We are off on a short overnight trip – at least, we are if the railway strikes permit.

Aboard the 214

We took a 214 bus to St Pancras Station.

Eurostar departures

We entered the station by the Eurostar departures and, as you can see, it was very active. No strike here, at least!

EL & N

No prizes for guessing that we stopped off at EL & N for our traditional coffee and croissant breakfast.

No Thameslink

When we went for our train, we found that Thameslink was closed by strike action. We were told we could catch a train to Brighton from Victoria.

We caught a bus

Tigger doesn’t like the tube so we went out onto the street and took a bus.

Victoria Station

There was a train to Brighton leaving in a few minutes. We hurried to the platform but just missed it.

The train on Platform 14

The next train was at 10:29, leaving from Platform 14. We went there and…

Aboard the Brighton train
Photo by Tigger

..,boarded the train. We were soon on our way.

East Croydon Station
Pboto by Tigger

Our train paused at Croydon, a town familiar to us from our previous visits there.

Plane landing at Gatwick
Photo by Tigger

We passed through Gatwick and saw a plane coming in to land. Where from, I wonder?

Arriving in Brighton

We arrived in Brighton after an uneventful journey. There were very few passengers on the train perhaps because people are avoiding travelling today because of the strikes.

Gardner Street

We walked down from the station through familiar streets, including the famous Gardner Street.

The Royal Pavilion

We of course paused to take a photo of the lovely Royal Pavilion.

The familiar entrance

We at last reached the familiar entrance (familiar from our previous stay). Once the Royal York Hotel, it now belongs to the YHA. We were too early to check but were able to deposit our bags in the luggage store.

Coffee and ice cream
Photo by Tigger

Having done that, we retired to the hostel cafe for coffee and ice cream.

The Black Cat of Old Steine

After our coffee break, we went out, photographing the black cat on the way past.

Aboard the bus

We then boarded a bus. It was quite busy but we found seats.

Beautiful scenery

It was a long ride but we could enjoy some beautiful scenery.

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Beachy Head

We finally left the bus at Beachy Head. This is a famous clifftop site with splendid views over the sea and along the coast. It is also a well known spot for suicides. There was apparently an airshow in progress – hence the crowds – but as my distance vision is bad at the moment, that was of no interest to me.

From the tour bus

Buses from here are very infrequent. We would have to wait nearly two hours for the next one. When a tour bus came by, we asked if it would take us to Birling Gap. They charged us £3 each but we thought that better than waiting two hours for a scheduled bus.

Birling Gap

We chose to come to Birling Gap because we knew there is a pub here and we thought we might have a late lunch there. And of course, the pub turned out to be closed!

A view from Birling Gap

Birling Gap is famous for its eroding cliffs. One by one, the houses built on the clifftop fall onto the beach below as the cliff edge retreats,. We returned to the bus stop and prepared to wait for the next bus back to Brighton.

We waited and waited, long past the advertised bus time. We had given up hope and were using our phones to look on the Internet for nearby taxi companies.

At this point, a bus arrived but it was full. The driver told us that there would be another bus but he could not say when. So we settled down to wait once more.

A bus at last

At last, a bus appeared. It was empty and we gratefully climbed aboard. We could now relax pending our arrival back in Brighton. Some people originally waiting with is had given up and set out on foot. Some of these were at bus stops along our route and joined us on the rescue bus.

Arriving back in Britain

The bus finally deposited beside Sea Life aka the Aquarium. The illuminations in the background belong, of course, to the Palace Pier. We went straight to the YHA to check in and transfer our bags to our room.

Purezza, vegan restaurant
Photo by Tigger

Then we went out prospecting for supper – all the more important because we had missed out lunch.

Pizza and smoothie

We had a pizza and a smoothie each, both chock full of many ingredients.

A view from the bed

We returned to the hotel and made tea. This has been a day of travel and frustration but we are now comfortably installed in our room and, quoting Shakespeare, “all’s well that ends well”.