Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Epic Day!

When I made plans with Hilary to visit Brighton, I had no idea what I was in for. I imagined that it would be another trip where I would visit a historic site and see another part of England, have a good time, and come home satisfied at getting out and about. While all of the above is true, the trip turned out to be one of the best I've had during my stay in London.


The outside reflects the huge Asian/Eastern influence on the design of this palace. But even this is subdued to what's inside. Every room is decorated with dragons and other fantastical creatures; railings are made of wood carved to look like bamboo, giving a decidedly tropical feel to the place. Sadly, photographs are forbidden inside the pavilion, so I have to make do with images I've found on the internet, none of which do justice to the Pavilion when seen in person.

This is the Long Gallery, which features many Chinese statues and paintings.


A painting of the banqueting hall from the Royal Pavilion website (click to enlarge). The centerpiece is the amazing Dragon Chandelier hanging from the ceiling. A large green dragon (see below) holds the chandelier in its claws; the chandelier in turn has multiple dragons holding lotus flower shaped lanterns in their mouths.


This is the kitchen, where you can see the palm tree decorations:



After the Pavilion, we headed to the beach, which at first glance looked quite similar to the ones at home:

Until you got closer that is....they apparently don't have sand in Brighton!




When what to my wondering eyes should appear, then the glorious site of Brighton Pier!


The weather, FYI, went back and forth between sunny and cloudy all day, so it wasn't as dismal as it may appear in some of these photos.

The pier was the absolute epitome of a seaside boardwalk. Although not everything was open (it was a Monday afternoon, after all), I could just imagine what it must look like in the summer. Several stalls selling everything from hot dogs to Belgium Waffles were spaced out along the walkway; a giant arcade is housed behind me in the picture above; your typical carnival games are below:



And then there were the rides! Sadly, the big coaster was not open, as there weren't enough people on the pier, but we found plenty else to do. We started on Booster. The beam seen in the photo below rotates, sending the cars at either end of the pole out over the ocean as the beam spins faster and faster. Oh, and did I mention the cars spin too?


Then we went on the smaller, "wild mouse" style coaster, where the cars actually spin on different sections of the track.

Afterwards, it was time for a cheesy, yet effective, ride through the Horror Hotel.


Then it was time for Galaxia. Think of it as the Dumbo ride from Disneyland where you don't have control of when you go up and down. Add in a soundtrack that changes with each different phase of bounciness, and you've got a pretty fun time.



Before we headed back to the train, we stopped for hot dogs from the "American style" Burger Bar.

But the fun didn't stop when we got to London! That night Hilary, Vanessa, Emily and I went to see Les Mis:



The show is still amazing after all these years. We were higher up then I would have liked, but we got to make use of a handy feature found in most balconies in London theatres. In the back of the seats are are cheap binoculars. Deposit 50 pence and it's yours for the show.

Well, I'm off with friends to go take advantage of Free Cone Day at Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream. While I go enjoy that, you have fun with my album.

Later all!

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