At Large In Brighton, 21 & 22 August 2019

Following two days, mostly at the cricket…

..we had a free day in Brighton Wednesday. We both wanted to see the Royal Pavilion & adjoining stuff, plus do some shopping in the Lanes.

We set off from our charming Toll Cottage, opposite the Regency Tavern (depicted above).

The edgy, mean streets of Brighton, not too far from our digs
Yon pavilion entrance
Within the grounds

The nice Royal Pavilion staff persuaded us to buy a history pass which, for just £5 more than the Pavilion alone, would allow us to see the museum and Preston Manor. Deal.

No photos allowed inside the lavish, main Pavilion rooms (highlights: The Great Kitchen, The Saloon and The Music Room – the latter newly refurbished and especially stunning), but we assumed the rule did not apply to the cafe within, where we took a snack lunch:

Not wearing a tie in the Pavilion, Ged?
Photograph inside the pavilion, Ged?

After the Royal Pavilion, a stroll through the gardens to the Museum, where photos are allowed.

A lot of design stuff; especially quirky chairs.

Also some period salons:

Some modern art, some of it truly stella:

A Frank Stella
A Grayson Perry

There was also a superb exhibition of wildlife photography, most of which was exceptional and stunning:

Janie examines some specimens
Janie emulates the Asian Sheepshead Wrasse; some sort of non-cis fish

After the museum, we venture into The Lanes, where I stock up on shirts at Pendulum and treated Janie to a leather jacket in a new boutique around there.

Then one of the rarest sights of all time; me buying baby clothes for Pip in a baby clothes emporium, Happyology, in North Laine. Even the lovely French shopkeeper looks stunned:

I tried to explain to Janie that there was no budget for dinner if we bought all that stuff but she didn’t listen and/or didn’t believe me, so after dropping off our purchases and having a brief R&R break, we ventured back to The Lanes to English’s Of Brighton.

Yum yum

On leaving town on the Thursday morning, we stopped off at Preston Manor to complete the set.

Seriously haunted, apparently.
Is that some sort of raven apparition before the window?
Ged examines the ultra-rare 16th century leather wallpaper.
Not as posh a bed as one might imagine
Ghostly apparitions in the mirror
Vaguely resembles the bathrooms in the Lord’s changing rooms
They don’t make Aspirator Vacuum Cleaners like they used to

After Preston Manor, back to London, where I had an appointment with the real tennis court at Lord’s and then with the Z/Yen team (plus Jez and some of his mates) for the Middlesex T20 match against Hampshire.

Lord’s at sunset
“Sweet Caroline, wah, wah, wah!”

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