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It’s funny how it’s the places nearest you that you never quite get around to visiting. It was only a couple of years ago that I first went to Paris (and a couple of years before that when I went to France). This time the unvisited destination is only an hour away from home; so close that I have colleagues that commute from nearby. Brighton. Happening south-coast destination, home of a famous pier and Norman Cook. But was it worth the wait?

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Judged only on the weather on the Saturday you’d have to say “No.” While last year around this time of year in Yorkshire it was twenty-five degrees and the main reason to nip inside was to avoid getting sun-burn, this time being inside was a good way to avoid getting wet and cold.

[photopress:IMG_4561.jpg,thumb,alignleft]Naturally it would take more than the British spring to keep me from exploring the place in more detail.

First stop really had to be the Pier. It’s one of Brighton’s most famous sites and a pier is one of the most iconic destinations of any British sea-side resort. You do have to wonder, though, why the Victorians built out into the sea where there was so much available land on the drier side of the beach. Was it just because they could? I mean, there are only so many fairground rides and overpriced fish-and-chip that one town needs.

[photopress:IMG_4595.jpg,thumb,alignright]Later I went further inland to see the Royal Pavilion, the grand, George IV commissioned palace, complete with onion-domed roofs. It’s an incredibly odd sight right in the middle of the town.

British sea-side resorts really do not look their best in the winter and the rain, so I was lucky to get some sun on the Sunday. The town, especially the beach and the pier, looked almost completely different. Maybe it’s that there were far more people milling about?

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I still find it hard to believe that I’ve lived in London all this time and never got around to visiting. Still, based on my impression from this weekend I think it’s safe to say that I’ll be back. But I’ll be checking the weather forecast first.