Tag Archives: Brighton

Britain’s Bed and Breakfasts are the Best

Posted on January 23, 2012 by | Comments Off

Its official, Britain’s Bed & Breakfasts are now amongst the top rated B’n'Bs in the world. British Bed and Breakfasts have been voted the best in the world by TripAdvisor & very reassuring this is for the huge number of tourists flocking to the UK.

In a global list of the top places to stay in the world compiled by Trip Advisor, eight out of the top ten best places are British.

The Number One slot is given to The Twenty One in Brighton, Sussex. Check out the TripAdvisor website to see latest comments posted on The Twenty One. Here is just one I picked up, “The Twenty One is without a doubt the nicest B&B we have stayed in. From the beautifully decorated rooms with the BEST tea and coffee tray I have seen! to the largest selection of breakfast items ever!”

Rather endearingly, they state on their website “We have been rated as no.1 B&B in the whole of East Sussex!!”

No, no, the world! This must be an example of the art of the great British understatement at its glorious best!

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Posted in Sussex

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Champagne and Sussex Sparkling Wine Festival

Posted on September 22, 2011 by | Comments Off

As part of the annual month long Brighton Food Festival why not join the Bubbly Fest to sample a host of award-winning wines from Sussex including Ridgeview (the wine of choice at The Queen’s state dinner for President Obama),  Black Boys, Bolney Estate, Breaky Bottom, and Balfour Rosé alonside fine sparkling wines from the Champagne region including Moet, Laurent Perrier, Veuve Clicquot, Ruinart, Lanson, Boutinot.

You can talk with the experts, including local growers, and take part in tutored tastings with the experts. A ticket includes Tasting Notes,  admission to at least one of the tutored tastings, available to book on the day and 3 tasting tickets plus an exclusive price of just £6 per glass for any of the house sparkling wines & Champagnes on display

Sunday 25 September, 12pm – 6pm

Tickets: £20 To book tickets for the festival  visit: www.eventelephant.com/champagnefestival

Hotel du Vin, 2-6 Ship Street, Brighton

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Posted in Sussex

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Down and Dirty in Brighton

Posted on August 5, 2011 by | Comments Off

Brighton tends to be known for the sea, its glorious pavilion and great street scene but did you know there are folks who prefer what is going on beneath the streets?  

Here’s the photo proof – people emerging into the sunlit uplands from the manhole cover [shouldn't that be acquiring an equal ops identity?] in Victoria Gardens early this week – all had positive things to say about their stroll!

 Tours of the Victorian sewers are available in the town, are proving to be very popular and are not as unpleasant as you might expect. The tunnels are dry and unsmelly (relatively) at this time of year and completely fascinating – or so they tell me!

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Posted in Sussex

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Fingers crossed for Olympic Torches down our way

Posted on June 11, 2011 by | Comments Off

As one of the millions without a single ticket to next year’s Olympics (I applied on line with the same optimism that had convinced me I would win the first National Lottery draw on 19 November 1994) I am now bracing myself for the possibility that I may not be invited to be one of the 8,000 torch bearers in the 8,000 mile Olympic Torch relay either.

BarberOsgerby’s 2012 Olympic Torch Design pierced with 8,000 holes to represent the 8,000 runners who will carry it

According to The London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG), the torch relay will come within a one-hour journey of 95% of people in the UK so I am consoling myself by planning where and when I am going to watch this historic event.

In the South East we are spoilt for choice. The torch will leave Land’s End, Cornwall, on the morning of Saturday 19th May 2012 – the day after it arrives in the UK from Greece and will reach the South East on Monday 16th July, day 59 of its journey, when it arrives in Brighton and Hove, travelling via Hastings into Kent where it will go to Dover and Maidstone and then on to Guildford in Surrey (fingers crossed via somewhere in the Sevenoaks/A25 area as in 1948) on Day 63.

Kent was also lucky in torch-viewing terms in the last London Olympics. The 1948 post-War ‘austerity’ Games did not allow for the torch to travel the length and breadth of the UK.

1948 Olympic Torch Design

The torch arrived by sea at Dover late on 28th July 1948. 50,000 people welcomed it and a five-mile long caravan of traffic followed the start of its overnight journey through Kent towards Wembley. “From the moment it arrived, it couldn’t get through,” says Olympic historian Philip Barker. “People were coming out at four in the morning just to see local boys, local athletes, carrying it past.” In Charing, Kent, at 1.30am, 3,000 people mobbed the torchbearer; in Guildford, Surrey, “every available policeman” was needed to control the crowds.

1948 Olympic relay crosses the Thames at Windsor

I think it sounds like an unmissable event and personally I really like the contemporary design that was unveiled earlier this week, even though I am unlikely to get my hands on it.

Quite apart from 5 days worth of opportunities to see the torch relay, the South East is going to be the place to stay during the frenetic Olympic months. Just a short journey to the Olympic sites (for lucky ticket holders) the South East will provide a welcome retreat for those non-ticket days with plenty of wonderful day-out opportunities on offer, not to mention special themed tours and events – watch this space over the coming months for updates!

 

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Posted in 2012 Olympics, Events, Kent, Surrey, Sussex

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Statistics – drill down and you find….dandelions!

Posted on May 6, 2011 by | Comments Off

I’m really enjoying all this blogging,  many thanks to Hannah from ‘Ditto’ who said it must be part of our marketing strategy, she added that it was necessary to show the ‘human’ side of the company not just selling our tours & walks.

Amanda and I took this on board and hopefully that is what we are showing you and resisting the temptation to do a ‘Dear Diary full confessional’ ( you’re too young for that).

So pleased was I with myself and the way I have learned WordPress, that I looked at the site statistics about what people have viewed most. Great delight and jubilation 177 people have viewed our home page in less than a month of blogging! Now some of you  must be for real, as we don’t have large extended families,  heartfelt thanks to you all, Dear Reader!

I pried further and found these statistics can be drilled down to the most popular search & blog page , how interesting- was it to be  Brighton, Canterbury,London or which other lovely place we have mentioned that pulled you in??

No, it was the search for overcoming runny Dandelion Jam that took the biscuit!  I’m a little crestfallen to say the least! Just goes to show that Hannah was completely correct, the human side of business is just so important.

So, in the age old concept of Demand & Supply, for those of you who don’t like the coulis solution to runny Dandelion Jam, here is an alternative using Arrowroot. Looks like cornflour and usually found next to it on the supermarket shelf, does the same thing but much faster and without taste.

You might  need to do this  in stages as it will depend on how much jam you have:

Mix 1 teaspoon of powdered arrowroot with 2 tablespoons of  water to form a paste, add a tablespoon of runny dandelion jam to the paste  and mix, this will stop the arrowroot forming lumps when introduced to the bulk of the jam. When you have added enough jam to make a runny arrowroot mixture, pour it all into the jam pan with the rest of the jam and heat gently to boiling point. The jam will go cloudy to start with, thicken and clear. You may need to repeat process if it has not reached the desired consistency. Once thickened, pour into your newly cleaned jam pots and leave to cool. Simples!

But there will be more on our lovely areas of Kent, Surrey and Sussex soon!

 

Blue Badge tourist guide

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Posted in Bringing in the Business, Home, Family & Fun

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Congratulations Brighton!

Posted on April 27, 2011 by | Comments Off

Brighton Pavilion in Sussex has been voted 4th best Tourist Attraction by Trip Advisor and 400,000 visitors a year cannot be wrong.

It is a wonderful place, you cannot help but smile when you see it.

It is the most marvellous architectural romp through all that was being discovered and brought back to England by the East India  Company. Onion domes, minarets, acanthus leaves – eclectic does not describe the half of it. Monochrome  on the outside to show off these feats of cast iron and cladding – and of course, tone it down a little so as not to affect the sensibilities of the local populace – it is a riot of colour and flamboyance on the inside.

Harry Potter meets the Maharajah probably sums it up nicely.

Built for the Prince Regent who later became King George IV it allowed him to let his hair down away from the stuffy London court of his parents, it is a princely pleasure dome. The dining room is truly spectacular with dragons perched over chandeliers, more than 3,000 lamps in all.

Even the kitchens have not been overlooked with palm trees up to the ceiling, but judging by the size of Prinny’s breeches, he was rather keen on his pies!

If you think I am exaggerating, have a peek for yourself, they are currently on show in the Prince Regent Gallery within the Pavilion – Dress for Excess: Fashion in Regency England until February 2012

Blue Badge tourist guide

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Posted in Sussex

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