It's been 6 days and I'm only getting around to posting now because we've been having a busy week since we returned.
Brighton was amazing.
It's a beautiful city, the views out over the sea are stunning and people are friendly. In fairness, they get so many tourists, conferences, hen and stag parties it's probably a conditioned response but it made a difference compared to the grumpy service we'd normally get at home.
Despite the number of bars and restaurants they have, it's completely family friendly so it really is good for anyone.
As I mentioned in a previous post, we were there for a conference (it was the UNISON National LGBT Conference but I'll cover that in a different post) so most of the time there was spent on that. But luckily we arrived on the Thursday and the conference for us didn't start until 4pm on Friday, so we had plenty of time to explore.
I'm going to take you through a blow by blow account because that would be boring but there are some definite highlights.
Brighton Pier. It's amazing. It's like something from a 1980's family holiday (that's not a criticism) and is full of arcade machines, 2p machines (which David spent a small fortune on) and those grabby machines full of tacky cuddly toys. I do have to admit I wanted to try and win an Angry Birds teddy by resisted...because, you know I'm 29 and have enough childish traits. The pier is huge and if you're in the area you definitely need to go and see it. Stand at the very end, there's something liberating about being that far from land and nothing but water ahead of you.
Preto. This is a Brazilian steakhouse with branches (I've discovered) in London as well. We went there for dinner with my parents (did I mention they were at the conference as well? I was so happy to see them!). This is definitely a meatlovers restaurant. People bring meat on a spit. Until you tell them to stop. You could eat meat forever. Seriously though, the food is delicious and the service is amazing so if you have the opportunity give them your business.
On a sidenote, while we were there there was a gay couple sitting a few tables away with their son. It was one of the nicest, sweetest things I've ever seen.
Tolerance. Brighton is well known as an accepting, tolerant city and this is so true. There are LGBT everywhere. I mean I've heard people say that Brighton is a gay city, but until you see it for yourself it doesn't really sink in. The picture below really sums it up, I've never seen anything like that in other cities. There was one very unfortunate incident but I'll be coming onto that in another post.
Quality time. This was the best thing about the weekend. We got to spend some really quality time together even in the conference sessions. On Wednesday we agreed that there would be no talk about work the whole time we were away and that was amazing. We both do jobs that take up a lot of our time and thinking at home so it was nice to have a break from that. And we laughed so much it was like being a teenager again.
Before I forget, we found Choccywoccydoodah! We got so carried away that we didn't take any pictures! Now it's a bit expensive...for a small box of large, salted chocolate disks and pellets of white chocolate it was £17, but it really is like chocolate heaven. Some of the cakes there were incredible to look at. The skill, talent and vision that goes into them defies belief, and if we had the money, we would happily get our wedding cake from there!
If you need some time away and want to reconnect then go to Brighton for a few days, trust me you won't regret it!
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