Brighton & Eastbourne, England

I was lucky enough to tag along on another one of Brian's work trips.  This time he had meetings in Eastbourne, England.  It's claim is "the sunniest city in England", and the weather did not disappoint. 

The highlight of the trip was our picnic on the hills above Beachy Head and the Seven Sisters Cliffs.  The views were unbelievable, the company, perfect, the weather, pleasant, and the picnic we packed from Marks & Spencers, delish.

Walking back to our car the view of Beachy Head was amazing, so we set up the self-timer - a few times.  At this point, it was around 8:45pm, and look how light it was!

Take 1 (or was it take 7?)

Now we got it

It was us and the sheep, enjoying the scenery, and we all had a great evening.

We actually arrived the day before and decided to take an early morning flight on Sunday so we could check out the popular beach town Brighton before heading over to Eastbourne for Brian's work.

The sun was out and clearly the rest of London had the same idea about spending a nice Sunday at the coast....

Check out these crowds.

If there is one thing the British (and Irish) do well, it's take advantage of the sun when it come out.

I didn't mean to get these skateboarders in my shot - I just loved the aqua color of the hut.

I loved all the aqua railings and brick walls - and B looks pretty cute too

Taking a break on the beach

The beaches were definitely not sandy beaches, and not the little pebble beaches we saw in France.  They were actual rocks.  It wasn't easy to walk around on, that's for sure, but it was nice not to get all sandy.

Lounge Chairs 

As you probably know, Fish & Chips are very popular in the UK, but did you know that they sometimes eat them with MUSHY peas?  I haven't tried them, but I probably should since they share my nickname-sake.

What's a beach town without a famous pier?

The Royal Pavillion

After an afternoon walking around Brighton, and catching up with an old friend of Brian's, Lucy, we headed over to Eastbourne.  On the way, we stopped a few times to see the cliffs.  This is where the picnic idea came about.

It was pretty crazy that you could just walk right up to the cliff's edge.  It really gives you that sinking feeling in your stomach when you get close.  We didn't spend much time near the edge.  I didn't get close enough to look over, and I'm unsure if Brian actually was able to see over the edge here either.

Eastbourne Pier

Eastbourne has a beautiful seafront promenade, with lot's of  parks, paths and beaches, it was really clean, quiet and nice.

Everywhere in Eastbourne is lined with memorial benches.  There were so many benches we dubbed it "The City of Benches".  You seriously couldn't walk more than 30 seconds without a bench to sit on, and often they were just lining the walkways.

All the benches are dedicated

More rocky beaches 

Eastbourne

 It was a great trip, and I'm so happy I was able to tag along.  I will always remember our picnic as one of our best - so far.