Carly really enjoys going to Brighton. A fun, sassy and exciting place and she has been there many times over the years. But recently she has been going there a lot to stay in Dom and Nic’s flat on top of a hotel overlooking the sea. It is a really magical place to sit and do your writing and knitting whilst listening to podcasts and looking at the sea. And also, to observe the Brighton Eye which is a strange sort of enormous needle with a polo that goes up and down, up and down, up and down. It is all very bizarre. Carly thinks how strange these new “eyes” are that now define the skyline of both London and Brighton. Hmmmmmmmmmmm, muses Carly. She would have thought that old buildings would mark the landscape but no, these “eyes” are new buildings just to show participants the 360-degree panorama. Carly is reminded of an owl. This is one of her favourite birds and the thought of swivelling around your neck to check on what people are saying about you behind your back would be fabulous. But really is this the case? Maybe Carly should not feel the need to be so very paranoid? Actually, yes, she thinks maybe she should!
So, Carly cannot remember the first time she went to Brighton. This is because Carly’s memory is really bad. Really, she can never recall anything. For instance, she has been to films and then remembered halfway through, after feelings of déjà vu, in fact, she has seen this film before. Similarly, this is the case with books she has read. Really, she should just keep a list! But she would need to fill this in and attention to detail isn’t one of Carly’s strong suits either. Although she does like creating lists. But more, so she can tick things off! For sure she doesn’t like repeating things. Like reading books or watching films. It feels like she is frittering her life away.
However, she does remember coming to Brighton more recently. She came on the longest daylight hours weekend of the year which also happened to be the hottest in June 2019. This was part of her healing journey from the fallout she suffered from her recent divorce. She wanted to be in Dom and Nic’s flat whilst they were there. They persuaded her to bring the two dogs with her, but this was rather hectic. These dogs were both rescued from “All Dogs Matter”. Gracie(x) was a small and heady mixture of a great number of different ancestors. At least eight on the salivary genetic doggy heritage test. Gracie(x) was super anxious and also territorial. Not a great combo! Bryn was a pure-bred tri-colour collie. Not like a tricolore salad that Carly really enjoys of white mozzarella, green basil and red tomato. Bryn is white, brown and black. Not really a great surprise as dogs are most likely to be white, brown and black! Bryn was high maintenance all the time, with a constant need for attention – “play with me at all times and if you don’t 24/7, I shall bark, and bark and you guessed it bark some more!” Carly wondered why the police hadn’t been round to arrest him under an ASBO (anti-social barking order).
Bryn wasn’t very good at travelling on the train. Carly liked to knit and tried to ignore Bryn’s inexorable demands. But then he drove all the other passengers mad with his constant need for their attention. So, she opted to drive. However, coming down on a Friday afternoon in the summer to the seaside wasn’t in fact a good idea as the journey took ages as well as being hot and bothersome. Eventually they all settled in, and the dogs slept in the main living room with Carly on a blow-up mattress. This was all very novel for Carly. It felt that the boats on the sea bobbing about were replicated in this living room for Carly. With her excitable dogs jumping up and down, barking for the sheer joy of it and not really considering the sensitives of the neighbours up here or the hotel guests below. And of course, certainly not thinking about their hosts Dom and Nic.
As Carly is an early riser she quickly got dressed and herded the dogs out for a run and to survey the independent coffee scene. Phew. No shortage here in Brighton, Carly muses. Later on, she reconnected with Nic and Dom and off they went discovering all parts of Brighton that welcomed dogs. Bryn and Gracie(x) thoroughly enjoyed themselves barking at the water, at each other and anyone who paid them the least bit of attention. They also went to the marina and the pier, and they all loved listening to all the antics that Dom and Nic got up to in Brighton over the years. It was a really magical weekend and Carly thoroughly enjoyed it.
Carly had made some bread from her sourdough starter. Her kids were always extremely rude about this bread. It was really heavy – actually dense – to be fair. But Nic and Dom were far too polite to complain. These sandwiches formed part of the picnic they all enjoyed on the South Downs. They went there on the top decker of the bus and before returning everyone had their own ice-cream. Even the dogs. But not with chocolate flakes. We all know how dangerous chocolate is for dogs. But is it really? Maybe this is apocryphal as humans just don’t like to share this wonderful food?
The next time Carly went to Brighton was the following summer when she went away with her parents to Eastbourne. They did particularly like the fancy hotel there! It was called the Grand Hotel. It reminded Carly of the Netflix series she had watched of the same name set in 1905 in Spain. But in the Eastbourne Grand Hotel, there was none of the drama, amazing costumes and good weather of the TV series. Only lots of elderly people with their Zimmer frames, sticks and wheelchairs. Carly contemplated that she and her parents were the only guests without any walking aids at all! It was really fun, and it was nice to spend time with them, but she did feel like a bit of a saddo having to go away with her parents in her mid-50s. Maybe this was better than going away with randos. This is the term her daughter Boo calls people that Carly considers as friends, but Boo says she only has a limited connection with. But Carly is a determined extrovert and loves to make new friends all the time. Not so Boo.
So, on the middle day in Eastbourne, Carly and her parents decided they could get a bus to Brighton for free on their bus passes. Obviously not Carly, but she is happy to pay and knit whilst watching the scenery. The weather was glorious, and most shops were open. There were lots of people out and about and the place felt really alive. Not like The Grand Hotel! Carly wanted to explore a bit by herself. She thought there just some shops you don’t go with your 80-year-old parents when you are considering dating. Carly was about to go away with a man she had met on a dating app. She was quite excited about this but didn’t really want to explain in great detail to her parents the situation. So, she returned to the sex shop she’d seen earlier. But in reality, even Carly was too shy and overcome with embarrassment to go into this shop once she was alone, later on. Carly and her parents all met up afterwards and had a wonderful fresh fish supper siting outside in the atmospheric “Laines”. It was made all the more memorable as there was no ban at that time in 2020 on eating in restaurants.
Later on, that year, Carly worked flat out. Every weekend and weekday for a month. There was a lot of work around and Carly liked to be helpful and some of it was as paid locum work. Carly was desperate to go away to do her writing and knitting. Dom and Nic were delighted to lend their unused flat to Carly for two weekends in November. And Carly was even more thrilled to be there by herself. She even met up with friends who lived nearby. On the second trip she cycled to the station in London, and brought her bike on the train. She arrived at St Pancras station during rush hour. Oh no. The train staff said no bikes on the train for a further two hours.
What was Carly going to do? All the restaurants were closed, and Carly would freeze waiting for the end of rush hour. But Carly is innovative. And adaptable. She tried to get through the barriers when the staff were looking the other way. She thought she had seen this on a film. But no, Carly failed. This displeased Carly immensely. Then she reconsidered. She will cycle to the next station down the line. Farringdon isn’t too far away. And guess what. No staff! And loads of bikes. All hunky dory. Carly bundled her bike through the barrier. And onto the train. Ha. Yet again Carly wins. This pleases her immensely as Carly is super competitive! She had a lovely journey down and even snuck into first class to charge her phone.
Carly really enjoyed the cold wintry weather in Brighton. She was interviewed for a podcast. Of course, they never asked her the questions they said they would, which she had prepared. But, actually, Carly is confident in this subject and would just take it on the hoof again when the opportunity arose. None of this irrelevant overly preparation business next time. You just don’t waste Carly’s time and get away with it!
She invited her friend Lizzy down for the day with her dog Toto. But no more of this now, as Lizzy will someday have a story all of her own.
A bit like Sandra, where Carly is illegally holed up for some of lockdown. Shhhhhhhhhhhhhh – just don’t say anything to anyone! Luckily, Carly has got loads of friends, although each of them is likely to be a bit wary about having a story written entirely about them. On the other hand, they are excited to be famous and bask in Carly’s glory and fame.
