Old Brighton

We had a lovely breakfast in the B&B's dining room this morning. The reception area had at least 3 awards for Best Breakfast displayed, along with several others for overall wondrousness, and they weren't wrong. Stephen had kippers, because he could. Now we know what kippers are.
We left Rye fairly early and aimed for Battle. We were nearly there, but got to a roundabout whose main exit was full of a line of traffic that wasn't moving. A few cars up ahead were changing their minds and using another exit, so as we moved forward and took their places we could see that along to the left there appeared to be a house on a truck which was having trouble navigating Battle's High St. So we too took the other exit, and found ourselves in a car park that wasn't too far from the Abbey and battlefield we were there to see. So we walked through the town but the truck-riding house had made it through and we didn't get to see it and laugh and point. Instead we walked into the Abbey carpark, and out the other end, and along a country path alongside briar and gorse, wondering where we were supposed to go. After about 15 minutes we decided we really needed to go back and re-check the carpark entrance, and there we found the actual entrance. So finally we went in and walked through the visitors' centre for the Battle of Hastings. It was well done, and made sense of a lot of things for me. I've never (knowingly) seen a battlefield before, and even 950 years on, it stirs the imagination - once the battle has been well explained. And the abbey was good too. Interestingly, it was built as a penance by the victor (William the Conqueror), for all the blood spilt.
We weren't that interesting in Hastings itself, so set the GPS for Eastbourne, to have lunch at. The GPS took us through some tiny little lanes because apparently it thinks that's a good way to save fuel. The cloud came down lower and lower as we dove along, so by the time we got to Eastbourne and were looking for a place to have lunch it was pretty cold and grey and damp. We found a place advertising sandwiches and paninis, which was exactly what we felt like, but when we got inside we realised it was one of those ultra-genteel seafront hotels, with elderly couples sipping tea at little tables. And there were no staff around to ask about the lunch menu so we left again. We went onto the pier, and there was a tiny coffee shop that was toasty warm with nobody in it, except for a friendly and helpful girl behind the counter. We had toasted sandwiches and a muffin and were perfectly happy.
We walked along the pier after lunch, and along the beach back to the car, but it was still misty and grey. And as we drove further on the mist got lower and lower. By the time we got to Brighton it was thicker still, and when we went for a wander round the central city it was definitely fog. Yet the Ferris wheel was still going. You could barely see to the top, and there was less than 50m visibility, but apparently some people still thought it was better than being actually IN Brighton. This pier was bigger and busier (marginally) and not under reconstruction so it was a more interesting walk. I didn't realise how much the British piers have on them. And on our walk in town we saw a theatre advertising "The Producers" with Phill Jupitus, opening tonight, so we decided to give that a go. There were still some seats left, even though tonight was opening night, so for 25GBP each we were waaaay up the top, but with an unobstructed view (see picture for the view across the ceiling we had from our

seats). It was a good production, and the audience was enthusiastic.
We're staying at a hotel tonight, in the city centre. Comfortable and anonymous, and cheap.
I'm a bit later than usual posting this: it was a late night last night, and the pictures take a long time to load, so it was finished after breakfast.