Hi Fam Bam,
We've been pretty active this whole trip, so not surprisingly today we took it easy. This morning we met up at 10 am to go inside the Pavilion Henry the IV built (remember that Indian looking building I took a picture in front of a few weeks ago?). Perks of having the parents around is they pay for thing lol, so we actually went inside this time! OMG it was AMAZING. Like so decadent and ostentatious, even the kitchen had huge fake palm trees to show off to the guests. They wouldn't let us take pictures anywhere which was super annoying. So the only picture we have is Jes and I wearing our matching shirts and bonnets with a dragon in the children's play box area. If there's a play box, we will play.
The king was living his best life though. There was gold everywhere, and dragons and phoenixes lining the walls floors and ceilings. One of the chandeliers was suspended by a dragon and is so big it takes 6 weeks to clean it. Yeah, when I heard that I said no thanks! You guys should google it, it really was something to see. It was decorated with a western interpretation of Orientalism, hence how you have Indian architecture but totally Chinese interior decorations. Do you think Henry IV knew that India and China were two different countries and cultures?
Afterwards Jes had to leave us for work so mom, mumma Bailey, and I passed the day together just hopping from cafe to cafe. And when I mean we passed the day, I mean we spent about 6 hours together exploring two miles of Brighton. It was so great. First we started at the Pavilion and had phenomenal tea. Mumma Bailey got earl grey, while I got a smokey Chinese black tea, and mom got her cappuccino of course. We sat watching the birds and humans pass by whilst protecting our muffins from the seagulls. After our first chat, we walked the Brighton Lanes and picked up little knickknacks here and there.
Deciding that we had enough shopping, we found another little cafe and this time ordered chips (aka fries, I know the British have it all backwards) and fizzy drinks. This time we had a lot of fun watching the poor humans fall privy to the seagull attacks. I think because there's no predators on this island these birds are confused. They don't know how to fish and keep snagging human food. Mom and mumma Bailey love the shade, so we were the first table just outside the doors of the cafe, needless to say, super safe from seagulls. Those closer to the beach were not so lucky haha. This one table got attacked five times before they finally asked to move. I suggested there should be a cull of seagulls.
We then took about five or six steps before poor Mumma Bailey was pooped on! This photograph was too good not to share. Good thing the moms have good humor and Mumma Bailey laughed the situation off after initial shock and annoyance. Let's just say we were well aware of our surroundings after this little incident.
Mom and Mumma Bailey named themselves Pooh and Piglet back in the New Forest, when Jes and I told them not to get lost in the woods when we went riding. Needless to say, we made lots of Pooh and Piglet jokes because literally all we were doing was wandering Brighton with frequent rest stops. Today was the Pooh and Piglet take on Brighton edition. I'm just lucky they let me tag along...
Brighton is the city of quirkiness, so it comes to no surprise that they built an upside down house as a tourist attraction!
If you thought we were sick of tea and coffee you would be totally wrong! Here we are at cafe number three, which was my second favorite cafe of the day. The pavilion cafe couldn't be beat, but this gazebo one was playing old music like Frank Sinatra and Diana Washington. It got a bit chilly for me, so I put on a jumper and ordered a hot cocoa while the menopausal moms looked at me like I was absolutely mental. But in the photo you can see that the sun practically disappeared and the sky was more cloudy, so a hot cocoa was definitely necessary. The waitress must have given us silly looks when we did the whole "cheers" routine with a cider, a hot cocoa, and a Sanpellegrino. We were joking that we were going to drink and eat our way over to Hove, the next town over where Jes lives.
Which ultimately is exactly what we did! From the gazebo we walked the last mile along the shore to go to the tiny Italian place for dinner that I kept raving about. After struggling to be a part of the clean plate club all week, I finally was the only one who ate everything! It was funny because the portions were always too large, I guess that large portions don't really matter when you're eating homemade pasta and gelato. I told you guys I could eat pasta for the rest of my life and never think twice about it. I should've been born Italian. Good thing I've got a true Italian godmom to teach me the ways.
I was practically rolling home after having done nothing but walk along the beach and eat and drink all day. However, it was so satisfying to truly take a day off and not really do anything but chat. That being said, for all our wandering we did manage to walk eight miles! Go us! Someone please tell me that school isn't too close, because I'm going to miss these leisurely days. Good thing I can count on you all to remind me that life can be good and moments like these do exist when I'm in the dark tunnel of my second year of law school. Miss you guys.
Love you lots,
Carolyn
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