Brighton Days

Brighton is a beach town and quite popular tourist destination (figured from AirBnb price!) in the south of the UK. Apparently it's the third most expensive city to live in this country, but I had the chance to stay here for a while because of my sister. I visited her 3 months ago and been staying with her until I move to my own place. 

This city reminds me of my childhood a lot as I grew up in a coastal city and going to the beach was a regular fun activity for our family. People living here are lucky to have a beautiful beach right in the heart of the city. Surrounding city centre is buzzing with all sorts of shops and makes all amenities easily accessible. You walk through the lanes and can hear the waves calling you (well, not quite as romantic until you cross the street as traffic and human noise masks it quite a bit). 

Water always pulls me because I've always had close connection with rivers and ocean. Sitting there alone listening to the waves soothes my mind and makes me feel I could wash away all my pains. Most importantly, the vastness and depth of the ocean remind me that we're all so small. I should learn to be more humble and tolerant from the ocean. 

I love sunsets, and a beautiful sunset by the beach is all I need to be happy or at least heal my soul. I was lucky to spend some time alone there watching pretty sunsets when I needed it the most. Given that it's still pretty cold for spring, both days I came back frozen! Hopefully I'll get to spend longer time when it gets warmer.

Brighton Central Beach

I also like the view from the house. You can see this hilly area that goes down to Stanmer Park. On a beautiful day, clouds rise above the hill in a blue sky making this background even more beautiful. The weather has been funny since I got here - a lot of rain and snow. But got to see some beautiful sunsets in last couple of days. 

I am also trying to get back to running routine slowly. When I moved here I put my running gear in my main luggage so that I don't have to live without running for too long, but it became overweight, so had to get rid of them :( Happy to be finally going back on track even though I gained a lot of weight in about a month >.<

View from living room

 

Last time when I came here we went to visit the Brighton Pavilion, which is very gorgeous. I still haven't gotten the chance to explore the museum, hopefully soon. We planned to visit the aquarium with Arnan (my little nephew) but couldn't find a good day for it yet. The weather has been bizarre most weekends. 

Brighton Pavilion

Brighton Museum & Gallery

My Brighton days are almost over. I'm moving to my place this weekend and then will be visiting occasionally. I'm looking forward to being settled and getting back to my regular lifestyle, but it'll always be a pleasure to come back to this city.

Snowy Welcome to the UK

It was about 2 months ago that I wrote my last post. At that time I had one month left until my big move and it'll soon be a month that I've moved to the UK. Crazy how time flies! This move was very stressful (as a continental move like this is supposed to be) and I promised myself I'm never doing this ever again in my life! In one week I travelled from Raleigh to New York, landed in London from NY, came to Brighton from London, travelled to Birmingham and from there to Exeter! 

Even though I thought I won't see more snow this year after that big snowfall in Raleigh, soon after I arrived the Beast of the East hit the UK and literally dumped the country under snow. I was stuck in Exeter for 3 more days for snow as the train system went down. After making three attempts at getting back and major delays, I was finally able to get back to Brighton. 

Yesterday was the sequel of the Beast of the East and we got more snow. It snowed more in some other parts of the country. It doesn't snow this much in the UK usually. I also read later that it's rarely once in 8 years it snows like this in Raleigh. Seems like wherever I go snow follows! Usually I love snow but it feels I had enough of it this year (especially after catching severe cold).

First day of snow was very pretty though. I didn't have my proper snow boots with me as I wasn't expecting that much snow. I still went out to play with snow and take some photos. End result was coughing for one week straight, but it was totally worth it! Here are some photos from first and second snowfall -

Looking forward to warmer spring days now. Also, looking forward to finally get settled in my own place. It's been the longest ever in my life that I've been in a transitional state. It's been 3 weeks but feels like prolonged vacation to me! Time to get back to my usual lifestyle and focus on what I came here for. Making slow progress, but surely getting there. 

Hopefully will start writing more regular posts from now on :) A lot of trips coming up in next few months, so more travel posts coming soon!