses are the quintessential houses squashed together. One street even had the houses painted various shades of pastel colors! But up there was much quieter than down on the street, and it was nice to meander through the area. But I finally ventured back down to catch my bus back to campus.
That night we went back into town and looked for dinner places. My group decided on Chinese...which turned out to be just ok. Apparently what we call orange chicken is sweet and sour chicken over there...but it still doesn't taste as good. I wasn't too impressed, but with all the restaurants around the area, I'm bound to find something I like.
Afterwards we all gathered at a pub. The bartenders found out we were American (not that hard, what with the accent and all) and then proceeded to play American songs. At least, we assume (and hope) that's the reason behind playing such songs as "Born in the USA." The group of girls I sat with played a question game, in which you ask a question and then go around the table with everyone answering. I'm proud to say my Mexico traveling horror story won for the "Worst Travel Experience" question. Then came the interesting part of the evening. One of the girls was to meet up with some girl for her birthday at another pub, which she had the address for but didn't have any directions. So she asked one of the bartenders. Let it be known British people cannot give directions. When I give directions, I say left on so-and-so street, etc. Oh no. Their directions are, "You'll come out of the bar and go left, then right. Then you'll go this way (make an arch curving left with your hand) for awhile, then you'll hit a church, then you'll want to go left, and it's on the other side of that." Yeah. Quite accurate, yes? Well, we got lost along the way, so then we stopped and asked someone else for directions. Same. Directions. Curving motion and everything. I don't know how difficult it is to give directions, but they're not very good at it. It might also have something to do with the streets not being clearly labeled (some have signs posted on the buildings, but most have no signs at all), but that's the only excuse I can think of. After awhile we gave up and just went back to campus. Interesting night.
This morning was a sleep-in-until-12:30 morning. Quite pleasant. The afternoon was the bus tour through Brighton. Pictures and explanations below...
This is a little coffee shop in Rottingdean, a small township-type place. The building dates back to the 1600s.
Roedean is one of the top all-girls schools in the country. It's a boarding school and it's huge. I don't think I got it all in the frame. Oh, and yeah. The only thing separating it from the sea is the lawn area in the picture and the road we're driving on. It sits on a cliff overlooking the sea!
Choppy waves.
This is the Brighton Marina (part of it). Brighton built land on the sea to accommodate shopping and hotels, as well as providing shielded docks for over 1,000 boats. We're coming from the east of Brighton, so this shows the cliff the east portion sits on (the cliff face is tan). We're still a bit above the base of the marina, so you might not be able to tell, but the cliff is quite large. And it's slightly eroding, so the town is doing its best to slow it down because the road you're driving on is already dangerously close to the edge and can't be pushed back much more. The store in the picture: ASDA. Owned by Wal-Mart. Enough said.
Posh houses facing the ocean.
More posh houses. These actually all face a garden (obscured by bushes) in a half-circle that opens up to the ocean. These buildings are on the left side of that half-circle.
Again, more houses.
Brighton Pier! Think Santa Monica. I have yet to go, but it has shops, restaurants, performers and rides! It's crazy big too, bigger than Santa Monica.
Queens Hotel is apparently where Charles Dickens stayed and wrote Oliver Twist. At least, if I'm remembering the tour correctly. :)
The Grand Hotel. Apparently the place to stay if you're in Brighton. Margaret Thatcher was almost assassinated here when the IRA placed a bomb there while she was staying at the hotel.
OK, more of the posh houses. Again, facing the ocean. Key thing to note: Notice the interesting yellow color of the buildings? Not the setting sun. The buildings are actually painted that color and have to be repainted every 5 years in that exact shade. Some city law about preserving the Victorian-era houses.
OK, so here you can see the houses ringing a courtyard. Before, only the rich would be allowed in the gardens. Now, however, we're a bit more progressive and the courtyards are open to the public.
Looking at the houses going the opposite direction on a parallel street. Ocean on the far right. So the houses line a corridor going down to the ocean, then line the street that runs parallel to the ocean. And again, lovely green space and little garden areas.
Green space in the middle of Brighton! Everyone's out with their bikes and animals and families. It must be because the weather warmed up a bit to in the 40s!
Protest going on outside of the Royal Pavilion. The protesters are waving flags from the Gaza Strip and the banner those people are standing in front of says "Arms Dealers out of Brighton." Apparently similar protests have been going on throughout the country in response to the recent activity in the Gaza Strip.
The last bit of the afternoon was spent at the Royal Pavilion. Unfortunately I don't have pictures of the outside (because it was cold and we had to hurry inside) nor the inside (because they don't allow photography. Pictures will be forthcoming of the outside at some point in time.
Anyway, the Royal Pavilion. Prince George (future King George IV) fell in love with Brighton and built his own home there...the Royal Pavilion. Apparently he was quite eccentric and very fascinated with the Orient and its style. So you have this massive Oriental-inspired building in the middle of Brighton. It's quite interesting. The inside is gorgeously over the top and gaudily Oriental in its decor and design. He was clearly a lavish monarch. Inside they had a little tea room where we stopped and got cream tea. Yumm! Cream tea is normal tea served with a scone and jam and clotted cream. Break a piece of the scone off, spread jam and clotted cream on it. Quite delicious.
Anyway, that's all I have. Tomorrow classes start! Monday class at 9 am. Who thinks of these cruel schedules?!
Side note: The informational booklet Sussex gave us has an amazing student on the front. I love his shirt.
Transformers!
