UK trip 2011 #1 - Yes, it can get rainy in Britain

Sitting in a good old-fashioned Bed&Breakfast in Pyocombe near Brighton in East Sussex, the wind and rain gusterly pushing against the windows after a 26h long trip from Munich by car, is a wonderful feeling. Having a cup of tea in one hand, just completes the picture.

We started around in noon in Munich and made our first stop in the evening in Aachen at Manuels place. We gave us a short tour around the city center which isn't that big at all. When we got to Dunkerque, our ferry was already waiting for us, but we had to wait until 5:30 to get on the vessel. We passed the 2h trying to sleep in the car. Wasn't a pleasure though. It got colder and colder as we approached the British Islands and sleeping in a car at around 8 degrees for 2h isn't the highest on my 1000 Things Todo list.

We slept through almost the whole channel crossing. Just from time to time a glimpse of sun, waked me up, jet to let me know, that we haven't reached Dover yet.

The coastal between Dover south toward Brighton is just gorgeous. White cliffs with old fashioned small British villages along the way formed a remarkable picture about this stretch in my head. Unfortunately the wonderful sunshine in Dover seemed to abandon us. As we moved west, the weather got worst and worst. At the end, it was miserably raining in Brighton and freezing cold.

Brighton is a vibrant sea site city. I tend to avoid "vibrant" cities since those are usually packed with tourist and heaps of people anyway. The same counts for Brighton. After a bit of headache created by the common questions arising during a road-tripish holiday - what to eat and where and where to stay - we escaped from the city center and found here in Pyocombe a gorgeous tiny village, not really prepared for visitors. Staying in a B&B is actually on my list, that I haven't done so far. We are staying here at a family house. Louisa the mother of the family is doing here very best to make us a home. She is doing a fantastic job.

Looking forward to a full fledged English breakfast with scrambled eggs, baked beans and sausages tomorrow morning.