Brighton

On the evening of our ten year anniversary, Josh and I had a lovely dinner at Little Sicily in Soho.  We enjoyed three courses of yummy Italian food along with a bottle of wine.  After dinner, we made our way to the Victoria Apollo theater for our entertainment for the evening, Wicked the musical.  Our seats were not cheap, yet it felt like we were in the nosebleed section!  We rented some binoculars and settled in to watch the singing and dancing commence!  Overall, I liked Wicked although I thought the story line was a little strange and cobbled together.  The voice of the woman who played the wicked witch of the west was AMAZING!  Josh and I had a lovely evening together and had more fun planned for the next day...

Josh and I in front of Buckingham Palace on our 10 year anniversary.

Binoculars to watch the show :)

Josh and I at Wicked

Wicked - two thumbs up!

The next morning, Josh and I left for Brighton.  Brighton is a sea side city with a large pier and boardwalk and Ferris wheel.  It sort of reminded me of Santa Monica in California, except with a pebble beach and fish n' chips!  We spent our first hour in Brighton walking along the beach and exploring the pier.

Brighton Pier

Brighton Beach

Me on the Brighton Pier...it was super windy!

Josh enjoying the view from the pier.

The pier was filled with amusement rides and games, like a carnival over the water.  The weather was lovely, about 70 degrees and super windy up on the pier.  We headed back down to the beach and proceeded to plop ourselves down and get comfortable.  For the next two hours, Josh and I both drifted in and out of sleep.  It was so relaxing to have the sun warming you from above, hear the water crash against the beach and feel the wind blowing over our bodies.  Completely amazing two hours!  And I also have those two hours to thank for the ridiculous tan marks I now have on my legs...

Josh and I in Brighton

Josh on the beach.

Brighton in the evening.

We finally roused ourselves enough from our slumber to grab some snacks and drinks.  We rented some deck chairs and enjoyed a few beers in the afternoon.  Josh and I had dinner at a Latin restaurant and then did a little window shopping before it was time to catch our train back to London.

At the station, be boarded our train and then got the dreaded news...the train was cancelled!  Apparently, some power lines were down and nothing was moving.  Everyone got off the train, Josh and I really didn't know what to do, there was no information for us from the station.  We made a phone call about a bus, but we wouldn't have gotten home until after 2:00 am...things were not looking good!  We were contemplating spending the night when a mass of people started heading towards one of the train platforms.  We didn't know what was going on, so we joined the line to find out.  Turns out, the train was going through London so we hurriedly hopped on.  It was standing room only, and we were really lucky to squeeze in.  Our journey should have taken about an hour, but because of the down power lines causing disruptions, our train kept having to stop and wait for other trains to pass before ours could go on.  We finally ended up rolling into London after about 2 1/2 hours.  We were so glad to be home, it had been a long day!

We really enjoyed our anniversary weekend.  I can't wait to see what this next year will bring!  Already, the next few months should be exciting.  Josh and I are going to Austria to hike in the Alps in September, Sam and Amanda arrive in late September and Mom and Dad are coming to visit in October.  Yippee!!!