After a good night’s sleep at Gatwick, we’re up and getting ready to head back to the airport to catch our Easy Jet flight to Barcelona. But wanted to fill in about our lovely day in a nice, warm England!
Landed about 11 a.m. Off the plane and into the queue for immigration. LONG line, but moved relatively quickly; about half-hour and we were through. Suitcases were both waiting for us; YEAH! Then caught the Hertz shuttle and yet another queue – this one very irritating, as folks were lined up out the door and line moved slowly at best. NOTE to travel planner: Consider another car rental agency at Heathrow; this place was a zoo! Lovely, sunny and warm day with big billowy clouds overhead. Drove over to Gatwick to the Courtyard Marriott, but our room wasn’t yet ready (and it’s 1:30 p.m…) Left luggage and headed out for lunch.
Our GPS (named Emmy) took us right to the Duke’s Head, a pub made over into an absolutely stunning restaurant and great menu! (No pictures, unfortunately, as R left camera behind…) We started out sharing an appetizer platter with grilled and garliced pita bread and hummus, feta and spinach, cucumber and tzaki and feta cheese with a lovely, hot chutney spreads. Also pile of roasted veggies with olives. R’s main course was a large salad with avocado, shrimp, almonds, pomegranate seeds, watercress and slices of mandarin oranges. My salad was crab and shrimp with grapefruit sections and cress and an amazing garlic dressing—YUM! Washed down with two half pints for R and a lovely glass of sauvignon blanc for me.
Back to hotel and checked in. Decided to take naps – nice 2 ½ hours – and then headed back out as it turns out we’re about 25 miles from Brighton, a place we’ve never been. One of the wonderful things about traveling in England in the spring and summer is that it was still light outside at 8:30 p.m., which was great! Made it to Brighton in good time; not too much traffic. Had a drive along the coast; saw both the current and the old Brighton piers. Then found the Royal Pavilion. Built in the late 1700’s as a “pleasure palace” by the Prince Regent, later King George IV – it’s UNREAL, and made Brighton into a true Regency capital; lots and lots of wrought iron everywhere!
It being somewhere around 8 p.m. we decided to find a place closer to Gatwick for dinner. Found the Hillside pub in Crawley. Another lovely place (SOOOOO nice to go into pubs since they’ve become non-smoking!!) Ordered from an excellent menu. R had a lovely filet of beef with country potatoes and onion rings. I had the chicken, leek and ham pie with chips and peas. YUM! For pudding, R had their Bramley apple pie with custard, and I had treacle tart and clotted cream…lovely way to finish a meal!
Back to the hotel and bed after a lovely day!
More later!
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