Going to Brighton to find the officers. Or a husband. Or both.

Sorry, blog. I've been neglecting you a wee bit.

Let's see, what's happened since Tuesday....

I've had all of my classes at least once now. I'm really looking forward to all of them.
I don't know if I've said it before, but they are the Bloody History of Afternoon Tea, the Concept of Kingship, Shakespeare and Others in London Theatre, and History of Art.

Wednesday night we had our first family dinner. The beautiful Mary made us mac'n'cheese with cauliflower, green beans, and baguette. Katie made us an incredible dessert called Eton Mess. Afterwards we went to a student bar in the University of London Union (where we have classes) and watched the England v. Wales "football" match. England won. I decided I want to buy the English goalkeeper's jersey. Mostly because it's an awesome color. But I still want a football jersey anyway. It was at this bar that I officially decided I hate beer.  However, I did have a pint of Gaymer's hard cider which is GREAT.

Thursday I had two classes. Professor Lutze took us after his class to the British Library, where we are now registered as readers. I have an awesome ID card with my picture and everything. We're going to have to do a lot of research there. Particularly in the India Office Records, or something like that.
We had our first art class that day as well. Our teacher, Linda Bolton, talked to us for just a few minutes before immediately taking us to the National Gallery, which was incredible. And we hardly even saw anything. She just wanted to introduce us to some Dutch painting before going to Amsterdam next week.

Now we're all caught up and I can tell you about Brighton.

Well. Brighton is awesome. It's a very chill town. I'm pretty sure it's more of a city, but it has the feel of a town. It's on the coast so we got to see the sea! Haha...that rhymed...
The beach was so cool because it's not sandy, but rather is a bunch of pretty good sized rocks. Yet there are still some small enough to sneak into your shoes and be quite annoying...

We also explored Brighton Pier. It's the only remaining pier in Brighton today. I got some fish and chips on the pier. I ate a couple bites before realizing that it was waaaaaaaayyy too greasy for me. So I gave it to the boys. Problem solved.
After exploring the beach, the girls and I went shopping, which pretty much took up the rest of the day. There were insane amounts of adorable little boutiques with the most unique and amazing clothes ever. I told Mary to help me refrain from buying everything I saw that was cute, but she was no help. All she does is stand there and say, "Go for it!"
No help at all.
I did limit myself to one pair of boots and one dress....and one pair of gloves, one pair of sunglasses, and one giant block of dark chocolate with hazelnuts from a store called Choccywoccydoodah. How could I resist?!?

Oh, I also feel like I should mention that the title of this blog post is a reference to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. In the book, the recently married Lydia tells her mother to send her sisters to Brighton, for "That is the place to get husbands." Therefore, Mary and I were hunting for husbands all day. No luck. :(

I would go back to Brighton in a heartbeat. Before we did all the beachy/shopping things, our guide took us to this incredible Pavilion that was built by George (IV), son of the crazy King George III. You know, the one that spurred us to run away to America and revolt against the crown. (George III, that is, not George IV. Just to clarify).
The Pavilion was the in a sort of "Oriental Gothic" style, I believe. It was GREATLY influenced by Indian and Chinese culture/architecture. It was so ridiculously ornate and extravagant. The whole palace was built as a show of George's wealth. Man, he was indeed very wealthy, and you could tell.

So that was really cool. I think I'm all caught up now. Today is my first real day to relax (and do homework, unfortunately). A lot of our group traveled to Dover for the day today to see the Castle and the cliffs and everything. I decided not to. I don't regret it. I got to sleep in. It was great.

I hope to update soon. Hopefully before I leave for Amsterdam and Bruges next Wednesday, but perhaps not.

We shall see!

My pictures of Brighton.