Delightful Devon

With only 3 weekends left in the UK we headed down to Devon to visit cousins Bob and wife Jane. They advised on some route suggestions as we had hoped to make a day out of the.drive as I had a TOIL day. But when we arrived at the airport to collect the rental ( the best price by £100+ ) we had to join a long queue for the car collection and so our departure was delayed by an hour and a half. The distance to Devon isn't that great, but we forget that travel on English roads is quite a bit slower, even on their top motorways there can be long delays, slow moving traffic, and of course, more of those awful roundabouts. So most of our day was in the car, but we stopped in at the delightful seaside town of Lyme Regis. 

Bob and Jane were great hosts and we instantly felt at home amongst family. Richard was also over visiting so good to see them both, along with Bob and janes daughter Kathryn. Bob and Richard took us out for an explore and a walk along Bigbury on the Saturday, and Sunday we set off for home with a detour to Dartmoor.

Brighton for the day

I finally got out of the city with a trip to Brighton.

The town was buzzing with the upcoming Rugby World Cup game to be played that day.

We wandered down to the seaside, and once I got over the shock of such an ugly busy 4 lane road on the sea front, and dowdy street frontage, I focused on the actual coast and immediate surrounds and enjoyed an alternate view. 
I hustled heather along when I heard a man telling his companion that he would take him for the best local kipper snacks before they headed out to lunch. We went into the funky old shack built under the road way and I took note of what he ordered and followed with the same. We loved the grilled haddock roll, and I added a small serve of pickled anchovies. We didn't have room to try the jellied eels and I've regretted it ever since. 

We Enjoyed a stroll onto the famous pier and looked at all the fun park rides, then my highlight was a walk to the pleasure palace. Heather thought this place was just too much, but I loved the opulence and fun of this royal sea side retreat for eating, partying and making mischief. When queen Victoria inherited it, she didn't much approve, and decided to sell it off and built herself a new  family home elsewhere. But the locals of Brighton objected, and purchased it. They have done a great job of restoring it, and the rooms are displayed as if a great party is about to start. Unfortunately you can't take photos inside. 

The pleasure palace was built by king George IV, who loved a decadent lifestyle and enjoyed any opportunity to show off his impressive collections. Built over a period from the late 1700's, and decorated with opulent chinese themed rooms, with great attention to lighting, sanitation and the design of a great kitchen. He threw massive parties, had his own 40 piece orchestra,  and broke many social rules of the day, like mixing up the sexes at the dining table to make the evening more lively and fun.

We had had a great day, and were ready to head home again on the train. On the way home we tuned into the all blacks game against Argentina, only to gasp at the news that the blacks were behind in the early stages, but they came through,  and we tried to keep our boisterous  responses down at each tri or near miss.

Fun at Nottinghill Carnival

Heather was typically keen and insistent that we go down to the infamous Nottinghill Carnival. But when we asked Rosie about it, she mentioned that while she loved the jerk chicken, stressful experiences in the large crowds had put her off returning to the annual event. As carnival weekend came closer, the papers ran stories on police raids around the city aiming to reduce gang violence at the carnival, seizing large amounts of weapons and drugs. But my girl was still keen, and despite my protests and complaints of disliking large crowds, we made plans and headed down late on the Sunday morning, choosing family day as the time we thought best suited for us to attend. 

As the day warmed up, the beats rang out loud and booming with a mix of great reggae, steel bands and African sounds.

This is Europe's largest street party, and second largest in the world, next to Rio. Two million people attend over the bank holiday weekend, with 40,000 volunteers, and bringing some crazy figure like 90 million dollars into the London economy, which makes the policing spend of 6 million look quite reasonable.

So, the sun was shining, the sounds inviting, the floats full of colour and fun, the rum punch delicious,and the jerk chicken and plantain cooked to smoky perfection. At one point we provided some entertainment for a guy who looked on at our poor' ol white girls failed attempts to groove to the music, but I wasn't put off, and just enjoyed the day. The police were very friendly, and young people and families were always seen with them chatting and smiling, so despite the 30 something police that were assaulted over the weekend, and the hundreds of arrests that occurred, what I saw was a great advertisement for boosting police public relations. Of course, we arrived early, and had more than spent our budget by late afternoon, and as the air filled with more smoky BBQ haze, we happily made our way home after a great day.