Brighton Beach

I was going to have a lie in but Becky woke me up early and asked if I wanted to walk with her to the train station.  As I will be using the same station on Wednesday morning to get train to St Pancras I thought  I would go along with her and check out the route. We got to the station around 8.30am.  Beckys train  journey takes 4 mins   - such a difference from the very long commute she had when she worked in London.

I managed to find my way back "home" OK but then I had trouble getting in the front door. No matter what I did the key wouldn't open the door.  I messaged Becky asking for help.  "turn clockwise whilst pushing the  key in hard" says Becky. So I'm turning and pushing and turning and pushing but still the door doesn't open.   I tried and tried and tried for around 10.mins and then I decided if pushing the door wasn't working I would try pulling it towards me using the handle whilst turning the key. And bingo the door opened.  I was so thankful to get indoors.

Had some brekkie and around 10.30am I set off again to find a bus stop where I could catch a bus to Brighton.  It isn't easy finding bus stops in Burgess Hill.  There's hardly any, some aren't used any more, some are used but have no timetable so I ended up walking around just searching for a stop.  Becky and Mike never get the bus so they were no help. Buses are very infrequent too so when I did find a stop I had a long wait.  And when the bus came it was packed full.  Thankfully I did get a seat a few stops down the road

(I could have got a train to Brighton which would have been the easy option but I wanted to get there for free using my Consessionary  pass )

Takes around 35 mins to get to Brighton.  First place I headed for was The Pavilion.  Took a photo - see Extra - then had a look in the gift shop.  Then I walked to the seafront.  Very busy.  Lots of schoolchildren around.  Weather was very hot and sunny.  Very hazy out at sea.

Walked to the end of the pier.  Took my blip shot.  Musical link Brighton Beach by Rod Stewart.

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=XdpLhUyw2jI&feature=share

Then I walked to The Lanes and mooched around the shops for a bit. Had an ice cream cone too.  Yummy.

My other Extra shows the derelict Hippodrome theatre. It's in a sorry state.  It's been closed since 2007.

Then it was time to go "home".  But there was a problem.  I kept getting lost trying to find my way to the bus stop.  I was using Google maps but my sense of direction and map reading skills are both poor. I seemed to wander around for ages until I found the stop. Then a long wait for a bus.  

Whe it came to the time to get off the bus in Burgess Hill I think I got off too early as I  didn't recognise anywhere around. So I had to contact Becky and she guided me home via WhatsApp messages.  I was exhausted when I finally got indoors.  (Had trouble with the pesky key again!) Becky arrived home soon after me at 5.30pm.  

Around 6.30pm we were off out again to meet Mike as he got off his train and then a 30 min walk to The Oak Barn restaurant for our evening meal.  Lovely place with nice food.

By the time we got back home it was almost bed time.

So another busy day for me.  Feel like I have just walked and walked and I'm worn out.  At least tomorrow its mostly train travel so I can just sit back and relax.

No chance for comments again today.  I will catch up in the next few days.

Steps today 25,823