Lovely Brighton. S's second favourite city, only just behind our hometown of Bristol.
We wondered for the longest time if this trip would even go ahead - and if it did, what measures we'd put in place to make sure we were doing it as safely and responsibly as possible. 2020 life is certainly pulling up some questions and moral debates I didn't expect, that's for sure! Luckily the lockdown measures were relaxed just in the nick of time and our Airbnb host assured us of their new deep cleaning procedure, plus we knew we'd be driving down and we were each others support bubbles anyway so it seemed silly to not take advantage of the trip we'd booked in January! So last Thursday S and I bundled into the car with two of our closest friends and began the three hour journey down to Brighton.
WHERE WE STAYED
We stayed in
Maya's spacious home which was so beautifully decorated and had stunning views at its rear. It's situated in a quiet residential area - I think we saw only 2 other people in the street across the 4 days! - with a bus stop and a corner shop at the end of the road. The nearest supermarkets are Sainsburys and Aldi which are both within a few minutes on the bus. It was spacious, catered to our every need and has reaffirmed to me how vital nice decor is to my well-being. The house is a little further out than I would have liked, but the centre was so easy to access via bus that it worked out okay. We caught the bus to London Road each day which took 10 minutes and wandered from there into the centre as there are so many indie shops along the way!
The house boasts three bedrooms, a large living space, a dining room complete with a fully-stocked bookcase and a well equipped kitchen including a dishwasher and washing machine.
S and I's room was the smallest double, complete with a triple wardrobe and a cute built-in dressing table. The decor was all soft pastels and white and completely suited to my taste! The bed was slightly uncomfortable and we only had one pillow each (!) but as we were walking so much throughout the day I was able to sleep well. Each morning I journaled in bed, got ready at the dressing table and then went downstairs for breakfast in the dining room with S and it was
lovely.
WHAT WE DID
On our first day, once we'd unpacked and been to the supermarket, we drove down to London Road car park and headed out to try to get a grip on the place. But if you've been to Brighton, I'm sure you'll agree it's impossible to get a grip on The Laines the first (or second or third) time around! S had been to Brighton multiple times before so he acted as a tour-guide of sorts, although by the second day I began to recognise things enough to know roughly where we were. Whilst we were there the museums and libraries were still closed, so we mainly relied on shopping and landmarks to occupy us.
We kept our masks on whenever we could whilst out and slathered hand sanitiser over ourselves routinely. Shops and cafes and bars were also very proactive when it came to sanitising, and multiple stores were very direct in asking us to do it upon entering. We also headed out early each day to try and avoid the midday rush - weirdly, Friday was the busiest, especially in the Laines!
SNOOPER'S PARADISE
I couldn't
not visit Snoopers Paradise after hearing about it on Marzia's Instagram and YouTube channel for so many years. It was actually my favourite part of the trip - throw me into an (un)organised mess of vintage and antique and secondhand goodies and I'll be kept happy for
hours.
Everything you can think of was in there. It was some bizarre, less chaotic, real-world version of the Room of Requirement. It's exactly the type of store I'd own in Diagon Alley. There were doll legs, crystal rings and top hats. There were vintage issues of Playboy, pink satin slip dresses and gold-plated hand mirrors. There were glass bottles of every colour and size, tins for every craft item my mother has ever owned and books upon books upon books. There were single kodak photos on film, postcards to-and-from a grandmother and granddaughter and stacks of black-and-white photographs.
I had the most wonderful time, and it would be the sole reason for my return if I ever headed back down to the coast.
RECORD SHOPS GALORE
If there's one thing S loves more than myself and Bristol City (in that order), it's vinyl records. The place he spent the most money was
Resident, which happened to be dead opposite Snoopers Paradise and it was there he took solace when I visited Snoopers for the third time within two days... Resident was given a lil shoutout on Instagram by S's favourite Liam Gallagher so naturally my boi needed to visit. One of his favourite bands had released an album on the second day of our trip, so he picked up the limited edition tri-colour vinyl, alongside a Gerry Cinnamon album, and the Frank Turner Songbook for £14 from a different store.
BRIGHTON BEACH + PIER
As soon as I see the sea ya girl is gone. When you find me I'll be ankle deep in the ocean, letting the salty air cleanse my energy, taking the deepest breaths I'll have taken in days. Despite being an air sign (and unable to swim lol) I'm a water baby at heart and I feel most at peace near large bodies of water - the sea being my favourite.
Whilst the others lounged on the pebbles I stood in the sea a while, then spent some time hunting for shells and pretty pebbles before returning to the arms of my love. Being held by your truest love on the beach with the sea waves as a soundtrack is 10/10 recommended by me, friends. Once we'd lounged enough (and the pebbles became unbearably uncomfortable) we headed up onto the pier for a wander. I didn't touch anything in the arcade because although there was hand sanitiser dotted through-out and there was a body limit, it was chaotic af in there!
BRIGHTON PAVILION
The most iconic thing spoken on the trip was when S, on Saturday morning, took one look at the art print of the Brighton Pavilion framed in our bedroom and said "why is the Taj Mahal in here?"
Now I have not seen the Taj Mahal in person, so I cannot speak for it's own grandeur and beauty, but the Brighton Pavilion is very pretty, although it does look like it's made out of marzipan. It's much smaller than I was expecting - likewise the gardens themselves - but it is still very statuesque. I've never seen anything like it before and my culture-deprived brain was soaking it
up after months of being indoors. If I ignored the lashings of scaffolding all over the thing, it was quite a marvel. The Brighton museum and art gallery is on the same site, but was closed at the time of my visit.
ANIMAL CROSSING + RU PAUL'S DRAG RACE
Each day we caught the bus home between 3pm and 4pm and we'd come back, get changed and all of us would slump onto the corner sofa to play Animal Crossing: New Horizons and watch RuPaul's Drag Race. S and I are utterly obsessed with Drag Race at the moment - my favourite queens being Bianca Del Rio, Kimchi, Valentina, Trinity the Tuck and Shea Coulee - and it was a delight to introduce J and M to it also. It was also a delight for them to see just how bitchy my boyfriend can be, because his beautiful face and reserved demeanor gives people a misguided impression of innocence.
WHAT WE ATE
THE VURGER CO
As the gang member with the largest amount of food intolerances, it was mainly my decision where we ate each day. We made an agreement to only eat lunch out, which worked out time and finance-wise, and I was glad to sample the newest vegan establishment in Brighton! We were actually the very first walk-in customers and the staff's enthusiasm was infectious. The Vurger Co also boasts branches in London and I can only imagine how popular it's going to be in Brighton. The decor was beautiful and aesthetic - all pale pinks and yellows with white tiles and neons - and the menu was short but sweet enough that we all found something we liked the look of.
S got the New York Melt burger which was smothered in two types of vegan cheese, home-made burger sauce and tomatoes. He absolutely demolished it and compared it to the renowned Oowee vegan burgers. I got the Caesar Salad which featured vegan chicken pieces, garlic bread croutons, coconut bacon bites and parmesan. I didn't like the salad dressing so I didn't finish mine - although S claimed it was delicious and finished it for me! We both got a side of sweet potato fries which were cooked perfectly.
BOHO GELATO
Another YouTuber influence...! We were wandering the Laines on the way to the sea front when we stumbled across Boho Gelato and I immediately went in. Their flavours change daily but there were multiple vegan options to choose from. I went for the chocolate and caramel peanut scooped onto a chocolate dipped cone and it was utterly divine. The scoop was so huge I needed help finishing! (I also wanted faster access to the cone which, as I'm sure we can all agree, is the best part of an ice cream.) S went for a mint Coke float which he loved!
BEAN TOASTIES
This is not a Brighton-exclusive, I just wanted to brag about how good the bean and cheese toasties I make for S look.
I wasn't the biggest fan of Brighton overall but it was a much needed trip away with some of my favourite people. If you're looking to visit Brighton, the things at the tip-top of my recommendations list are Snoopers Paradise, Family Store, Boho Gelato and The Vurger Co!
