Great Britain, part 1

Perhaps it was a good thing to have our return from the UK coinside with the daylight savings time change... or, maybe not. This morning both kids were in bed with me at 6 am. Ugh. Time for the tea I bought in London...

Other than too much time spent in the air, and the huge time change, we enjoyed our trip. Other than one very rainy and windy day the weather was beautiful. Great Britain was having a heat wave - temps in the 70's with lovely sunshine most of the time. Just the type of weather you hope for if you plan on being outside walking around all day.

We arrived Sunday morning, and got to Brighton before our room was ready. The concierge was happy to keep our luggage for us, so we went for a walk on the beach. Surprisingly, the beach had no sand - it was all pebbles and shells. At one point there were two piers in Brighton, but there was a fire a few years ago, and the shell of that pier sits crumbling and rusting in the water. It must have been lovely before the fire! The other pier is still intact, and houses an amusement park. At night it is all lit up and looks very nice. Finally, though, we stumbled along the boardwalk, crossed the street and checked into the hotel, where we showered and collapsed into bed. (We didn't sleep on the overnight plane trip!)

In Brighton we stayed at the DeVere Grand Hotel, a very luxurious hotel. It was beautiful! On Monday we awoke to the strong winds and the prediction of rain, and it did rain! I had gone out for a walk in the morning and came back soaked, despite having an umbrella. Thankfully I had planned on staying in for the afternoon - to experience a real afternoon tea. The Victoria Lounge, just off the hotel lobby, serves a traditional tea. After settling myself into a comfy upholstered chair at a corner table I ordered blackcurrant tea (one of my favorite herbal teas) and relaxed. The tea was lovely, and was accompanied by a selection of finger sandwiches (egg salad, tuna, cucumber, tomato, or smoked salmon), scones with clotted cream and strawberry jam, and a few desserts (chocolate cake, sponge cake, and a fruit and cream tart). Oh, I love clotted cream! Yum!
On Tuesday we took off over the lunch hour to visit the Royal Pavilion. This was the palace built by King George IV, and was finished in the early 1800's. The far east was popular at this time, and it is reflected in the architecture and interior design of this building. (They have a set of Chinese Court Officials, made of unfired clay, that are the earliest "bobbleheads" I have ever seen!) It is lavish, as you would expect a palace to be. Many people must have been totally overwhelmed by the decor - it was rich, lush and golden. Even the kitchen had decor elements - four large iron posts made to look like giant palm trees held up the center ceiling.
While in Brighton we also took the time to walk through "the Laines", a shopping district. These are very european style streets - narrow and winding. Most of the stores (and restaurants) were much too expensive to even think of going into, but some parts offered more affordable items. We, of course, stopped in the two used bookstores we found. While Jim didn't actually buy any books (can you believe it???), I did find one on Mary, Queen of Scots that I wanted. To top it all off we ate dinner at Burger King. I know... we can eat that here in the USA. It was funny, though, to see the "American" decor.