The Brighton Bubble...

We have had our first visitors of the new year.  Simon, Martyns elder brother and his partner Ray came to see us a couple of weeks ago.  It was great to see him and meet Ray again.  They are expecting a child this coming summer and are very excited.  We had a few beers and some drinks and a good old catch up.  Simon has lived in London for a number of years so has always lived quite some distance away from us.  Now he is only an hour away so it will be really good to see him more often.  We will have to venture out of our bubble in Brighton and face the big smoke sometime soon!  They live near Eel Pie Island.  Martyn has recently been dealing with a customer who lives there so is very keen to go and have a look.  Our other visitor was that famous bad man we call Uncle Tubbs.  Our friend and fellow scooter rider. He lives in Hull but had travelled down from Blackpool with his Mum for the weekend.  I believe it was his birthday treat!  It was just a shame the weather was dreadful.  We had high winds and heavy rain just about all weekend.  It was great to see him and finally meet his Mum though.  We had a few cheeky beers and lunch together on Sunday before saying goodbye.  I woke up on Sunday with a terrible feeling of homesickness.  It was strange really.  It always feels so normal being in Brighton with Tubbs and I think the thought of him going back to Hull made me feel unsettled.  We actually met him on the campsite here whilst on our holiday.  We introduced him to the delights of wallasea Island on route to Mersea Island and he's still our friend so we must have done something right.  It made me start to think about how far we are away from everyone and how a couple of days here and there with people you love doesn't always seem like long enough.  The cure for homesickness?  Plan a trip home!  We have to go back to Yorkshire to collect Martyns Lambretta some time soon so we will makes plans around that. 

Brighton is an amazing place and I have no regrets about being here.  We were in a pub in town waiting to meet Tubbs on Saturday when I noted a poster advertising one of the Brighton festivals.  It was an old poster from a couple of years ago.  The poster was cartoon style and showed all the tourist attractions of Brighton in a way that made me think of the city as being one big bubble.  It's a place that has everything you could possible need (apart from Ikea but I think that's on it's way!).  You don't need to leave Brighton to be entertained, to shop, to swim in the sea or to pose outside a cafe bar.  It's all here.  You can be quirky, creative a fashionista or just you and nobody minds.  It's diverse, crazy, cultured and yet down to earth at the same time.  I love this city and I have no intentions of leaving.  I just wish sometimes that all the people I love and miss would come and join us.  Then my bubble would be complete!