I should add that at this point it was no longer a beautiful day by any standard. It was cold and raining and windy and my umbrella was flying inside and out every time the wind changed. I finally got to the city center of Brighton, wishing I had any sort of coat or shoes that were not made of canvas and didn’t have holes in them. I went into the shopping center to warm up and dry off for a bit. I mostly just wandered around. Finally I left the shopping center and walked down to the beach, which was of course ten times windier and rainier than the rest of the town. But I had to try it. I mean, you can’t spend a significant amount of time in Nova Scotia without developing a certain fondness for rainy beaches. So I braved the beach and walked along it in the rain for as long as I could.
From my hiding place under the umbrella
Venturing out of the umbrella
Cold and wet!
My poor battered umbrella
Eventually I couldn’t take it any more and headed back up to the very center where the buses are. It was about seven PM by the time I got back to Kris’s house, and I’d started out at three. I was soaking wet and cold and tired. As soon as I got in, Kris’s parents started berating me for not having “rung up” so they could come get me. Jan informed me that I was going to have a hot bath (a bath!) and she made me a cup of hot minty chocolate. For those of you who know what Aero chocolate is (Canada, anyone?) it was Aero brand hot chocolate and it’s all bubbly on top and frothy and delicious. So I had a hot bath and a mug of cocoa and put on my pajamas. It was the perfect end to a rainy day. It got even better when Kevin (Kris’s dad) made “ruby murray,” which is a “Cockney rhyme” for curry. It was “Brit curry” according to Kevin, and it was delicious. There were also sammosas and pakoras and tsatsiki and rice. It was delicious, and I’m glad I ate it there instead of going out to some restaurant, because I don’t think a restaurant could have made a better meal than that. Afterwards there was Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and “football” (soccer) on the “telly.” Let’s see how many times I can use quotation marks in this post.
Wednesday morning was a lazy morning, although I did get up and have the leftover curry for breakfast. I also watched Scrubs and a bio show on John Travolta, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Oh, and Star Trek TNG. Yes. It was on. And we watched it. While eating Cheddar cheese. Yum.
Kris’s mom made burgers for what I guess can only be described as elevenses, and then Kris and I headed into to town to take care of some serious business.
- First important order of business: Kris says hello to his former coworkers at his former job.
- Second important order of business: Bobbie buys her bus ticket to the airport for way way too early on Friday morning.
- Third important order of business: Kris and Bobbie head to a shop aptly named “Zero Culture” to check out a shirt they saw in the window the other night, but it is toon expensive and neither of them buys it.
- Fourth, and most, important order of business: Kris and Bobbie get fish and chips.
Kris took me to the Brighton pier, which would have been exactly how I imagined it if I had ever bothered to imagine it. It made me think of the song Pinball Wizard, because there’s a big arcade in there: “From Soho down to Brighton, he must have played ‘em all…” Yes, well, that’s where he would have played in Brighton, for sure. Down at the end of the pier was a restaurant which Kris said had the best fish and chips, so that’s where we went. Kris showed me the Brighton way to eat fish and chips, which is that you cover your chips (fries) in salt, then vinegar, then more salt. Then you do the same to your fish. I also added lemon and tartar sauce. I don’t usually eat fish, but it was all delicious. I want more. Also I want another pasty. And more curry.
Pretty windy
English seagulls
Fish and chips!
Kris eating fish and chips
After that we came back because the day had turned cold and rainy again. We watched more Scrubs (it’s literally on all the time here) and then Kevin made bangers and mash for dinner. According to Kris and Jan he screwed it up and didn’t use the right kind of sausages or make a proper gravy, but I thought it was delicious. Maybe I’ll have to try it in a pub or something though, just to be sure. You know. Just to make sure I cover all my bases. For the purpose of research.
After that there was another football (soccer) game on, and I found myself actually paying attention to it, which is pretty uncharacteristic of me. I was pretty tired, so I may have been delusional, but I found myself thinking a) “It’s a lot like foosball,” and b) “The rules aren’t that different from basketball.” That may be because basketball is the only sport I actually have a real working knowledge of, but it may be because it’s kind of similar. Maybe?
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