Right on Brighton

Brighton's webpage describes the city as colourful, vibrant, creative, cosmopolitan, compact, exotic, and free-spirited. After a 57 minute train ride from Victoria Station, my sassy Tennessean friend Wendy and I found ourselves concurring on most counts.

The most exotic element of the city has to be the Royal Pavilion, a formal royal residence which looks like it's straight out of India. It looks about as British as a magic carpet ride.

It's ten pounds to enter the building but free to stroll the excellent gardens filled with gladiolas, picnickers, and your occasional dirndl girl with a bassoon.

I think it's safe to say we were less keen on the kitschy boardwalk where you'd definitely go if you were looking for food on a stick or rides with names like turbo coaster and horror hotel.

But the coolest part of the trip, and it was pretty cool indeed, was strolling through their neat windy streets with artsy shops, welcoming pubs, candy stores with fun names like Fizziwigg's, and the most adorable cupcake shop in the world.

where you can get frosting without having to even mess around with the cake part. genius.

And how much did I spend in the midst of all the fun vintage shops?

just three pounds on this great burglar shirt!