Lewes/Brighton Weekend - Part 1

Early morning today, but didn't matter because excited about the Lewes/Brighton trip that Boston College hosted for all of the BC students studying abroad in London. Met up with the group at Waterloo tube station and grabbed some hot chocolate before sitting on the bus for two hours on the ride to Lewes. Tried to get some reading done for class, but ended up just falling asleep anyways. Good effort, I guess!

When we arrived in Lewes (pronounced Lewis) we had a walking tour with a cute little lady named Glenda who was just so excited. The man pictured above was absolutely adorable. We walked by his house at the very beginning of the tour and I really think he waits there for people to walk by. Right away he popped out his door to tell us about his plaque that says "In some odd year, nothing happened here." I thought it was hilarious. But anyways, it was freezing so we were all looking forward to our lunch. Lewes was beautiful...what I pictured countryside England to look like. It's an ancient country town with a lot of history. Many writers and artists like to live here and I can see why...so peaceful. Very expensive to live here because of it's popularity.

Went to Ann of Cleves's house who was the 4th wife of King Henry VII. Weird that we took a tour of this place because she never even lived here, just rented it out. We were supposed to tour Lewes Castle, but it was closed for refurbishment (below is a picture of the exterior of the castle). Kind of interesting to see what a house back then looked like. The best part by far was dressing up in the clothes of the time period and taking pictures (I'm in the back with the purple dress and black hat...lookin' goooooood). So funny, felt like when we used to spend all day in the basement playing dress up.

The streets were very narrow and cobblestoned. Steep hills because Lewes actually means "on a hill" which is very uncommon in England. Saw the cutest little car. Thought it was an antique, but it's a Nissan Figaro (new car, just made to look old). She's no White Heat!

Had lunch in the Sherriff's Room at the White Hart Hotel where Thomas Paine forged his radical policies and debated at the Headstrong Club. Lewes was really into Thomas Paine...it was kind of weird. But lunch was great! Then it was time to get back on the bus to go to the lively, historic seaside town of Brighton which took about an hour and a half. Before stopping at our hostel we had a tour in Brighton (luckily this one was indoors) of the Royal Pavilion, which was the play-palace of George IV. It was insanely lavish and ornate; the interior was inspired by China and the exterior was inspired by India. We weren't allowed to take any pictures inside, though. At times it was a bit much with all of the dragons and snakes...definitely over the top.

After that we arrived at my first hostel! Right on the water and could see Brighton Pier from our window. Made me miss my own beach, but also made me wonder what Narragansett Pier would've looked like in it's heyday. Brighton Pier was all lit up and rides were running...even in this weather! The hostel was better than I had expected. Called St. Christopher's. The downstairs was a cool bar with football playing on the flatscreens. Walls decorated with sick posters like Johnny Depp and Red Hot Chili Peppers (rather Westernized). Really neat to see all these youngish travelers speaking different languages get together here. We were told to get together with a group of 8 girls for our room so we did that and ventured to room 14. Four sets of red & yellow bunkbeds, one bathroom, but who cares...waterview! Can't imagine being in a room like that with all strangers, especially guys too. Little scary.

Dropped off our stuff and had a drinking hour in the hostel bar funded by BC with Pauline and Don before dinner. Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that Boston College would pay for us to drink. Watched some football (soccer) and were off to a restaurant called Pitcher & Piano which was right in walking distance of the hostel. Great place, but they had trouble getting 30 meals out at the same time. Had some salmon...yum!

Went back to the hostel and changed to go out for the night. It was 10pm and most clubs weren't even open yet!! Big club scene here. Popped into a few places, but very expensive!