We had gifted the Besties a voucher at Christmas, and they, in turn, gifted us tickets for my birthday, which is in the chilly month of February, so we chose to enjoy our respective gifts, together, in the, hopefully, warmer month of June.

 

An hour or so along the coast from our home town of Hastings, is the city of Brighton and as we’d booked a hotel in the heart of the city, we decided to relax, letting the train take the strain, and enjoy the views as we whizzed through the Sussex countryside.

Although it wasn’t cold, it also wasn’t the sunny summers day we had hoped for as we took a stroll, passed Brighton Pavilion and along Brighton seafront, but we did find a food hall with an outside area, protected from the winds, which turned out to be  a lovely spot for a bite to eat, a pint and a little bit of people watching.

From our table we had a great view of the i360 as it took its visitors to its summit, giving them a birds eye view of the city. We had a flight scheduled, ourselves for mid afternoon. At 162 metres, the i360 is not the tallest of towers, but it promised to give us 360* views across Brighton to the South Downs and across the English Channel.

The ticket office is a gorgeous reminder of the architecture of the late 1800’s having been converted from the remains of the entrance to the West Pier, which was destroyed by fire around 20 years ago.

 

Whilst we waited for our time slot, we took in the views from the comfort of deckchairs on the deck, raised above the promenade. The remains of the West Pier a sad, yet somehow beautiful reminder of its once glorious days and looking skyward, the bright colours of our deckchairs reflected off the floor of the i360.

The inside of the glass pod is very minimalist, with a few seats, one of which us old foggies claimed, and a bar. Some of our fellow guests grabbed a Prosecco to sip as we started our flight. It was a slow steady climb, so very easy to stroll around the spacious pod, taking in the views of the sea, the city and across to the South Downs. Being a little cloudy, the horizon wasn’t very clear, and the reflection in the glass made taking photos a little challenging. However we managed to make out various land marks around the city, including the racecourse and the cricket ground (which we were due to visit a couple of weeks later).

It was just a short half hour flight, but that was sufficient to take in the views. I’m not sure those sitting at the bar felt the same way. 😂 Upon our descent, we had a cream tea awaiting us in the cafe 😋 . There had been a bit of a mix up and it seemed someone else had had our cream tea 😳, however the staff were very good and soon arrived with freshly brewed tea and 2 plates of cakes and scones. D-e-l-i-cious but incredibly filling, thank goodness we had a little walk back to the hotel.

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Our evening treat was a trip to the Komedia Club, for Comic Boom 💥 Too apprehensive to sit in the front, we were pleased when we were directed to a table towards the back and one side 😮‍💨.

 

The MC was brilliant and had us crying with laughter from the moment she stepped on stage. It was a fast moving night being entertained by six hilarious upcoming comedians. They all had very different styles and topics, but filled their 15 minute or so slots to perfection. The headline act was evidently a well known comedian 🤷‍♀️. Although he was funny in places he was far too political and shouty for my taste. That said it was a fabulous evening, which we all thoroughly enjoyed. If you find yourself in Brighton, I would highly recommend a visit. 👍

We were staying the night at the Premier Inn, North Street, which turned out to be the perfect location and just a short walk, grabbing a kebab as we passed, back to the bar for a night cap before bed.

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We didn’t need to check out until 12, so as we had a full day planned we took the opportunity to fuel ourselves with a full English, before packing and dropping our keys and bags at reception.

Having undertaken and enjoyed a treasure trail, curtesy of mysteryguides.co.uk, whilst we were in Bristol, we were going to attempt one around Brighton.

 

They are excellent booklets. Alongside the history of the city, runs a fictional tale, taking you on a tour of the city, with clues you need to find and crack to discount characters, places, tools, newspapers and colours enabling you to discover the whodunnit result of the fictional tale.

In pursuit of clues, we were taken down the Lanes of Brighton, seeing all the spectacular murals on the walls. We were guided to several local, old pubs, although it was still a little early (even for us) to stop for a pint.

Along our journey we learned of famous people who were born in the city, taken on to Old Steine, once the site where fishermen dried their nets, before becoming a tourist destination, and now home to the Victoria Fountain.

We were directed onto an incredibly blustery Palace Pier and took a while battling the wind in search of our next clue which was a plaque on the piers deck. This led us back to the corner of Old Steine and a clue on the wall of the Royal Albion Hotel, which unfortunately is being demolished after a serious fire in 2023. However in the event of being unable to access clues, there are prompts at the back of the booklet to overcome such issues.

As people of a certain age, we remember the film Quadrophenia, which was filmed in Brighton and our journey took us passed Quadrophenia Alley, where the hubby posed for a nostalgic photo. Back into the Lanes, more sustenance was required. Time to stop for tea and cake 😋 and delicious it was too.

Slowly but surely we were discovering whodunnit, but we were also discovering more about Brighton. Seeing things we would possibly never have spotted, like the ships sticking out of the clock tower, pointing the way to the sea, the station, Kemp Town and to Hove. We also learned that the ball on top used to drop every 60 minutes to mark the top of the hour. It was sadly discontinued as being too noisy.

Our final destination was the Evening Star Pub, although we didn’t drop in, it enabled us to crack the mystery and find out whodunnit. 👏👏

A fabulous three hour trip, through the streets of Brighton, delving back into the history of the city, exploring places we may not have otherwise visited or discovered.

After all this sleuthing, we now deserved that pint to recount the highs of another mini break, before collecting our bags and catching the train home.