My Favorite Quirky Little City in England

Brighton: My Favorite Quirky Little City in England

'I am sure my sisters must all envy me. I only hope they may have half my good luck. They must all go to Brighton. That is the place to get husbands.' Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice I'm gonna let you guys in on a little secret; times have changed. Nowadays, Brighton is NOT the place to find husbands. What happened? Sometime between the age of Jane Austen and now, Brighton has become the gay capital of the UK. Don't ask me how. Don't ask me when. But let me just say, around 75% of the young men I've met over the year in Brighton bat for the other team. Not that I mind. In fact, I love it. Why?

Because Brighton is the coolest, hippest, trendiest, quirkiest little town in the UK, a place where you can just let lose and go wild. In fact, nowadays, I skip London altogether, and head straight down to the south coast to Brighton whenever I find myself in the area, and incidentally where my favorite Brit lives. At the risk of offending everyone, I will step out on a limb and say that Brighton is awesome because it's so different from the rest of the UK. Not that my deep abiding, everlasting love for Jane Austen has anything to with it. Cough cough. Austen aside, with the beach within spitting distance of the town, a university nearby, an hour south of London and more funky shops, restaurants and bars than you can shake a stick at, it's no wonder Brighton has always been a popular holiday destination for Brits. Sparkly, vibrant and just plain fabulous, what's not to love?

It's not easy for me to put a finger on why exactly I love Brighton so much, rather all the weird and quirky parts of the city tug at my heart over and over again, until I never want to leave, and end up spending longer and longer on each visit, overstaying my welcome and sleeping on my friend's blow-up mattress. Here are my nine favorite parts of Brighton, each one emblematic of this great, occasionally overlooked town and each one representative of why I love it so much here.

One of my favorite things about Brighton is, well, just how BRIGHT a town it is! It's so colorful compared with many other cities in Europe, with vibrantly painted buildings, pastel houses and rainbows splashed just about everywhere. With my own personal belief that the more color the better, Brighton is the perfect place for me. I never get tired walking along the different neighborhoods and exploring the old-fashioned lanes with Charles Dickens chimneys. Brighton has all the charm of historic Britain revamped with a twist and lots of neon colors. What more could you want?