The past few weeks in London have been pretty fantastic. I've caught up with a lot of friends, been to some amazing places and done lots of walking around Central London. Its been great to catch up with people, some of whom I haven't seen in years. (Including Quientin who I met in hosptial and haven't seen for four years!)
I've been living at Georgia's house in Willesden Green which is only about 15mins out of Central London by tube. (Or two hours out if the Jubilee Line is down - which seems to be every weekend!)
I've been feeling very at home in London - there's plenty to do and see and I have a lot of mates here at the moment. But I suppose the down side of feeling at home is that I've been getting very bored. I feel as if I should be working or doing something more substantial that just being a tourist. It’s hard to know what to do during the week when I have what feels like TOO MUCH spare time on my hands.
I miss the every day challenges of traveling in Asia. (Despite the excitement of my attempted mugging a few weeks ago.)
Although I do have my trip to Ireland on the 4th to look forward to – I’ll be staying with my friend Heather in Dublin. I can’t wait. :)
I had a great time this weekend in Brighton with an old friend from Sydney, Bryan. We hadn't seen each other in over two years, so it was so fantastic to catch up. I got the train down from London and Bryan got the train across from Portsmouth where he’s been living for the past five months.
We met at the station and after grabbing a quick pint we went to check into our guesthouse. Apart from a review that said the pillows smelt of bacon, the guesthouse we stayed in has quite a good reputation and is quite cheap. We checked in, smelt the pillows (they were fine), got changed and then went out on the town.
The night life in Brighton is bustling and there is something for everyone - clubs, pubs and of course a thriving gay scene. We started off the night with a few pints in several quiet, quirky pubs. We walked around the city for most of the evening stopping for a pint where ever looked good. It was a great night although I’m sure Bryan and I probably had one too many pints. We cetainly felt it in the morning!
The next day we woke up fairly early and after a lovely breakfast by the waterfront, we walked along the beach and along the famous Brighton Pier. We got ice cream, went on the dodgems and just soaked up the sun shine. We were so lucky with the weather - I haven't seen such a beautiful day the entire time I've been in England! The sun was out, the sky was blue and it was warm. Perfect.
After a lovely lunch in a quaint little pub on one of the cobble stone shopping streets in the middle of town, we went to the Art Museum, The Brighton Pavilion and looked in some of the cool kitch retro style shops that Brighton has become famous for. It was a very relaxing, carefree afternoon and I really enjoyed it. Brighton is such a funky little city and seeing it with Bryan made it all the more special.
In the evening we went along to a cabaret showcase at a pub called The Little Marlborough. We watched a few bands but after a while I started getting a head ache and went back to the hotel, leaving Bryan at the pub.
On Sunday we wandered around the city once again and checked out more shops as well as some amazing street art (including a Banksy oringial!) Such a fun weekend - I was sad to leave but I'm sure I'll go back to Brighton some day.
