Brighton Welcomes Me Back

My plane left Vancouver yesterday at 2:20pm and I arrived at London Gatwick Airport at 8am. It never really got dark on the plane ride so I slept very little. Instead I was engaged in a quite lovely conversation with the couple sitting next to me - he actually works for NATO. I have to admit, although I did manage to pull North Atlantic Treaty Organization out of my head, I have no idea what NATO is or does. After our conversation, I'm no closer. But we did talk about living in Belgium and how that tiny country is so different depending on which part a person is in. In the North, attitudes and values are more aligned with the Dutch; in the south, more so with the French. Mike and his wife, Annette, were the perfect people to sit with. Interesting, funny, engaging and experienced travellers.

Getting through Customs always makes me a little anxious since we initial debacle coming into England in 2008. The agents always seem to have a tone. "Really, you'll be staying with friends the whole time?" - somehow how implying, "You have friends? I find that hard to believe". Thanks, buddy! And Welcome to England!

We managed to pack in a full day, fuelled by loads and loads of caffeine. First breakfast outside the Pavillion where Stuart was appalled when I wanted to order Eggs Benny. Not because of the food itself, but the fact that I would shorten "Benedict" to "Benny"!









Met up with Chris & Patou for a stroll through the Lanes, then decided to go into the country. We went through Rottingdean and passed this:

Which led, naturally, to this:

Then we took a stroll through Rudyard Kipling Garden, then off to the Vintage Fair in Firle. The saying is that one man's junk is another man's treasure, but a lot of time one man's junk is just that. Initially, Stuart said that no one could get into the car if they hadn't bought anything, but that was eventually amended to anyone who bought anything wasn't allowed back! (I did find a cloak, but it wasn't quite right...)

After a refreshing pear and soda at the Ram Inn, we carried on to Lewes, where we stopped in at the Snowdrop Pub for some lunch, then off to Kim & Tabs' place in the country. Finally, we made it to my home for the next two weeks - 81 Peacock Lane.

So much laughter and connectedness. I haven't been here in two years but it's like no time has passed at all.