HOLIDAYS IN EASTBOURNE DAY 9

I think I should write a book titled "How to stay dry during showers", because I become a specialist in this matter !

When I left the house around 11 am the sky was grey but it was dry. I climbed in the bus and it started to pour ! Cats and dogs were falling from heaven. When I arrived at destination, the rain had stopped.



Before I walked to the seafront, I went into my private toilet (restroom, bathroom, loo, as you wish) which is located in this nice department store shown in the picture above.left. Of course I had no intention to buy anything there, but when I wanted to go out it poured again. So I stayed inside and walked around and of course bought some little things. Then the rain had stopped and I took a picture of the street because I love the architecture of the houses. I walked to the seafront and had traditional "Fish & Chips" in a Restaurant with view on the sea. While I enjoyed my meal it rained. When I had finished it stopped raining and  the sun even came out.


I started my striptease but stopped in time (it still was rather cool) , took  off my coat and cardigan, put some suncream on and watched the people on the beach. The little girl and her brother had a nice swimming suit, which looked like a diver's costume, protecting them from the sun, wind and cold. I thought that it would be a nice bathing suit to buy for my little grandson.




The sea was quiet agitated and the waves high, but it was beautiful to watch and listen.



The seagulls gathered for a meeting and chatted like a group of desperate housewives. A kind of cabbage grew in the middle of the pebbles, quiet funny to see.



I made a long walk along the sea enjoyed the flowers on one side and the water on the other.

Then I had a cup of tea before I went back to my bus stop.The bus arrived .... and it started to rain again ! I got out and it stopped. When I arrived home the sun was shining and all in all I had a very nice day !

HOLIDAYS IN EASTBOURNE DAY 8

The day started with a heavy shower, buckets of water dropping on the roof ! Neighbor Yvonne popped in for a cup of tea and announced proudly that she had lost 4 pounds. I asked "where ?" and she pointed on her voluminous bosom. I said "you keep your money there ? it must have fallen out !" when she burst into laughter because she was talking about lbs and I about £ !

Fortunately it cleared up and we drove outside Eastbourne to have lunch in a very nice "Cavery"



It looked very cosy and the food was very good



On the way back we saw a van selling ice cream, stopped and bought a cone for each and sat on a bench at the beach. It was so beautiful ! Yesterday I had taken a picture of the same rock but the landscape was all grey !




My friend stopped on the top of a hill with this stunning view on Eastbourne.

They went shopping and left me at the seafront, I wanted to sit down a little at the beach because it was so warm and sunny for once.



The afternoon band was playing and lots of people listened even laying on the beach. I had a cup of tea and took a little sunbath, before I took the bus home.



and in the evening we watched this enormous moon !

KISSES FROM EASTBOURNE HOLIDAYS DAY 7

more participants at Jenny Matlock's Alphabet Thursday

LETTER K !


Other then to send you a kiss,  I couldn't discretely put a "K" into my holiday diary, to take part in the meme ! No other word fits !

The weatherman had announced 20°C and sunshine. I told myself "Hurray" and off I went to take the bus to Brighton England's most populous seaside resort.

As soon we had left a sunny Eastbourne,  it started to rain ! As I had been the first person on the bus I also had the best place for taking photos. I sat on the second floor just over the driver ! Unfortunately my pictures are a little dark and decorated with raindrops.



A very nice view from the bus





Even in the rain the South Downs are such a beautiful landscape ! So peacefully in various greens, as far as your eyes could see ! Fortunately I had seen it before when the sun was shining !

After an hour through little villages and beautiful landscapes we finally approached Brighton.



The so famous Pier from far didn't look very special compared to the beautiful Pier in Eastbourne. There was also this wheel which I called "The Brighton Eye" but definitively had nothing to do with the London eye !

When I got off the bus it rained that much, that I only seeked for refuge



and the closest was the Brighton Pier ! I thought I had stumbled into a funfair ! Lots and lots of games for kids and a casino like hall in the Pier building itself ! There was loud music coming from everywhere, not the kind of place to rest !



The inside of the Pier must have been very beautiful, but now with all these gambling machines, it was packed and I quickly got out of there. You weren't allowed to take pictures either because of the gambler's guaranteed anonymity. I didn't even find a decent place to eat in peace, a little café or something, there were only food stalls which are nice when it's warm and sunny !

I had completely other memories of Brighton because I had been there in the 90th, I hadn't noticed the ugly seafront which looks like the Belgian one, mostly new awful modern flats in high buildings.

I had enough, and wasn't keen to see the city itself in the rain. Brighton is certainly a nice place for young people to dance the whole night through or for gamblers who want to spent their time with gambling. Nothing for families or elderly people in my opinion.

I took the bus back, the rain had stopped and I  enjoyed the cute little houses in different styles.







all along the way driving through the little towns or villages with only a Pub, a postoffice, a shop and a bus stop !

And then I arrived in Eastbourne again, where the sun was shining ! In such a short distance the weather was completely different !



I sat at the seafront and ordered a cheese toast and tea, and was served like this because the seagulls steal food even out of your plate !



I stayed there for a while taking a little sunbath and enjoyed the nice view on the Eastbourne pier, watched the people walking along the sea and then I returned home.

EASTBOURNE HOLYDAYS DAY 6

My mobile phone was ringing at 6.15 am and woke me up ! I thought something bad had happened at home, otherwise who would call me that early ?  I looked at the number and it was Anne's who slept peacefully next door ! A missed call ! She never called me.

The house is bewitched !  Yesterday night when she took the remote control of her armchair to move it more down, an awful noise like a rusty machine turning started. We both got a shock. She dropped the remote control in her lap and the noise stopped. She tried again, the noise started and then suddenly nothing anymore.

We checked the chair nothing. But the room started to smell very badly in short it stank burnt plastic and a little cloud came out behind the dining table ! Quiet far away from the armchair ! I looked, there was a shredder standing there which smoked and distributed that awful smell ! Now can anybody tell me why switching on a light the shredder burnt and the armchair made this terrible noise ?

The morning was cool and rainy but we had a lunch appointment with Anne's friends in a Pub in Eastbourne. Her friend Yvonne wanted to drive but told us that she had only two doors at her replacement car and it would be a little difficult to get into the back. As the third friend Carol and I are rather slim we said that there would be no problem for us ! So we tried to push the front seats forwards to get into the back, but it didn't work. The four of us tried and tried without success. Suddenly Carol after 10 min found a hole near the roof and there was a well hidden handle inside ! She screamed "hurrah, I found a third door ! " and then I found the fourth door on my side too. We laughed our heads off that everybody was convinced that we had a car with only two doors !



and honestly it really looked like it !



Finally we arrived in this nice Pub, had a wonderful meal and a lot of fun. The waiter hearing us laughing  proposed himself to take a picture !

We stayed quiet long and then returned home, as it started to rain again.

EASTBOURNE HOLIDAYS DAY 5

It's Monday and the weekend over. I bought a weekly bus ticket to be more independent, as my hosts have also other things to do as driving me around. The ticket was rather cheap because one return ticket is very expensive, it would only make 3 rides for the same amount. Now I can travel as much as I want to all little towns around Eastbourne or along the sea.

This was my first stroll along the seafront. It was quiet cloudy, but the sun came through and although it was only 17°C (63 F), in the sun it was nice and I could sit there after having made a tour on the Pier



It is beautiful and built in Victorian style. As I almost blow away because it was very windy on the Pier I just made a tour, took some pictures and went down to the beach.




There I sat in the sun and watched the seagulls fighting for food or sitting on the tables and checking the plates. One decorated the head of a soldier. They made quiet a lot of noise and once I thought it was a woman laughing but it was a seagull !



The good sea air made me hungry and I had a cheese and pesto toast with a cup of tea at this lovely place.



The seafront is very beautiful with all these flowers, palm trees and the old Victorian houses.



The beach was rather empty because it was too cold. Later a few courageous people came with beach beds to lay down.




I just loved to watch the sea and the people walking by



I sat besides two old ladies who talked about their funerals. They wanted to be incinerated and were asking themselves what to do with their ashes. I listened but refrained from giving any suggestions ! I am sure the seagulls would find a solution ...



The flowers behind me were beautiful



I could think that I was at the French Riviera. I even got a little sunburn, because I hadn't thought to put some suncream on my face !



The afternoon concert started at 3 pm and I saw the musician preparing their instruments. 



On my way to the bus station to return home, I saw this shop "Cats Protection" of course I went inside to buy something, but unfortunately there was nothing.

I returned home without any problems and even found the right stop to get out ! Miracles happen.

EASTBOURNE HOLIDAYS DAY 4

This morning when I woke up, the sun was shining but then half an hour later buckets of water suddenly fell from heaven, lasted about 5 min and then it was over !

As the sun came out went to the Ringmer Steam and Country Show.

Ringmer is a village in East Sussex, England. The village is located 3 miles (4.8 km) east of Lewes.
It is one of the largest villages in the south of England.There has been human habitation since at least Roman times which proves again wherever I go the Romans have been there before !



The showground was a huge field, where steam engines, historical vehicles, motorcycles, etc were displayed.




There were also a playground and toys



old car toys



a cowboy shoot out, where later some Cowboys "killed" each other



My friends Anne, Doug and their neighbor Yvon inspecting the tractors



I also saw for the first time Punch & Judy the famous puppets which all British children know. I sat there with them and and listened to the story ! Was very funny.




Then these old steam engines were shown, they smoked and stank, I wonder how people could survive working which such things and some of them lived until their 100, if today smoking a cigarette is already a life threat ! I pinched my nose !



I had a delicious cheese toast and a cup of tea and started to count the families which arrived with one or several dogs ! I quickly gave up counting there were too many ! but I also saw a black cat on a leash.



The most cute stall was where the owls and falcons were ! The little once were so cute, and the big one looked like a bad tempered old man !

After having visited an impressive amount of stalls selling old and new stuff, I bought a pair of earrings for a pound and then we slowly returned to the car.

We were quiet tired, and only felt better after a good cup of tea. We had a very nice and sunny day, only the wind was strong and therefore it was quiet cool.

For supper we had roasted chicken with Broccoli and a warm apple pie ! I watched a little bit TV with my friends and then dropped in my bed !

EASTBOURNE HOLIDAYS DAY 3

I was quiet happy when I saw the result of the pictures I had taken during the Olympic Opening !



I had a very good place, close to the Queen and ...



Mr. Bean ! Laying comfortably on the couch  !

Today we went to the seafront in Eastbourne.


.
The weather was nice, despite the fact that the weatherman had announced showers !

At the seafront the Lammas Festival took place. This word comes from the old English for Loaf Mass" a celebration of the Earth's bounty which was traditionally held at the time of the cutting of the first corn crop.



There were lots of peoples dressed in costumes



even belly dancing



Lots of games and music bands, people were picnicking on the grass and everybody had a lot of fun.  I suddenly felt that I HAD to have a good portion of chips and bought me some. It was part of the festivities.



My friend Anne while waiting for her husband Doug, replaced him with this cute partner !

Then we left the place, which sometimes makes me think of a Southern country because of the palm trees and did our shopping for supper at Tesco's.