WorldTravelReynolds

Local artists’ work on display

We were at Buckingham palace for our tour on Saturday and planned to go to the beach on Monday. After seeing the drop in temperatures, we decided the best day left of the next 7 days of our time here would be Sunday.

Boardwalk was very busy!

We were really exhausted from the day before but decided at least we could lounge around on the beach. We took the train, about a 45 minute drive and a 25 pound ($31 USD) round trip ticket for the two of us.

Kids playing and climbing. Another area, they were playing in water fountains

Pretty much any type of sport or event had a section on the boardwalk. No shortage of activities.

Probably the most we have paid for a train ticket here. The train was packed. We had to stand up until we arrived at the first stop, 30 minutes in.

Brighton Palace Pier close up. An amusement park was at the very end.

As we arrived in Brighton, the sun was glowing and inviting. Exactly what we needed. The beach was a straight (downhill) 1 mile walk from the train station and wow was it packed full of people. Guess the message got out that today was a beautiful day! As we walked to the ocean we could smell the salt air and hear the waves.

Sun worshipers

This is where we belong. We love the ocean! Chuck’s phone was giving him fits (again) so we had to find a phone store first to get that taken care of. Talked at length with a young guy that looked like a teenager but we found out his home is in Tokyo but he lives in England.

Loved watching this puppy fetch his ball. He would bring the ball back and if he didn’t drop the ball close enough to the owner, he would pick it back up and drop it closer. Fun!

He is originally from England and was most definitely British. We had a lot of enjoyment talking with him. We got that taken care of and back out to the beach we went.

The Rampion project, off Brighton beach, has 116 turbines and will power the equivalent of half the homes in Sussex. The cost to build was 1.3 billion pounds (GBP) and generates 400 (MW) Megawatts of electricity

The first thing we saw was this enormously tall post like structure and couldn’t figure it out. As we moved closer we found it was the British Airways i360 Needle.

Looking up from the ground, the i360 looked like a mirror

We decided to take a ride. The i360 is a 531 ft observation tower right on the beach. The same team that designed and built the Coca Cola London Eye, designed and built this one. Plans started in 2007 and opening was in 2016.

Due to the reflections inside the eye causing havoc on my photos, at least this shadow was pretty cool

Much of the tower itself was built in the Netherlands and brought over to Brighton. It was a beautiful view with one exception. The type of glass they used caused a reflection from the inside so taking photos was horrible so we did the best we could.

Inside the i360

I am sure that if the sun wasn’t out to cause the reflection it would be better or even a night ride would be beautiful. We loved the 20 minute ride and the view was spectacular.

Another view. Not very crowded.

Just don’t think you’ll get show quality photograph of any quality to take home. Maybe that was their plan so you can buy theirs. After walking around a bit, we settled into a couple of beach chairs for 3 GBP a day for each and relaxed and people watched. 

Apartments, homes, businesses as far as you can see.

We didn’t walk onto the Palace pier but was close enough to watch the roller coaster rides and the people. It was pretty crowded so we just observed from our beach chairs.

The beach was beautiful!

We noticed immediately that there was no sand on the beach. Instead there were pebbles. The pebbles are flint (a hard grey rock) deposited in the chalk cliffs adjacent to Brighton.

The Palace Pier. If you look to the far upper left, you’ll see the White Chalk Cliffs.

You can see the cliffs in one of the pictures from the observation deck. Through natural erosion the flints are released from the cliffs and slowly make their way through natural process to Brighton where the groynes (barriers or walls) are in place to “capture” the pebbles. 

All pebble beach

I thought it was odd that even down at the water level, the pebbles were out as far as you could see.

The Clock Tower was built in 1888 to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria.

Around 5 pm the temperature started to drop and the wind kicked up so we decided to move on.

Loved the whimsical color of the welcome sign. Very beachy!

In the middle of the square was a beautiful display of flags with the i360 in the backdrop

This time we had to trek back UP the 1 mile hill to the train station passing many young homeless adults, sleeping 2-3 men to a tent.

The womens room was closed for cleaning so all the women just piled in the mens room. To the left were the closed stalls and to the right were the urinals.  Crazy! I waited.

The tents were right on the sidewalk. Took away from the beauty of Brighton but I noticed they were not allowed on the beaches. Brighton is a beautiful beach with a lot happening. We would love to come back again some day.

Best way to end the day, with colorful, delightful macarons!

May God bless you all!

Chuck & Lea Ann