It’s no secret that I am a huge fan of the British seaside and that Brighton is celebrated as an eccentric and open minded city so Liam and I treated ourselves to a weekend break by the sea and my only regret is that I didn’t really take enough photographs.
Image Credit: Chimera House: Hotel and Contrarium
We had a very comfortable stay for two nights at Chimera House: Hotel and Contrarium which is a truly unique Guesthouse only a short walk from the seafront and not too far to get into town. We really enjoyed the extravagant decor of our room which offered a contradiction by marrying floral patterns with mechanical elements and the spiral staircase made me feel like I was in a story!
On our first evening we had some fish and chips and headed to a couple of bars for drinks and a dance – firstly Dead Wax Social which had a great vibe and only plays vinyl followed by The Mesmerist where we enjoyed a Whiskey Snap cocktail, mixing with some friendly locals and Students who seemed to welcome us with open arms wherever we went; notably a lovely lady who spontaneously planned out my future wedding outfit for me – including a detailed description of a fancy floral veil (relax everyone we’re not engaged!)
On Saturday I wanted to indulge in all of the seaside cliches, after a Full English at a beach-side cafe, we couldn’t resist aiming straight for Brighton’s iconic palace pier built in 1891. As It turns out Liam was quite good at winning on the slots and we used our few earned pound coins to play some 2 player video games, managing to come away from the 2p machines with just enough tickets to win a deck of playing cards – of course I may have kept a few for my collection of pier amusement tickets at home! We explored as much of the city centre as we possibly could, had ice cream, watched seagulls, shopped in the lanes and fell down the hole at White Rabbit – a gorgeous Alice in Wonderland themed pub with a sunny garden. I was especially excited to finally hear the waves featured on The Who’s Quadrophenia in reality.
The Royal Pavilion Brighton, Komedia Brighton
On Saturday night we went to popular nightclub Patterns on a bit of a whim, completely uninformed that renowned, experimental DJ – Mella Dee was doing an all night set and it was immense – thanks for the Fist bump at the end!
Feathered Starfish and Clown-fish, The Sea Life Centre – Brighton
One of my favourite parts of the weekend was our visit to the Sea Life centre on Sunday which is in fact the oldest aquarium in the world. My favourite animals had to be Pumpkin the Octopus who has a lot of love to give with her three hearts, Eric the left handed Hermit Crab and how could I leave out Bear Grylls the baby Shark. I think that I will definitely be returning to marvel at the renovated ocean displays coming soon. We also took a behind the scenes tour which was fascinating and learnt how the water is stored, what the creatures have for lunch and all about the mysteries of the mesmerising cuttlefish.
Before it was time to get the train home we decided to go out for a meal, a guy Liam met in the toilets at Patterns told us about a great tapas bar that we sadly couldn’t find – so hopefully there will be a next time, but we accidentally found the charming Donatello’s instead which has an extensive pasta menu and fantastic Calamari.
Now to catch up on some sleep and the latest episode of Rupaul’s Drag Race.
Recka's Cabinet of Curiosity 