It Was Diana's Day Off,

so first thing we were out, 

glad rags on, 

and into a bright sunny day, 

first a tram into Croydon, and then a train, 

to Brighton, 

a nice welcome, 

as we made our way,

past my favorite shop in Brighton, dealing in old and vintage items, notably postcards, 

we continued walking to the town clock, 

which had not been changed to summer time, 

a look along the seafront, 

the i360 neither up nor down, 

past it the old ruined pier, 

a few poses form Diana,

well two,

we started out walk to the pier, 

past a few reminders of Brighton's past, 

like these fishing boats, 

back in the 1950s as a kid I can remember the boats being pulled up by winches on the beach, 

we decided on a stop at one of the fresh seafood stalls, 

a small pot of cockles, 

table chosen, 

a small breakfast, and at £5.00 a pot it was minuscule, but I guess the owners here have to make enough money to keep them over the barren winter months,

time for Diana to tuck in, 

they were a bit gritty truth be told, the ones at Polhill far superior, and much better value, 

I think they sell ice creams here!

we made our way past the beach fun fair, 

not many takers this morning, 

this souvenir shop huge, 

a nice piece of artwork for the local gallery, 

we were getting near, 

we could occasionally hear the music from the end of pier fun fair,

like so many things nowadays what was once free now attracts a charge, 

we started walking along the wooden boards, 

no mistaking where we are, 

over to the sunny side of the pier, 

I just had to, 

not many for the candy floss, or the doughnuts as it happens, 

a look along the beach, 

I can imagine this Saturday and Sunday, 

the beach will be packed, 

in the main arcade Diana just had to try tipping point, a tub of 2 pence coins, 

was with great fun, 

reduced to a empty tub!, but Diana did walk away with a keyring, 

after loosing at tipping point Diana decided to vent her spleen at a T. Rex in the shoot 'em up game,

take that, that and that!

oh, all misses, moving on, 

another pose, 

then time for a cocktail, 

2 pina coladas for £15.00, 

and very nice they were too, 

at the end of the pier, the fun fair, 

this one only for the brave!

not as many people here as we thought there would be, 

if Kai and Diana have a nemesis, this it is the Wurlitzer, memories of a Christmas visit to Crystal Palace came flooding back for Diana,

another scary Dairy ride, like the Turbo also closed, 

this looked like fun, 

if the screams were anything to go by!

everyone got soaking wet, every time guaranteed!, the ticket system here is buy a child's ticket for £21.00, it lasts all day and you can have as many rides as you like, as kids were leaving this ride they went straight to the back of the queue to have another go!

at the end of the pier looking towards Brighton's marina, 

in the other direction towards the i360, 

I zoomed in on it, 

and the derelict pier,

and then it happened, the last photograph my camera took before I received a blank screen with 'System Failure' battery out and in again, but to no avail, the camera was totally dead,

so photographs from here on in on Diana's telephone, time for a late lunch we went to,

The Regency, 

we shared a bowl of mussels mariniere,

our mains arrived, a huge deep fried seafood platter, with cod, calamari, scampi, whitebait and king prawns with a Greek salad, for myself scampi and extra onion rings,

  

and a nice bottle of bubbly, 'Cheers!',

finger food! the bill came to £98.80, it would have been a lot less without the bubbly, but these things just have to be done! what a wonderful day, we made our way back to the station, 

soon arriving back in Croydon, I should mention even though it was a Friday the train was packed with many people standing for much of the journey, going to Brighton and returning, tomorrow and Sunday it will be so much worse, pity more trains are not put on, but there it is, avoid weekend travel! so on to the tram and home, where it was feet up for a couple of films, firstly,

Operation Finale, the story of how one country managed to upset so many other countries in the world when it snatched a criminal from the county where he lived, Argentina was furious over the snatch. They argued that Israel violated their national borders. They recalled their ambassador from Israel and complained to the United Nations, the United Nations, and the UN Security Council agreed with Argentina. They passed a resolution stating that Israel violated Argentina's laws, even the big powers became involved including the United States, Britain, France, and the Soviet Union, who were all critical of the kidnapping, they did not defend the criminal, but they worried that this set a dangerous rule where any country could break borders to grab suspects, the criminal was notorious SS officer Adolf Eichmann - the man who masterminded the "Final Solution" on a lighter note our next film was a bit of fun, 

 Galaxy Quest, it is based on a fictional sci-fi television series Galaxy Quest, which takes place aboard the intergalactic spaceship NSEA Protector, starred Jason Nesmith as suave Commander Peter Quincy Taggert, seventeen years after the show last aired, it lives on in the hearts of its rabid fans, but the show was also watched by aliens who now want the team to help their planet, it is a great spoof of Star Trek, great fun and games, then for us we were off to bed.