Staying at The Grand Hotel in Brighton
Staying at The Grand Hotel in Brighton

The start of our trip to stay in The Grand Hotel in Brighton with our girls and Daniel & Angela when I took Diana for a look at the shops and memory lane and then to the cinema as the girls watched the room TV and swam in the hotel pool. Outside, the cruel north breeze made things quite unpleasant and then the rain came to finish things off

I was up early to watch as much of the cricket (as Diana would let me) before it was time to get ready to go to Brighton for our three days' stay at The Grand Hotel. I then listened to the close of the match which saw England disappointingly-well beaten by the Pakistan team. It was a long journey for us in the Range Rover, driving down the A1(M), around the M25 and then down the M23 and this was made worse by the lack of catering facilities on these new motorways. We eventually arrived at the Grand Hotel in mid-afternoon and took advantage of the drinks-making facilities in the room to have a rest and refreshment before tackling the city of Brighton.

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Then, with the girls watching the TV and the courting couple Daniel and Angela spending time alone, I took Diana for a look at the shops and a walk down memory lane. The shops in Western Avenue were more than enough for us and we went to Sillwood Road to get an outside view of our old flat on the first floor of a tenement before returning to the hotel. We chose to spend this first evening at the nearby cinema, leaving the girls to watch a film in one room, whilst we watched a rather heavy and violent Native-American film called "Black Robe" wherein most of the friendly Indians were tortured and killed! Not exactly Diana's cup of tea.

Back to The Grand for dinner with Daniel and Angela in the magnificent "Kings Restaurant" with Di and the girls also having a prior swim in the hotel pool for good measure. Della was fast asleep and so Diana and I took advantage of the very warm room to sleep without night things and have our own type of fun until late. Outside, the cruel north breeze made things quite unpleasant and then the rain came to finish things off.