Brighton & Leeds Castle
Prior to this visit I had been to London twice. Once, during a high school theater trip where we did a workshop at Shakespeare’s Globe (Thanks Dad + Eileen!) and another time nearly 7 years ago, my first overseas trip on my own dime. Both trips were pretty short and I had never made it back since, mostly because the world is just too damn big.
There were two major reasons I wanted to visit the UK this trip. For one, the UK is not a part of the Schengen Agreement that dictates tourists are limited to 90 days out of any 180-day period within participating countries. If you’re wondering which countries participate in the Schengen agreement, it’s almost the entirety of the EU. This makes longterm travel around Europe tricky. My time walking the Camino seriously depleted the number of days I could spend in the Schengen Area and will color the decisions I make for traveling until at least October. The other major reason I found myself in London was the Brexit-fueled advantageous exchange rate.
Brighton
I was only in London for a day before venturing down to Brighton to meet up with Jon and his friend Heidi. Heidi was someone I’d heard Jon talk about for years, but never actually had the opportunity to meet. Heidi, a stand-up comedian, was supposed to have a show down in Brighton. The show was cancelled, but we still thought it would be fun to make the trip down.
Brighton is less than 90 minutes south of London and serves as the local beach getaway for Londoners looking to escape the city. There’s a boardwalk with beach bars and restaurants lining the beach. Like Nice, this “beach” was pretty rocky. No one dared swim, either. We were lucky to have a bit of nice weather while we strolled to our hostel. We saw the remains of a previous beach boardwalk that burned down.
To me, the most interesting part about Brighton was its thriving old-school gay scene. Brighton is considered to be the unofficial gay capital of the UK. Its Pride is meant to be far better than London’s, which is surprising given their massive difference in size. We ended up bar-hopping around Brighton, stopping first at Gay Bingo at THE GROSVENOR BAR, where both Jon and I won different rounds. It was a style of Bingo I’d never played where the numbers were not alphanumeric. The drag queen was salty as hell and said things even drag queens wouldn’t dare say in the US.
Our next stop was to see a cabaret show at THE QUEENS ARMS, a gay bar in Brighton specifically set-up to be more oriented toward live performances. The performer was Lola Lasagna, and she sang a live set of pop music and showtunes from the 70s and 80s. Audience participation was mandatory. Lola could smell fear and took delight in teasing audience members who weren’t adequately demonstrating their enjoyment of her performance. When Jon turned around to order a drink because he didn’t care for the slow ballad Lola just started, she stopped the show and tore into him for the slight. Lola pegged Heidi as a lesbian right away and made comments about her shoes. A man in crutches committed the grave sin of leaving the show early, causing Lola to stop the show and run after him, barking “Oi! where ya goin’? I don’t care if you is on crutches!” All of this might sound cruel, but it was all in good fun. I could never hate a drag queen that does an ABBA medley.
We rounded out the night at BAR REVENGE, which had drink specials and tons of fun decor peppered around the joint. A straight couple was making out at a table, which is extremely bad form in a gay bar.
The next day it was pouring, so Jon and I parked at a bakery near our hostel in Hove called SUGARDOUGH, which I highly recommend should you find yourself in the area. The seating area doubled as the baking area, so we got a free show with our cappuccinos. Seaside resort towns tend to not be great while it’s raining, and Brighton was no exception. I hope one day to make it back for Brighton Pride.
How to get to Brighton from London:
Trains from London Victoria or London Blackfriar: ~1 hour 20 minutes
Buses from London Victoria Coach Station: ~2 hours 30 minutes
Leeds Castle
My last day trip from London was down to Leeds Castle which, despite its name is not in Leeds but in Kent. 2019 marks 900 years of Leeds Castle, an age that I can barely fathom as someone from a country where early-20th century buildings are considered historic. Of course, Leeds Castle looks pretty different today than it did in 1119.
Entrance to the museum was a steep £26, but I was assured that I could come back again as many times as I wanted for the next year. It seemed unlikely I would return, but I smiled for the photo they put in their system anyway. Entrance did not include any sort of luggage storage, so I spent the entire afternoon lugging my 15kg bag through the castle and its grounds.
To commemorate the 900th birthday of Leeds Castle, the Leeds Foundation released a podcast series that documents the various stages of the castle’s ownership and history. This served as an audioguide of sorts for me while I explored. King Henry VIII was instrumental in turning it into a lavish palace for his wife Katherine of Aragon, while she was still in his good graces. His most famous visit to Leeds Castle was while on the way to the “Field of the Cloth of Gold” and included an enormous entourage of 5000 people.
The more modern history of Leeds castle was something I also found endlessly interesting. When the Anglo-American heiress Lady Bailliee purchased the castle in 1925, she saw a way to both restore its medieval grandeur while modernizing it to suit her extremely refined tastes. Many of the changes she made to the castle were intentionally designed to look as if they had been done centuries earlier.
During the 1930s Leeds Castle became a famous secluded getaway for actors, politicians, and British nobility. Stars like Charlie Chaplin, Douglas, Fairbanks, and Errol Flynn all visited Leeds Castle for Lady Baillee’s famous parties. There were zebras and llamas on the grounds and the swimming pool was a wave pool, something I wasn’t even aware existed at that time.
When WWII broke out, Lady Bailliee turned the castle into a hospital at the request of the British government. She had previous experience as a nurse which came in handy. The castle was also likely used as an important meeting site for high-level strategy discussions. Weapons were tested on the grounds! All I’m saying is that a Netflix show better be forthcoming.
It became clear when I spotted the putt-putt, golf course, and play area as to why Leeds Castle entrance tickets were good for the year: they are trying to turn the estate into a family fun destination. A grotto experience was installed with fancy lights and sounds that was reminiscent of a Disneyland ride (Without the actual ride). I will admit did enjoy the challenging hedge maze. The Leeds Foundation seems to be walking a tightrope with how they can generate income from the grounds without diminishing the illustrious history and beauty of the site.
You can also get married at Leeds Castle with prices starting at £8,450. There’s an additional fee to have an owl deliver your rings during the ceremony.
How to get to Leeds Castle from London
Trains from London Victoria to Bearsted:
Shuttles via Spot Travel from Bearsted Train Station to Leeds Castle (£5pp Return)
Prices on UK trains can vary significantly, so book far ahead if possible.
A must for history junkies