Roemin abit

Jumped on 700 coastliner and got off at Worthing to begin the day. We had a wander down the old pier follow by coffee at M&S. Then back to Brighton where we changed bus and went in the other direction to Rottingdean. This is an old seaside village where there is gap in the White cliffs. Rudyard Kipling lived here for many years and there is a nice Kipling garden to walk around. There isn't any beach to speak of but we had a coffee and a snack by the sea before bussing it back. Very efficient public transport with 10 mins service to almost anywhere. More crowds of foreign youngsters on English lessons.

We spent the morning in the Royal Pavilion, jostling with several tour groups and admiring the decadent oriental opulence of George IV summer palace. Despite the Indian and Chinese architecture ordered by the king, he apparently did not travel to either. (But then again I like curry and thai food but never been there either!). Parts of the building have been ravaged by fire and were damaged in the mini  hurricane that hit the south coast in the 1980's, but are now well restored. There was a hat exhibition taking place too so the banqueting room and kitchen were adorned with outrageous designer/fashion hats by Benjamin Jones to add to the experience. It was very different to the usual NT historical buildings that we visit. We walked over to the LGBT area of Brighton (Kemptown) to do some different site seeing but were rather disappointed. We had a nice light lunch of scallops, calamari and clam chowder at the Riddle and Finn champagne and oyster bar on the beach near the hotel. Its...

The breakfast in the hotel was excellent and included with the Groupon deal. I downloaded a 2 for 1 voucher to go for a flight on the British Airways i360 this morning. It's a glass pod that goes 485ft up a vertical column and gives spectacular views over Brighton and Hove, then further along the coast from Beachy Head in the east to Worthing in the west. It was another sunny day so a perfect time to go. We shared a gin and tonic from the bar in the pod. On the way back we stopped at the old smoke house for sea bass and mackerel roll before having an afternoon doze. It's nice having a sea view but the promenade is noisy with traffic until very late. Walked to the end of the pier later as the sun was setting and then to English's Seafood restaurant for the Moules Mayhem night which included a large pot of moules, a glass of wine and a pudding all for £20.

We are on a Groupon spring break to Brighton today, travelling by train and staying at the Old Ship Hotel on the promenade. We had to change platforms in St. Pancras and picked up Marks all time favourite sandwich, Montagne from Paul's sandwich bar. The Brighton train stopped on Blackfriars bridge for some reason, there is nice view of Thames from the platform, so we were a bit late arriving. We walked down to the hotel, 15 mins dragging the case, but it was a nice sunny day. We have a room with sea view on the 3rd floor just 5 mins walk from the pier. We had a prawn butty from the beach shack in front of the hotel, an ice cream on the pier and a short walk around the Lanes to find a restaurant for later. We dined at the Petis Pois french restaurant just round the corner.