I caught the 9:07 train from Victoria Station to Brighton. An hour later, there I was at the coast.
I headed straight for the Royal Pavilion. Built in 1787 as a sea side retreat for George, Prince of Wales – who later became King George IV. As a young man he enjoyed cuisine, gaming, theater and fast living. Remote Brighton was the perfect spot for him to partake in his indiscretions, away from the Royal Court in London.
Wanting to appear conservative in his spending habits after the financial fiasco he faced in London, he rented a small farmhouse, which he later purchased and enlarged on a grandiose scale. Henry Holland was employed to enlarge the existing building. It was enlarged again in 1801. In 1803 Prince George purchased the surrounding property to build a grand stable for 60 horses. It took 5 years to build. The stable is now a concert hall. The King loved his horses, but in later years he grew so fat that he was embarrassed to be seen by his subjects, so he had a tunnel built from the Pavilion to the stables. The tunnel remains. The Pavilion was redesigned and extended again under designer John Nash between 1815 and 1822.
The Palace looks like an Indo-Islamic structure on the outside, where as the inside is Chinese and Indian design, albeit, a western view of China and India as the Prince had never actually visited either country. That being said, he spare no expense in decorating to impress his guests. Parliament was not happy with the expenditures. The chandelier in the main dining hall is 30 feet tall and weighs one ton. It has 150,000 crystals and is held in the jaws of a silver dragon.
The kitchen was state of the art, complete with mechanical spit turner driven by the upward draught from the kitchen fire. It also had a huge copper steaming table to keep dishes warm until served.
In 1820 Queen Victoria (the King's niece) inherited the Pavilion.
It was not suitable for her growing family. She also did not like that it was in the center of town with everyone watching her every move. As well, it was in a coastal town but did not have direct access to the sea. She sold it to the town of Brighton. Unsure if the town meant to keep it standing or demolish it, she had any movable object moved to Buckingham Palace. Unfortunately some items were destroyed, such as the 6000 gallon bath tub used by King George. When it became clear that the town meant to keep the Pavilion as a museum, the Queen returned many of the items (such as the massive chandelier) on loan.
During WWII, the Pavilion was used as a hospital. There are many photos and patients accounts of recovering in this lovely palace.
It really needs to be seen to be fully appreciated. Do get the audio guide and listen to all the extra tracks. The gardens and paths are worth the stroll, as well. Definitely a place I will return. Go slowly to fully grasp the opulence and decadence.
From the Pavilion I took a quick wander through the Lanes. This collection of narrow lanes is a maze of little curio shops, jewelry, apparel and numerous cafes. I whisked through, as I was heading for the beach.
The first thing that I noticed was the famous Brighton Pier. Originally built in the 1890's, it has always been a pleasure pier, with a concert hall being the first attraction. During a storm in 1973 a 70 ton barge moored to the pier caused extensive damage to the pier and theatre. The pier was repaired but the theatre has been replaced with amusement park rides and arcades. The center of the pier had tiny, tiny souvenir and fast food shops. Where there are no shops there is a windowed wall with benches on either side to rest or simply enjoy a snack or drink. This barricade down the center is very welcome, especially on a windy day. The view of the beach and promenade is quite nice from this vantage point.
The beach itself is over 8 km long and is made up of small stones and pebbles. He promenade facing the sea is full of cafes, souvenir shops, night clubs and amusement arcades. They are all tucked into little alcoves that seem to be little caves under the street above.
Brighton is the getaway spot for Londoners. The average number of visitors on a summer weekend is 150,000. One heatwave in 2011 had 200,000 visitors spending 5 million pounds - in ONE weekend. That's tourism!
I took a ride on the Brighton Wheel just for the view from 50 meters up. It was a treat to have an audio tour pointing out the landmarks and providing a brief history. The ride is 12-15 minutes long and guaranteed 3 revolutions. It was a nice relaxing experience.
There is a small Fisherman's Museum along the Promenade. It is small and free, but has a nice display of old fishing items. There were old pictures of Brighton Fish Market, dating back to 1867, long before it was a tourist destination.
I went back to the Lanes in search of a place to eat and found the Druids Head. A beautiful old pub dating back to 1510. I was a bit disappointed that the scampi was rally just fish sticks, but the beer was good.
Further in the Lanes I came across a chocolatier. Wow! It was hard to grasp that these works of are are all chocolate.
I went back to the beach area to get a picture of the pier lit up for the evening. Whereas an hour ago there were thousands of people wandering about, the wind and rain that developed had the beach looking eerily abandoned. I took my pictures and headed back to the train station. It had been a nice day out.
