h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Went back to work today and found I had to go to a meeting this afternoon, which rather disrupted my plan of dealing with all the accumulated emails and post ... oh well - it was quite an interesting and productive meeting, just a bit too long.

Had a great holiday - got quite a lot of 'house stuff' done early in the week, including getting *all* the windows cleaned (note the verb form - they were not cleaned by me!). This meant that I could go off to Brighton for the weekend with a clear conscience.

When I was packing, I thought about taking a swimsuit, and then dismissed the idea, along the lines of "this is April, in England - get real!". However, once I was there, the weather was so lovely that I really regretted not having one with me. Not enough to buy a new one, though.

Stayed in a cute little hotel/B&B with 'themed' rooms. Mine was the 'Alpine pavilion' - which, despite the name was a v small single room, but nicely decorated with wood panels, a cowbell and a cuckoo clock (not working, thankfully!).

Did lots of wandering round shops, without buying anything (oh, except 'Vernon God Little' in a charity shop - nearly finished it and am enjoying it more than I expected - don't usually like things written in dialect). Had coffee with a friend who moved to Brighton from Cambridge a couple of years ago; and with another friend from ML. Ate huge cooked breakfasts, ice cream, an excellent veggie meal at Food for Friends, and equally good steak & chips at Cafe Rouge. Sat and looked at the sea quite a lot, which always has a relaxing effect on me.

This nearly wore off during the journey back, when the train was replaced by a bus from Brighton to Three Bridges, and then the Kings Cross to Cambridge train had to go via the Hertford loop, both due to engineering work.

Anyway, all v enjoyable and now I'm back at work, but already planning my next trip - to Toulouse and surrounding area in June, probably.

Sounds like you had a lovely time - except for the journey back!

I'm in a very good mood tonight so I'll share a bit of choccy with you.

In case anybody thinks the ref to 'Vernon God Little' was in poor taste, in light of the campus shootings in Virginia, I apologise - wrote that before I'd heard the news.