Brighton, UK

After spending a lovely solo day in London, I decided to head south to the coast to visit one of my friends from UCLA and see what a British beach town looks like. Kind of like the Santa Monica Pier of the UK, Brighton was nice and sunny with lots of beach goers and cute beach shops. I actually ended up getting a little sunburnt on my nose! Not what I was expecting from anywhere in Great Britain! We walked down the pier and ate fish and chips while people watching and strolled down the beach lane to see the people sunbathing on the pebble beach (no sand in sight, I realized how lucky we are to have soft sand on our beaches on the West Coast). It was a bright and sunny last day spent in the UK before heading off to Germany for about 2 weeks! 

This was at the end of the Brighton pier. Apparently, there used to be two piers in Brighton, but one mysteriously burnt down years ago and there is a legend that it was foul play by the competing pier who didn't want competition. Today, the burnt remains of the burnt-down second pier remain. 

These are found throughout the UK (including Scotland, according to my friend) to mark the bike trails across the nation. 

This almost looks like a California beach... until you realize that the ground is pebbles and not sand. 

This is the Royal Pavilion in Brighton, once owned by British royalty as an ocean escape. It had Asian architecture, making me think it was inspired by the period of colonization when the British were traveling the world, "discovering" non-Western cultures, including their colonization of India as these buildings appear to be inspired from. 

Cute beach hotel! I thought the stained glass roof looked like a mermaid tail! 

So many colorful beach chairs that you could rent to relax in! In California, I would think this is unnecessary because the sand is so soft, but in Brighton, the pebble beaches make you want to sit in a chair! 

Fun fact: Margaret Thatcher stayed at this hotel! haha. 

These colorful beach huts are what I was most excited to see in Brighton. They are about the size of a shed with colorful doors and people can rent them out for the season (for an expensive rate!) and they decorate the interiors and make them look like little homes with refrigerators, drinks, and decorations. 

the pebble beach

There were lots of sail boats out in the water because of the nice weather that day! 

Retro telephones in a shop in Brighton found as we were window-shopping. I want one some day!

Colorful knick knack shop in Brighton with cute little trinkets. 

I loved all the houses in this sea town that were painted in very pastel colors, all within a few blocks of the Atlantic Ocean! Funny to think that the water that touches the Atlantic also touches the East Coast of the United States.