38. Diary Entry: Brighton, London

 

Dear lovely Diary,

Today, Monday, was a great day to which I looked forward for a long time. My best friend Jenany and I encapsulate us starting today and went to Brighton by Train. The weather was great, the sun was shining. From typical English weather was nothing to see, like the last days, too. We took the train at 9 am from the station Canterbury West to Brighton. The journey lasted 3 hours. The train ride was beautiful. The landscape looked idyllic, as in books of Rosamunde Pilcher. By 12 o’ clock we finally arrived in Brighton and the sun was shining. We felt like being on holiday and bought us an ice instantly. We bought a city map and immediately went to the beach. We were looking forward to the Brighton Pier. Through small cozy streets we walked towards the beach. The houses are partially colored, old and new, all next to each other. It looked strange, but great, too. Once on the beach we made right many photos. Some Photos with the Brighton Pier, some of the “Brighton Eye” and some selfies. Next we drove with the Ferris wheel and had a great view of Brighton and the coast. After the Ferris wheel ride we walked along the Brighton Pier and ate Fish and Chips. The BEST Fish and Chips ever! At the Brighton Pier, there were free deck chairs on which we lay in the sun. With light sunburn we went to the end of Brighton Pier to the small funfair. At the fair there was a water ride, a roller coaster, a big slide and many small shops. Of course we took all rides. Then we took the roller coaster and had a lot of fun. Then we took the water stream and for sure, we are wet from head to toe. But it was so funny. We had such a nice day here in Brighton. We are girls, so then we wanted to buy shoes, shoes and maybe shoes. The downtown area was full of lovely shops and we could not decide in which we wanted first. Two hours later we went with two bags in hand to the Lanes. The Lanes (The North Laines) is a shopping area with a lot of second hand shops, alternative shops, fair trade shops and restaurants with vegetarian and vegan food. Then we walked through the shops and bought something. After our stroll we went in a vegan restaurant and wrote our postcards and ate vegan hamburgers with chips and homemade Lemonade. The Burger was so tasty (Hamburger with spelled Bread, tomato, cucumber, tofu and vegan mayonnaise with garlic and turmeric). For the dessert we took a cupcake without animal ingredients and sugar, a bit of healthy and biologically could not hurt, we thought. Full of good food and happy we went back to Brighton Pier. Along the way we discovered a palace in a park. Of course, we made pictures first of this beautiful palace, which looked a little bit of 1001 Night. We saw that on the roof of the palace is a Café, ooooh, ooooh, we were so saturated, but then we had a look- CAKE! Nice CAKE! Ten minutes later we were sitting with a huge piece of cake on the roof of the palace (what a nice view). With even thicker belly we went further towards the beach and the Brighton Pier. Felt 1000 photos later we walked through the big game room on the Brighton Pier. There were countless slot machines and other ways to ruinous. We are also not fell for the slot machines and do not let us influence. “Oh, Jenany, hey, have a look! My first Teddy! And a piece of candy I also have won!” Okay… this plan worked out very well. “Where is the nearest bank to switch money?!” Jenany asked. On the way to the bank was TK Maxx, but it was okay. We only had a look. Two pairs of shoes later we went to the bank. Now that we had money again, we walked through the right Shopping Street with Shops like Topshop, H&M, Primark and something like that. After our little (BIG B-I-G) shopping tour we enjoyed the sun at the beach. We both had a book to read in handbags. NO, it was not a book about a Shopping or Shoe addiction. While the sun was shining on us, we noticed that it was time to nibble a snack. No, we don´t count calories! Sometimes, maybe, BUT our Burger was vegan and the Cupcake, the Cupcake was without sugar. The Ice Cream, oh yes there was ice cream- it was early in the morning and it was already trained by walking (We hoped so) “And the cake in the Café?” I could not remember!! Okay, she was right. Then we got some sweets with Lemon Curt flavor! With an ice cream in each hand (right, EACH hand) , we walked again through the nice and little park. Now there were hundreds of people sitting with friends and having a picnic. We were dreaming a little bit and imagine ourselves we would live here and in the evening sitting in the park, too. What a nice imagination. And then, my best friend says:” Sarah! It´s the same like sitting in Siegen, in our beautiful castle park, only without the sea, the pier and without everything from Brighton but we have us – sitting in a park with friends.” What a nice Statement. We were slowly starting our way to the main train station. In fact it was already dark. A nice surprise expected us at the train Station. There was a Piano for everybody. A homeless man sat down at the piano and played perfectly piano. In my Opinion it was Tschaikowskys Swan Lake. All people applauded and the homeless man thanked as he wept with emotion. That was very touching. And then, then there was my best friend. And what does she played? DUCK Song, DUCK song. That was so funny! All the People around us were laughing. Then I was crying, because it was so funny. She is just such a good entertainer. Before our train arrived, we sat on a bench on the platform. Ten minutes later, a man came up to us and warned us that the train stops at the platform later. The man was very nice and we talked with him. He told us, that he has to empty the trash, because he could no longer exercise his main occupation, because of illness. He looked a little bit sad while he talked about it. He told us, too that Brighton, his Hometown, has no jobs and opportunities, and that the young people have to go to other cities. His kids are in Dublin. But he talked so proud about his children, it was nice to see. Nice to see, that he can feel lucky in spite of everything. Then we told him anything about us, about studying in Germany, the Excursion and about our impressions from England. Then he told us a joke, that joke was so funny. It was “What goes into the toaster? Ähm, we thought and said “Toast?!?” He has to laugh. No, girls no! It is so easy, he said. “It is Bread – Bread goes in, Toast comes out!” We had to laugh. And then there was a second joke, but I could not remember. Unfortunately our train arrived and we had to come aboard and drove back to Canterbury. Jenany and I talked a long time about the nice man. After a two- hour train ride we arrived at Ashford. In Ashford we had a stay of 30 minutes. Meanwhile, we were tired and we were cold and the train should finally come, but then came an announcement that our train has a delay of 40 minutes. Why should it be any different in England than in Germany! We were angry. Luckily even a café, directly at the train station, was opened. So we were able to warm up and drink a hot chocolate. After the 40 minutes the train finally arrived and we lead the direction of Canterbury. After an hour, we finally arrived in Canterbury and took a taxi to Kemsdale Court. It was totally strange to drive with the taxi on the “wrong” side of the road. The taxi driver had to smile, because Jenany and I were a little bit afraid. The other Girls of our flat were already waiting for us and have been worried where we are. After a small fashion Show with our new stuff we have fallen into bed. It was a really nice day trip with Jenany. I really enjoyed it. I think, Jenany enjoyed it, too. Brighton is a very beautiful city and Jenany and I will definitely come back. Maybe to buy shoes, eat cake, cupcakes, ice-cream, vegan Burger or just go to swim and to enjoy the view.

Dear my lovely Diary,

Today I went home with two new pairs of shoes, but let me explain from the beginning. Today, there was our trip to London. I was so excited and eager to London, because I have never been there before. We took the bus at 10 o’ clock in the morning at Kemsdale Court to London. The journey took 2 hours. The other girls were sleeping (they had a hangover). Jenany and I took some pictures out of the bus. The sun was shining. The journey turned out to be a bit difficult, because our bus driver (PEEEEDEEER) did not know exactly where he had to go to. But we were not annoyed about it, because of the light traffic streets. Round about 12 o’ clock we arrived in London, ready to get out of the bus. Then the girls (Jenany, Caro, Elena, Ann- Christin Best “Club of the Unicorns” EVER!) and I went to the underground station (St. Pauls Cathedral our meeting point for the return) and we bought a daily ticket. The daily ticket contained the zone 1 till 6 and we had to pay round about 13 pounds per person. Then we drove to Covent Garden, because there was our City tour meeting point. We still had an hour before our tour started. At a grand place in the middle of Covent Garden area was a comedy show with magician elements. The guy, who did the show, looked so funny, and his show was the same. He was very tall. He looked like over 2 metres. His outfit was incredible and funny, too. He was wearing a skinny jeans (it looked like a jeans for a girl), with purple stripes and flowers on his knees. His shirt was a little bit short for him, I think it was a small size, maybe an extra small, but he would have needed a medium size, because in my opinion it was a shirt for a girl, too. On his shirt was a big unicorn (because of that, the girls and I are the “Club of the Unicorns”) in red and pink and everywhere was glitter on his shirt. (Maybe it was his halloween costume and he wanted to try it and see people’s reactions). Through the trousers he looked even thinner. (Maybe 2 Metres and 55 kilos, a little bit creepy). During the show, he took a ladder and wanted to climb the ladder without any help. It was clear that he did not make it. Then he took a man out of the audience (Sam from Auckland, New Zealand a very hot guy) (unfortunately his girlfriend was standing next to him (Elena and Caro were a little bit sad about that)) to the front and told him jokes which were not funny, but the magician man was so funny that his jokes were it, too. Sam’s task was not to lough by listening to the jokes, while he had to look at the magician man. Sam was so good! Everybody was laughing, but Sam, Sam was hard like a biker and there was nothing in his face, really! There was no reaction. It was so cool! Later Caro, Elena, Ann-Christin, Jenany and I went to our meeting point at the Apple store in Covent Garden area. This kind of tour was different and very cool, because it was for free, in a little group and we had to walk across London. At 3 o’ clock in the evening started our tour with a friendly australian girl called Sally. Sally was a small and nice person, very friendly and politely. It was funny with Sally, because we had to act at some cultural points. For example at the office from the Queen we had to act King Henry and his 6 women. And we had to act the death of his women. That was funny, because one of Henry’s women was acted by a black man (he looked like Notorious BIG). After that we went to the Buckingham Palace. Unfortunately Queen Elizabeth was not at home (we were sad about that). Sally told us the story about Michael Fagan. Michal Fagan was breaking into the Buckingham Palace in 1982. He talked to the Queen for 20 minutes. Till today, no one knows what the two have spoken. After this station we went to a Park where we had a break. Jenany and I encapsulated us and went to the London Eye. On the way to the London Eye we passed a money exchange, where Jenany wanted to change 250 Euros. I was shocked, for 250 Euros she was getting 135 Pounds. 135!!! England was so expensive! I knew that England is expensive, but I did not expect it like that. Then we walked to the London Eye. Arrived there, awaited us a long queue. Fortunately we had bought online tickets for the London Eye. We were able to go straight and get in and did not have to stand in line. As the London Eye started Jenany and I were excited. At the highest point we had a great view of London. We saw the Big Ben, the red busses and the Thames. It was so nice to see it on a sunny day. We took a lot of pictures out of the cabin. 30 minutes and 12 selfies later we went to the Big Ben. In front of the Big Ben was a meadow where we ate some chips and burger from Mc Donald’s (No, not the same burger as in Germany). It was nice to be able to lie in the sun in september and for sure to lie in the sun in London (Sun=London?! You know). After it, we took one of the red busses to Baker Street (Jenany loves the red busses, so we had to take a ride). Arrived at the Baker Street we walked to Oxford Street and bought souvenirs. I bought a cotton bag for my mum, she really felt in love with that bag. Jenany bought a keychain for her sister, really nice keychain. Then we walked along the Oxford Street and suddenly I saw an Aldo shop. I felt so in love with Aldo since I was in Barcelona. The shoes and handbags from Aldo looked a little bit flashy but so nice. I bought two pair of shoes there (my new shoes are so beautiful! Loafers in silver and the second pair are black and purple in a snake leather look. Very nice) and Jenany bought some handbag. A black colored handbag, Perfect for the university, because there is enough space for her laptop. Jenany was so in love with her new handbag that she changed her old one right there. After this lovely trip to Aldo (Aldo= my Fashion heaven) we went to Topshop. Topshop was cooler than H&M, but the clothes are not so different, only the prices. At Topshop I saw a cool jacket, but the jacket was small. I think it was probably better that way. Jenany bought some jeans, very cool. A black one and a blue washed jeans with cracks at the knees. Then we went to H&M to meet the other girls. All of them had shopping bags (I did not expect anything else). The girls and I went to a Store of Victoria’s Secrets, we all wanted to buy some underwear, but only two of us bought something. Diary, if you do not know it, Victoria’s Secrets is such a popular and nice label. (Every girl needs something from Victoria’s Secrets in her life!!!) The others were unsure because of the prices, so they bought some Cupcakes (They thought “Cupcakes are for longer”  For Sure, ladies. Only one Word— HIPS—!). After our shopping trip we went to the underground station St.Pauls Cathedral, where our bus was waiting. On that way we passed a shop from Pizza Hut and bought some pizza for the return. Jenany, Caro and Elena bought some salami pizza. I bought a vegetarian one with vegetables and cheese. It was the best pizza I have ever had. At St.Pauls Cathedral, we had to wait round about 20 minutes. Meanwhile the other girls had a look at my new shoes and Jenany’s new jeans. Ann-Christin really felt in love with my new shoes, too. She wanted to steal my shoes for the first time. When the bus was arriving, we all wanted to go in, because it was 9o’clock in the evening and everyone was tired because of the trip and for sure because of the shopping trip. The return trip was thankfully quieter than the outward journey. There was no loud music (horribly music like the last days) and no singing. After two hours of bus travel we reached at Kemsdale Court at the University of Kent. All of us were tired and happy to be at home to go to bed (I swear, my bed was screaming my name!). Elena, Caro, Jenany, Ann-Christin and I were talking about the trip and made a small fashion show. After that I took some pictures for my mum and send the pictures by WhatsApp. After a short call with my mum and my grandma, I went to bed and watched some chapter of my favorite TV Series. It was a very nice and lovely day with my lovely girls in London. I really felt in love with London since the excursion. My next trip in the holidays I am planning to go to London. shortly said, The girls and I will definitely come back. (Not only for a shopping trip! Okay, maybe for a shopping trip!).