Brighton Rocks

Birthday Girl

It was my 57th birthday on Friday so we decided to take a trip to Brighton for the weekend. Being on a bit of a budget due to forthcoming trips we stayed in a small hotel in Kemp town called The Limehouse with what was described as a room with a sea view but technically turned out to be in my opinion a sea peep. However the room was quirky clean and comfortable and we weren't in it for long spending most of our time wandering, exploring and eating and drinking.

Massive delicious Rhubarb and Ginger Gin

Kemp town is historically known as an actors and artists quarter and is characterised by a network of quirky streets with specialised shops, hotels cafes bars and pubs. The first port of call having checked in and deposited our bags was a little cafe called The Manor which lured us in by advertising speciality gins. Rhubarb and ginger gin with juniper berries and a light lunch of fish cakes and salad hit the spot nicely as we had a meal booked for that evening and it was already past three o'clock.

 That evening we went to La petite Maison. Set in the heart of Brighton's lanes where they focus on serving quality fresh sussex produce. I do remember enjoying my dinner and its accompanying bottle of red, however, I do not have a pic due to too much Gin.

Saturday saw more wandering and exploring the Lanes and more eating and drinking. There were lots of quirky interesting shops to explore and many examples of street art which apparently rival the remains of the Berlin wall for sheer beauty and extraordinary creativity. A reproduction of Banksy's Kissing Coppers is located on Trafalgar street which I stupidly forgot to take a pic of, however here is  selection of some of the art I did remember to photograph.

I found all of the street art fascinating, and the scenes I saw were stunningly beautiful and striking and its apparently all down to the forward thinking of the Green Party Council. During our exploration of the Lanes and North Laine I a came across lots of interesting little shops, below are just a few.

The sewing machine shop (not)

The front, side and rear windows of this shop in East street are entirely filled with an array of antique sewing machines so that at first glance it is impossible to make out what the shop is selling. It actually sells very expensive clothing from The British All Saints Spitalfield brand. The name All Saints was inspired by both the All Saints Road in Notting Hill and 60's TV icon Simon Templar as the Saint. I've had to look this up but I do remember the Saint, perhaps thats why there is a street art version of the Saint.

Gorgeous chocolaterie

Fabulous irregular choice shop window. Having bought a pair of these as my wedding shoes online I was thrilled to find an actual shop in Brighton. Those yellow ones with the red flowers have my name on them, however, I was good and didn't buy a pair.

 Only in Brighton. We could see this chap opposite from our hotel room, it scared me to death until I realised what I was looking at.

Brighton pier

Beach

Brighton wheel

Brighton pavilion

The weather was absolutely bitterly cold but it was a fun birthday weekend.