BRIGHTON ROCKS, Saturday, October 1

Portobello Markets mania.

Picking up the Vauxhall.

Brighton beachgoers.

No sandcastles here.

Hot stone therapy.

Beachfront getting a little crowded.

Relaxing on your own little patch.

Pimms o'clock.

People pay money for this and eat it.

Feeling merry.

Very merry.

The iconic pier is all its kitschy glory.

All decked out.

Bathing beauties.

Big day today. Up early and headed to neighbouring Notting Hill once again for its famous Portobello Markets. Huge crowds but not too many bargains. Food was great though and some really interesting curios about. Bought some old printing blocks. Still hot as a bastard. Checked out of apartment and with one tube line down chaos reigned trying to get on a line with luggage in tow. Very smelly and squeezy and three train rides later arrived at Gatwick ariport to pick up our hire car. Freedom. Airconditioning. Boxy Vauxhall with doors that open backwards but it has a sunroof and plenty of room for our growing pile of dirty clothes and souvenirs. Sitting on our bums and seeing the English country landscape unfold was heaven. It was exciting seeing the first thatched roof, stone cottages, deciduous trees in the early stages of turning orange and red lined the motorway. Brighton was our next destination, us and 500,000 other Londoners it turned out. Heatwaves will have that effect. A 30 mile trip took more than two hours a snail trail into the seaside city was something to behold.
But it was worth it. Seeing a crowd that size the beachfront was something to behold. We headed for a pub (they are virtually everywhere) on the beach ordered a beer and pimms and people watched for the next hour. Fascinating. I'd never seen sunbathers lying on piles of stones before. Ben Elton types eating cups of jellied eels sold from beachfront vendors. Just about every colour and creed was there to see the sun set over the English Channel.  The carousel called and with no age restrictions in place had a great time whizzing around the four year olds. Fish and chips on the Brighton Pier finished off a zany afternoon of retro seaside fun.
The place was booked out so we headed down the road and with a bit of good fortune found a secret B&B in a neighbouring village and got some rest plus a few travel tips for the next leg ahead.