Weekend At The Seaside

For those of you who have read this blog you would know that I totally have a second love in the UK and that is Brighton. As it was a friends weekend and the off season we decided to buy cheap tickets, book a hostel and go down for the weekend. I'd heard Brighton was a good night out but since I'd only gone on day trips I was super excited. It was also super exciting to go down as most of the people in our group of 8 hadn't been before.

We got a fairly early train down so we had plenty of time on the Saturday to check into our hostel, visit the pier, wander along the stony beach and check out the shops in the North Laines. It was such a pity that the weather was rubbish so we couldn't laze around without getting drizzled on so wandering the Laines was our best bet.

Before heading out we decided to have a few pre drinks in the hostel while we got ready and hit a local weatherspoons for a cheap meal and a cocktail jug. We weren't sure where to go but the hostel recommend Oceana. For those of you not UK based Oceana are a chain of clubs all over the UK that have several floors featuring different kinds of music. For a £10 entry fee we couldn't really go wrong because we had lots of choice and somewhere easy to go. The place is pretty chavvy and full of bucks and hens night but for a night out celebrating someones birthday it was perfect for us.







The next day we recovered from a night of dancing by hitting Bill's. It is an organic cafe in Brighton that serves THE most amazing breakfasts. We had to wait a little while since there was a group of it but it was so worth it for an amazing eggs Benedict and has browns. They also have perfectly made coffees so with that and a breakky under our belts we were ready and raring to go back out to exploring Brighton.

We basically didn't get to far as we decided to lax out on our hired beach chairs because it was finally sunny out and it was all too much effort to walk too much. It was still chilly so we spent it rugged up but it was still nice to get some vitamin D. The afternoon sped up while we were dozing and before we knew it our time in Brighton was up. I was sad to go after such an awesome weekend but it certainly won't be my last trip down there. I'm hanging out for summer when I can go swimming!

Robin Hood

It has started coming to that time in my London Life where I have to start saying goodbye to some really good friends due to visas, different travel plans and people not wanting to suffer through another English winter. Sadly these reasons mean I have to say goodbye to three of my topdeck family members. It had been so long since we had been on a 'family' holiday with the Topdeck crew that we thought it was about time we went on another - a perfect way to party together before we had to say goodbye. The trouble was we couldn't settle on somewhere that 14 people with a passion for travel hadn't already been before.

We tossed up between Liverpool and Isle of Wight before Candra just made a command decision to go to Nottingham. I'm glad she did because we got the chance to explore somewhere we might not have usually picked. After doing a bit of research we found that Nottingham is not only famous for the adventures of Robin Hood but also has England's oldest inn and apparently a pretty awesome nightlife. Which is exactly what we were in the need of!

We headed up to Nottingham on the Saturday morning which is only an hour and a half away and we were all pretty chuffed because we had scored first class tickets! (Oh how we love train special deals) So we did the trip up in style and arrived just in time to dump our bags at the hotel before heading into town to go to the oldest inn in England for lunch. The Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem is built into the side of the wall surrounding the castle and was established in 1189. We were lucky enough that it wasn't too busy and since it was a sunny day we grabbed two tables outside, grabbed some drinks and had some food while we all caught up and chatted. Sean had bought some of their traditional Ale which I had a sip of and it tasted like it was from 1189. Yuck.






From there we went on a wander around the town and first stop was the statue of Robin Hood right outside the castle. We all took this chance to get a few funny photos and muck around before heading up through the castle gates. By this time it was getting later in the afternoon and none of us were really in the mood for history (shameful I know) so we opted out of visiting the castle and instead visited the gift shop where we bought felt hats and bows and arrows. This meant there were more photos in front of Robin Hood before heading further into the city centre to check out down town Nottingham. The city of Nottingham is pretty much similar to the centre of most English cities with all the shops, a main square and a few bars and restaurants around. After a quick sticky beak we went back to the hotel to have a few drinks and get ready for a night out.





We played a few drinking games before heading to a nearby Wetherspoons for a cheap meal and cheap drinks before heading straight to Oceana nightclub. We had found out this was the place to go by a random stag night and I would have to say their recommendation was pretty good. It was a pretty cheesy place with a light up dancefloor and lots of old school music but it was exactly what we wanted for a night out. It meant we could drink and dance and sing along in a big group, not annoy anyone and just enjoy a good night out.

The next morning we were up bright and early to head to the walkabout to watch the grand final of the Rugby World Cup. As you know I have lots of Kiwi friends so they were excited that they were in the final and wouldn't have missed it for the world. We grabbed some cooked breakfast and some snakebites and settled in to watch the match. It was quite a close game and was so suspenseful to watch but in the end the Kiwi's pulled through and they won. Leaving all my friends pretty happy! We spent the rest of the afternoon chilling in the walkie and wandering the shops before getting the 3pm train home.





We had intended to check out Sherwood Forest after the match but due to the Sunday time table we weren't able to make it back in time to catch our train. I was pretty disappointed we didn't get to do much of the touristy stuff however I had a great time just hanging out with my Topdeck Family (plus new members) and spending time with Sean, Toni and Clare before they had to leave. Sadly they have all now left us for bigger and brighter adventures and while I am sad to see them go, I am extremely jealous of their upcoming travel. I will miss them heaps but we have a few new members of the London family so I don't have to worry about being a loner just yet!