On my first day as a resident of the UK I met up with my cousins and headed to Brighton beach. While I was sitting on a beach in San Sebastian I thought to myself 'Take this in, it might be awhile until your at a beach again'. While Brighton isn't exactly as beautiful as San Sebastian it was nice to be at the beach again sooner then expected. After a bit over an hour on the train, catching up and telling all my backpacking stories we arrived at Brighton to a windy slightly cloudy day.
We stopped off for some milkshakes along the esplanade before heading out to the pier. The pier has an old school carnival atmosphere with an arcade, lots of rickety old rides, side show alley sort of games and places to over dose on sugar with fairy floss and lollipops everywhere. We went on the haunted house and the roller-coaster and my cousin had a go on the dodgem cars and attempted to ride a bull. It was really fun. It felt like I was back at the Ekka!
After re-living our youth a little be we grabbed a drink at a bar halfway down the pier and I had my first Pimms back in England (I think there will be many more to come). Brighton seems to attract heaps and heaps of Bucks and Hens nights and it was very interesting viewing while we had our drinks. There were a group of guys wearing nothing but female lingerie or dresses. Another group had specially made t-shirts and were carrying around blow up dolls. There were a group of women who pretty much defined the saying mutton dressed up as lamb. Their conversation was definitely worth listening to as it provided some of the trashiest things I have ever heard. Ohhh the things you see when you people watch.
We grabbed a bite to eat in a cute little cafe and took refuge from the wind for a little bit. We then had a bit of a look around the shops in the town before heading down to the esplanade for a walk along the beach. The beach was made up of pebbles similar to that in Nice and Dubrovnik which didn't make my stroll very relaxing as it was quite hard going when you sink into the pebbles while you walk against the wind. We wandered along the path for a little while and saw lots of cute little old school beach huts and some beautiful old apartment buildings and hotels. By this time the sun had come out but it was still crazy windy. You can't go to the beach and not grab an ice-cream so we stopped into a little cute Italian place and grabbed a gelato before jumping on the train back to London.
Once we arrived in London we headed back to my cousin and her husbands apartment so I could see where I would soon be crashing for a little while. It is a very cute little place and I wish I was rich enough to afford a place like that on my own as it is exactly what I would love to have. Next door to their place on the corner is an Irish pub covered in plants and flowers. We headed around there to grab a bite to eat and I was happily surprised to find out that they only serve Thai food for dinner. So I had a delicious yellow curry Thai meal while listening to a live Irish band play the banjo while in the middle of London. I'm so multicultural. After a nice meal and a quick cup of tea (yet another thing I love about being in England - so much tea drinking on the agenda) I headed home to my hostel after a very long but very fun day.
The next day I woke up pretty sick and spent the day sleeping. I had planned to meet up with my cousin and her husband again to join them and a few of their friends for a traditional Sunday roast at the pub. Due to my phone being on the blink - due to a large amount of sangria through it from Pamplona - I was not able to get or send any messages or calls. I was officially of the radar for a bit and I must say I did not like it. Not only was my phone not working but the WiFi at the hostel wasn't either so i had to do the old fashioned thing and use a pay phone. Which was so frustrating! I'm pretty sure the internet and mobile phones have spoilt me as I managed to waste nearly 3 pounds without successfully making a call even though I followed the basic instructions. Eventually I convinced the guys at the hostel to let me use their phone and left a message. After my crazy few hours fighting against technology, I tried my mobile phone one more time and it decided to work. Fantastic! So I missed the roast which sucked but probably better in the end as I was so sick by the end of the day it hurt to talk.
The next day I went to the walk in clinic to see a doctor to see if this sickness was anything serious or just a combination of no veggies, no rest, no exercise, heaps of partying and an excessive amount of alcohol. Turns out after waiting for two hours to see a doctor after a quick look at my throat she decided it was a virus that cant be treated with antibiotics or anything. *sigh* I hate that line. I know its true and that waiting it out and resting is the only way to get better but being sick has definitely put a dampener on my first few days in London.
So thats pretty much what I have been doing. Resting and bumming around while applying for jobs in the rare times the WiFi at the hostel works. Yesturday I branched out and actually went to the movies - mainly to escape the 30 Spanish teenagers that had taken over the common room of my hostel. Thankfully I am now crashing with my lovely cousin and her husband who have been so kind as to let me stay on their air bed while I get on my feet. Hopefully I won't be in their hair for too long as I am desperate to get an income and set up a home of my own. So then it will be MY friends and family crashing on MY air bed (which seems to be a staple in apartments across London).
I'll keep everyone updated on the job/apartment search and my London adventures as soon as I am better. Over the next few posts I plan to give you some other info on my backpacking adventures that I haven't had a chance to write about yet.
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