On Tuesday, I went with a friend to the picturesque seaside town of Brighton, which is south of London. We arrived a little before the museums began opening, so we took a walk along the beach.
With dramatic skies and time to kill, I was able to play photographer for a little while. I got a few good pictures around the pier with my iPhone.
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| Brighton’s central square and fountain, looking towards the sea |
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| The Brighton Pier, which features a variety of carnival-style games and rides |
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| Looking toward the sea |
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| A view of the beach and pier |
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| The Brighton wheel and pier |
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| The War Memorial |
After walking around the town, we walked around the Royal Pavilion, a palace built by George IV while he was Prince of Wales. Later in the day, we returned to visit the interior of the palace, which was dazzlingly spectacular. While the exterior is in a Mugal-inspired architectural style, the interior is inspired by Chinese decorations, with some especially elaborate English flair. Unfortunately, pictures of the interior were not permitted, but the elaborateness and splendor of the decoration was jaw-dropping. Definitely worth the £9 admission.
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| The Pavilion from the front, showing the distinctively Mughal onion domes. The Taj Mahal, built in India during the Mughal period, uses domes of the same style. |
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| The rear of the palace, showing the main entryway and some of the other architectural features |
As we continued to walk around the town, I spent some more time playing iPhone photographer.
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| A narrow side street near the Royal Pavilion. The dome in the background is now a concert hall, but was originally the Royal stables. |
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| Lunch was a bratwurst on the pebble beach. The sky kept this dramatic sort lighting for most of the day. |
After lunch we went out to the pier and played some arcade games and took more photos.
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| View of the beach from the Brighton Pier |
In the evening, we went to a really cool pub called the King and Queen. It’s inside a remodeled farmhouse with basically all of English history on the walls. There’s a replica of part of the Bayeux Tapestry over there, a paining of Henry VIII over here, and a replica crossbow over on that wall. It was such a great place to have dinner and a pint that we missed our originally scheduled train and had to catch a later one (we had flexible tickets). If I’m ever back in Brighton, I’ll certainly be going back to that place.
