Brighton

We took Cleopatra for her first camping trip to Brighton this weekend. We've camped, in a tent, at Sheepcote Valley more times than I can remember, so it is hard to believe we've been taking weekend trips since January and yet this is the first time we've been to Brighton in our campervan.

This Caravan Club site gets fully booked regularly, as on a couple of occasions we've tried to book with a week or two's notice and been unable. It's well located to the east of Brighton with the sea front only 15 minutes walk and the centre of Brighton less than an hour away. Several bus routes are 10 minutes or so away and a taxi into town is less than £10.

It's been a very windy weekend. The wind has been blowing from the south, off the sea. It then makes its way up the valley and through the campsite. We were a little more sheltered than it felt on the sea front, but it was about as windy as I'd have been comfortable with having the pop-top roof up with.

We love Brighton for shopping, eating and nightlife. I didn't pack any food this weekend as I knew we'd want to make the most of our favourite restaurants.

On Friday night we'd got ourselves pitched and organised in time that we'd walked into town for 8pm and enjoyed several pints of real ale in the Bulldog, and then grabbed a kebab before hailing a taxi back to the campsite.

Saturday began with several espressos in the toasty warmth of Cleopatra before we walked into town for a major shopping fest. We had another cup of caffeine at the Small Batch Coffee Company before discovering our favourite restaurant had been open all morning and there was no need to wait for midday!

There are many buffet restaurants in Brighton and you can enjoy all-you-can-eat Indian, Chinese, and pizza and pasta, but Foodilic is my favourite. In the window you'll spy platters piled high with vegetable and salad dishes such as 'Giant Cous Cous with Raw Zucchini, Homemade Almond Pesto, Fresh Mint and Yellow Cherry Tomatoes,' or 'Green Beans & Mange Tout with Walnuts & Orange Zest Dressing.' It all looks so fabulously good that I don't know why so many people walk by. Then there's a choice of hot dishes, which this weekend were chicken legs, chili, rice, creamy mashed potato and a sauce possibly meant for the chicken. It costs £6.95 for all you can eat, even at the weekend, and it's a bargain. It's a buffet restaurant where you still feel healthy afterwards. It was just as good as we remembered and so we went back on Sunday too!

After lunch we mooched along the small independent clothes shops in the lanes where we treated ourselves to some fabulous clothes you wouldn't see on the high street. We had a couple of pints in the Bulldog and then walked back to Cleopatra where we vegged out for a couple of hours before heading back into town for dinner (Indian buffet) and drinks (in the Bulldog). Afterwards we caught a bus heading to the Marina and taking us within 10 minutes walk of the campsite for £2 each.

We were ready to depart at 11am on Sunday but decided to make the most of being in Brighton and parked Cleopatra in the Marina's supermarket car park and walked into town for lunch. Afterwards I decided I wanted to buy a jumper I'd deliberated about the day before and so we headed back into the lanes before a bus whisked us back to our transportation homewards,

This weekend I uploaded my 1000th photo to my 2015 campervan album on Facebook. That gallery is only from photos of our weekend travels - there are hundred more in galleries for each week or fortnight's holidays. What a great first year of memories to look back on as we prepare ourselves for a snowy holiday to end our first year of campervan ownership!


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