brighton is a must-see city. especially off season, with its feeling of almost-abandonment & calm. i find comfort in the eeriness of super-populated places when they are empty, in cold weather ghost towns. the long working pier is sensational, with historical postcards (at one time brighton was the number one postcard picture in england), coin-operated binoculars with commentary, & divine fish n' chips. at the tip of the pier is a small amusement park where we laughed & hollered more than we have in weeks. due to inclement weather the rides required a certain number of people (we assume for balance), making it hard not to imagine the wind whipping us right off those metal tracks & out into icy waters. mostly this was a fun-scary sensation. one of the most intriguing parts for me was the collapsing west pier, off about a half a mile from the current one, which was the original attraction in the early 1900s. restoration efforts were abandoned a few years ago when, post-fire, the concert hall washed out into the ocean. what is left behind in the skeletoned arches is the idea of the place--one of the most rib-stitching-beautiful things i've seen in my life (definitely a topic for an upcoming piece). we ended our day at a killer vegetarian pub called the george & trained home with pocketfulls of shells & chalk-rocks shaped like strange bones. all in all, a rather romantic & rejuvenating day.
"chalk-rocks shaped like strange bones"
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those photos are a breath of fresh air. is brighton a daytrip for you, or quite a distance away? (my knowledge of english geography is shamefully poor, despite having been to london and the lake district)
brighton is only an hour via fast-train from london bridge. and despite living here for six months, i am woefully unaware of distances from place to place on this island. we're thinking of traveling out to the lake district soon, do you have any advice? must-see things? ideas of good places to stay?
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