Text: Peter Johansson
Editing: Christer Lundstedt
Photos: Christer Lundstedt, Peter Johansson
Videos: Christer Lundstedt
Friday 24th of June
08.13 Happy Midsummer to the world, London and to us two here at The County Hotel (https://www.thecountylondon.co.uk). We won't notice Midsummer Eve very much here in England, though. A new day of adventure is here. We will once again be outside Sweden during the midsummer weekend. The last time it happened was in 2019 when we were in Argentina.
09.17 Having finished yet another bedside breakfast, we will now, with the train tickets ready, first walk towards the underground. There will be a number of different trips with various means of transport this Friday.
10.06 We have read about how to use the underground in the cheapest and most efficient way. No tickets should be purchased. With a simple flick of our VISA cards we were let through and into the track area. However, it is important to use the card even when you have finished the trip. We leave from the station at Euston Station.
10.43 It was fine to go to and also to get out at the underground station at Victoria Station. It was also easy to pick up today's train tickets from a machine. Now we are waiting for platform information and also for the right train. It has been warned that yesterday's train strike may affect train traffic this morning and early morning as well. Hope we avoid it.
11.11 Now we were actually supposed to be on board the train to Canterbury but it is delayed. How does it affect today's plans? Several trains are delayed. There is nothing we can do but wait for notification via the large digital departure board here at Victoria Station. Today's train company will be Southeastern. Actually the company is called London & Southeastern Railway Eastern Limited but who says that?
11.28 Most of the delayed trains have been given new times. This does not apply to ours and we are still floating around in uncertainty.
11.38 A search on the internet claims and informs that there are wiring problems along our rails. A solution is being worked on. Hope it doesn't take too long. We need time to see two cities today, it's supposed to.
14.40 The bus journey from Canterbury to Dover was first along the main A2 road with references to the ferries to Calais in France and to the Eurotunnel, the rail tunnel under the English Channel which starts in Folkestone west of Dover. Now we drive on significantly narrower roads with many stops on the way to Dover.
18.04 So I tried sleeping on a bus from Dover. Back here in Canterbury we have tried to get some decent photos of the famous cathedral here in the city. It is sort of hidden by houses and scaffolding. Behind us now is The Crooked House, mentioned by Charles Dickens, a crooked and odd house at the junction of King Street and Palace Street.
21.33 The train arrived in London without further problems. There was no ticket control. We also had to get out of the train system. A kind guard let us through at Victoria Station without asking any questions. By the time we were about to board the underground, the luck was over. The doors to the carriage slammed shut, without warning and with me in between. Determined as I am, I still squeezed into the carriage between the doors. Now, for example, palms and forearms are black from the rubber strips.
Saturday 25th of June
Today's trip begins at Euston Station.
Victoria Station, London.
Delayed trains get new departure times.
Our train journey has been delayed at Gillingham.
Canterbury City Wall.
Canterbury Bus Station.
We got off the bus in Dover.
Dover, Kent.
Dover Town Council.
Christer walks past a wall commemorating British war efforts.
Saint Mary's Church, Dover.
Christer is having lunch at The Best Kebab & Pizza.
Dover Castle is visible from a height above the city.
Jamie Clark, Vera Lynn and Ian Fleming.
The White Cliffs of Dover.
Some have been sunbathing too long on Dover Beach.
A ferry on its way to France.
Castle Street, Dover.
Canterbury, a medieval city damaged by German bombing during World War II.
The difficult-to-photograph Canterbury Cathedral.
The Crooked House, Canterbury.
St Augustine's Abbey, monastery from the 5th century.
Queen Bertha of Kent lived in the 6th century.
Saint George's Tower, Canterbury.
Geoffrey Chaucer wrote the Canterbury Tales.
The Old Weavers House, Canterbury.
The Great Stour flows through Canterbury.
09.09 A truck passes out there on the street. It is not the kind of vehicle that carries citizens waste with it. No, one that simply sweeps streets and squares. It's the third London morning here at The County Hotel. Today is Midsummer's Day and we will try to make time for a new excursion and also see a bit more of London.
09.38 It is a quiet morning when not much happens and happens, at least not yet. Although maybe there would be more of it if we actually left the room and the hotel. 10.35 After some research on the internet down in the lobby, we have some idea of when we can leave London and go home again today. When there is a train strike and limited traffic, it is important to plan so that you are not left in another city. 11.10 The train with Greater Anglia we planned to use apparently leaves from a different station than Liverpool Street Station which we are currently at. What do we do now? Do we change stations or do we take a slightly more expensive train instead? 11.22 Today´s trip is from London to Southend-on-Sea in Essex. There we will see the world's longest pier and probably a lot of other things too. There are trains to Southend from this station as well. However, at different times than we had planned. Such a time is this. So we are on our way by train again. Once again we use the help of Greater Anglia to transport us. 12.08 We got off at Southend Victoria station. It's windy here in Southend-on-Sea. Now we will soon be walking around in yet another city. This will be the twelfth city of the trip if we counted correctly. Southend-on-Sea has a population of 184,708 and is one of many similar English holiday towns with piers, funfairs, arcades and beaches. 12.42 No day without coffee. We are now at the old familiar chain Costa Coffee on the High Street to fill up the necessary energy. Afterwards we return to the sightseeing.
We get off the train at Southend Victoria station.
The Broadway, Southend-on-Sea.
Christer visits Costa Coffee.
Christer walks through Southend-on-Sea.
View from Pier Hill.
The world's longest amusement tower is to be visited today.
13.27 Goodbye Costa Coffee and thank you for the coffee. There will probably be more Costa Coffee visits on this UK trip. Now we go towards the sea and the pier.
13.42 We arrive at Pier Hill and enjoy the view of the sea, the beach, the Adventure Island amusement park and the pier we are aiming for. 14.15 After paying a modest entrance fee, we have now walked out onto the world's longest amusement pier. There are no piruettes here, but perhaps there is fishing for piranhas? On the way out here, we saw a woman with a squirrel skin around her neck. 14.50 In a strong wind we walked the 1.33 miles (2.14 kilometers) required to reach the far end of Southend Pier (https://www.southendpier.co.uk). Now we have started the walk back. There is no danger with time. We are keeping our schedule. For those who don't want or can't walk, there is also a train you can take, Southend Pier Railway. The trains run despite the strike today. 15.36 Just before we returned to the railway station, we bought an ice cream stick, no, an ice cream stick each. Now Greater Anglia will take us back to London. The time for the last train of the day had changed during our stay here. It feels good to be on the way back again. 16.17 The journey passes through Essex for the last time on this journey. We are approaching East London.
Adventure Island amusement park at Southend Pier.
We have started the roughly 2 kilometers long walk at Southend Pier.
You can also go by train at Southend Pier.
Tower of London.
The garden around the Tower of London.
Christer on Tower Bridge.
16.50 We are back in London and at Liverpool Street station. On the way here we saw the London Stadium, London's Olympic stadium from the 2012 Olympic Games. It is now the home of West Ham United. They moved in in 2016, leaving their former arena Upton Park.
17.15 We have walked around in modern fresh neighborhoods around Aldgate station. We also walked around here on our last visit in 2007. 17.41 After seeing the medieval castle Tower of London, we have crossed the majestic bridge Tower Bridge. Throughout history, the tower has served as a royal castle, prison and armory. In the Tower are also the crown jewels. None of us have been in there and there will be no visit today either. The sky darkens, as long as it doesn't rain we will be happy. 18.18 We went into London Bridge station but they were about to close as no more trains would be leaving tonight due to the strike. Another part of the station, the one leading to the subway, let us in and now we're on our way back underground. 18.35 With the Northern line we tubed north to King's Cross/St Pancras station. King's Cross is a major railway station for domestic traffic. From St Pancras there are trains to other countries. Is there a reasonable restaurant nearby? It's almost time for dinner. 19.03 A Burger King restaurant appeared outside King's Cross and we went in and ordered. What a dissapointment! My burger was small, Christer got no fries and both burgers had no pleasant taste. Sad, Burger King usually makes us happy but here in England they seem to keep low quality and have high prices. 19.58 It wasn't too far to walk before we were back in our hotel again. We are at home in the lobby after shopping. Now we will look up the necessary information for tomorrow when we will leave both the hotel and London.
View towards the river Thames. The skyscraper The Shard (310 meters high) can be seen.
King's Cross Station, London.
St Pancras International, from here trains leave the country.
20.16 Over the years we have eaten a number of breakfast supplements. Tonight it's time for a dinner reinforcement. It is necessary after the skinny hamburgers.
20.38 Sandwiches to eat and beer and milk to drink. See how little is needed for a little happiness on a London evening. It has been a good day and we must be pleased to have got out of town at all considering that there is a strike going on.
22.23 The two travelers take it easy with coffee and literature. From outside, sounds can be heard from the real garbage truck. 23.16 It's almost time for the last London night for this time. Other nights and cities await us. We feel satisfied with the stay. We don't really have the budget for expensive admissions and entertainment, but we have managed to see a lot of the most famous things here in the city.
Sunday 26th of June
06.42 When I had just been to the toilet, a young man wanted to look into our room. Much more recently he knocked and after a second look he realized that he was again in the wrong place. He was on his way back from the shower. However, Christer and I are not going to get up this early.
08.13 Breakfast in the room is nice. Our included spoons from Sweden make eating yogurt easier. However, I should find a tasty juice. Christer has succeeded in this. 09.17 Now the time has come. Up with the backpacks on our backs and down towards the reception to return the key before we leave The County Hotel. We've had it alright here, but now we want to move on. It's time to say goodbye to London for this time. It's a city we will surely return to sooner or later. 10.05 There are plenty of people and also pigeons inside Victoria Station. Are they born and live here? The pigeons, then, not the people. We have made it here with underground from Euston Station and are now waiting for our train to Brighton. 10.31 As soon as we found out the right platform, we went there. I managed to fail to show the ticket code in the mobile to the reader. I had to show it to a living person instead. It works too. Now we and many others are on board the train. It seems to be really full today. 10.35 The train is filled with more and more passengers. Are all going to Brighton or will some get off at Gatwick Airport which we pass along the way? Today we travel with the train company Southern Railway. The only difference between all these English train companies is the colours of the carriages. So far we haven't noticed any other major differences.
A confused pigeon inside Victoria Station.
We have arrived at Brighton.
Queens Road, Brighton.
We are welcome to Brighton on the English south coast.
The accomodation ei8ht Brighton, here we shall stay one night.
You can't say that our room is big.
11.19 The urban environment of London is left for a green, leafy area. We will travel through the county of Surrey, one of the few English counties we will not stay in on foot. At least we get to see the beautiful landscape through the train window. Luck is on our side because the trip is going well.
11.38 There was not less people on the train after the stop at Gatwick Airport outside Crawley. About as many got on and got off. 11.51 It was also difficult for me at the passage out of the track area at the station in Brighton. Am I doing something wrong or is it due to the fact that we have two different tickets on a single registered purchase? Is it the case that the ticket becomes dead and used up when Christer has passed and shown his? 12.05 In front of the station, Queens Road goes in a slight downhill slope down towards the sea. However, we shall not walk along it. We have followed North Road for the closest possible route to our future accommodation. Brighton, located in East Sussex, is a coastal city that has grown together with the neighboring city of Hove. This is why you see the city being called Brighton and Hove in many contexts. Brighton and Hove have a combined population of 277,200. 12.39 Finally, after passing a few tiny cafés (too small to go in with our backpacks), we are at the classic Starbucks Coffee on St James's Street. The sandwiches we chose have some fake meat, plant beef. But it must be said, it is edible. It is important to read the packaging before buying something. Coffee is more expensive here than at Costa Coffee, but we are sitting comfortably. Through the window, the sun shines just enough on us. We are in a neighborhood called Kemp Town. It is said to be a neighborhood popular with gays. The only thing we care about is that we will stay here in one of the cheapest accomodations. 13.35 We are now crammed into room 1B at ei8ht at Upper Rock Gardens (https://www.eightbrighton.co.uk) here in Brighton. It is an unmanned accommodation that rents out rooms of various sizes. Payment has been settled in advance and we received the door code a few days ago when we were in London. We seem to have been given one of the smaller rooms on the ground floor. Lack of space, there is plenty of that. An advantage is that there is a basis for a breakfast here. There is juice, milk, rice krispies and some kind of cake. 15.01 Now that's enough with staying in our little room. We have a whole city to see this Sunday.
Peter sets off from the accommodation to experience Brighton.
View of Brighton Beach.
Offshore wind turbines.
Brighton Palace Pier.
Royal Pavilion, Brighton.
North Gate and beautiful flowers.
15.20 It's nice to be out of the cramped room and to sit in the sunshine along Marine Parade. From here we have a magnificent view of the sea beach (Brighton Beach), the Brighton Palace Pier and the promenade. People walk and seagulls fly by as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
15.33 Now that we've seen two members of Hare Krishna play and sing, it's time to leave the promenade to see more of Brighton's central areas. This city seems to attract many unique personalities. There are many people along the beach who seem to be doing everything to get attention in various ways. 15.58 Here in the park by the royal palace Royal Pavilion, we have seen beautiful flowers, an elderly man honking in a permobile and a young guy wearing a hat and dress, they matched each other. A brass band in the Pavilion Gardens is currently playing Europe's The final countdown. Other than that, it's nice and peaceful here. 16.05 We have walked around the Pavilion Gardens near the Royal Pavilion. What can be said about this building? The palace is Asian in style and was built as a holiday palace for King George IV during his time as Prince of Wales. It began to be built as early as 1787. Queen Victoria did not like the pavilion. She thought it looked weird and Asian. Besides, she didn't like Brighton at all. The pavilion was handed over from the Royals to the City of Brighton in 1850. 16.54 After we have walked through the area The Lanes, with narrow streets, alternative music, shops and people, we have eaten newly purchased really good baguettes in a park. The snacks were bought from the discount store Budgens and the park is called Valley Gardens. Here in the park, pigeons and seagulls argue over dropped food. 17.12 It's time for a new bench break for us. We are now in another part of Valley Gardens. It's a nice sunny Sunday here in Brighton. The question is, what else are we going to do for the rest of the afternoon?
Students socialize in front of the Royal Pavilion.
Some like pigeons more than others.
An orchestra entertains in the Pavilion Gardens.
North Laine, an alternative part of Brighton.
Ye Olde King and Queen, beautiful pub by Victoria Gardens.
New Steine Park in Kemp Town, Brighton.
17.38 So we are home again in our little room 1B. It has become time to hear laughter from outside, search for information about our upcoming dinner and mostly be ourselves for a while instead of being backpackers. But in and of itself, maybe it's our usual selves?
18.41 It's time for us to take advantage of what is happening and happening here in Brighton. Now we will take an evening walk that will end with a dinner. 19.01 "I would have sat here but I´m far too busy" Kenny Hawkes 1968-2011 it says on the bench sign where we are sitting right now. Me and Kenny are born in the same year but die in different years. He wasn't just anyone but a DJ and music producer who grew up here in Brighton. Christer and I are currently looking out over the English Channel. It's a nice summer evening here in Brighton. 19.24 When we sit here and observe the surroundings, we get to see quite a bit. It is dogs with short legs that bark at a dog with long legs. It's a man with a bag running, the man that is. There is a woman who just stands as if she were frozen solid and a man with a beer can, the one who still got to trade with him! 19.39 We stayed longer than planned here on the bench at Marine Parade. The reason was that we wanted to wait for a good photo of the moving cocktail bar on the i360 observation tower. The tower is far away from us but can be seen from afar. It opened in 2016 and is 162 meters high. 20.02 Tonight there will be an Asian dinner at Sawadee (http://www.sawadeebrighton.co.uk), a Thai restaurant. True to my (boring?) habit, I ordered sweet and sour pork. The restaurant is on St James's Street quite close to where we are staying. It's not cheap here, but the prices can still be called acceptable.
Beach volleyball at Brighton Beach.
The i360 observation tower with its movable bar.
Peter has dinner at Sawadee's.
Evening in a small room.
20.52 It was simple but good. It also feels good that we can vary the dinners between different food cultures. So far we have had Chinese, Indian and Thai food in addition to the more international dishes pizza, kebabs and hamburgers. I had a view of the street during the meal. Not much happened there. Christer had an inward view of the restaurant. All the more happened there. Among other things, he got to see a grown man dressed as an old lady. Now we are home after shopping at a COOP store. The cashier didn't understand everything I told her. Did she hear badly or did I speak badly? We sometimes find here in England that we speak correct English but are still not understood because the melody of the language is not very British.
22.27 We are back in the room again and listening to Swedish radio. Besides this evening entertainment, we drink coffee and eat muffins. 23.31 After an evening beer each, the alarm is set. Tomorrow there will be both a trip to a neighboring city and a further trip to the next overnight stay.
Monday 27th of June
07.57 A new week is here. Last night we slept well in our small room at ei8ht here in Brighton and in the meantime Colorado Avalanche won the Stanley Cup. For the uninitiated, we are talking about ice hockey and the NHL playoffs. Earplugs are offered here so as not to be disturbed during the night's sleep by all the seagulls screeching outside the window. We managed just fine without that help.
09.00 BBC Radio Sussex is heard from Christer's mobile. The in-room breakfast placed in the room was OK, but not more than that. Now the news is reporting on the majority of dead birds in a suspected bird flu on the south coast. 10.19 It was cool during our walk through Brighton back to the railway station. Here we are now waiting on the bench with purchased return tickets to Hastings. The tickets are bought by Christer on the internet to get a better price than in the ticket machines here at the station. 10.29 Soon it is time for the day's first journey by train. As I said, we are going to Hastings, which is further east along the coast here in East Sussex. We will also be traveling with Southern this day. 10.42 We have slowly rolled out of Brighton. In the suburb of Falmer we saw the University of Sussex and glimpsed parts of the American Express Community Stadium where Brighton and Hove Albion play their football in the Premier League. 11.19 Here in Eastbourne the train has stopped, let off passengers and is now continuing with us in the opposite direction. For those of us who are big fans of the Fawlty Towers series, Eastbourne is familiar. The major staying at Basil Fawlty's hotel was outraged when it was claimed that Fawlty Towers was the worst hotel ever. Major Gowen claimed he stayed in an even worse hotel right here in Eastbourne. 11.47 It was another track with a sea view before we reached Hastings, a place known from the Battle of Hastings 1066. The battle actually took place in the town of Battle a little outside Hastings. The battle resulted in William the Conqueror and the invading Normans first victory in the conquest of England. It has been depicted on the famous Bayeux Tapestry located in Bayeux, Normandy on the other side of the English Channel. Today there are 93,430 inhabitants living here in Hastings.
At Brighton railway station.
Welcome to Hastings.
Queens Square, Hastings.
Now we head towards the older parts of Hastings.
George Street, Hastings.
At Albion Books there is of course a book about the battle of 1066.
11.57 There are plenty of people on the move here in Hastings. The city has an interesting castle and an older district worth visiting. We have just passed Queens Square and seen the City Hall.
12.19 Reasonably brisk steps, occasionally against the wind, have taken us to and through Hastings Old Town around George Street. The castle, Hastings Castle is supposed to be on the mountain here above us but we haven't got a good view of it. Since we have our backpacks with us, we are not going to climb the mountain either. We definitely opt out of that. Now we are sitting in lee and sunshine near St Clements Church. We think about whether and where we make a stop for coffee. Will it be at one of the chains where there are areas but no charm or a cafe where we can barely fit, let alone the backpacks? We saw several charming cafés along George Street but they don't seem to be places where you sit down with luggage. 13.01 We rely on one of the chains. We have entered Costa Coffee at Wellington Place in the city centre. 13.28 This is where it happens. The train we intended to take from here at 15.03 has been canceled so we will take an earlier one. One of the staff was nice to the colleagues while she collected the dishes. As she carried the tray into the kitchen, there was a small crash and a sharp comment, "Fucking hell". 13.52 We are back on board a train from Southern bound for Brighton. Now we are welcomed on board. Once in Brighton we have ten minutes to get off this train, pass gates, buy new tickets, make another gate passage and board a new train. Can we handle that? 14.44 There are still a few station stops left before we get off and put the plans into action. All around us, passengers are talking about a little bit of everything. 15.31 It went almost flawlessly with changing trains here in Brighton. The only delay was when the gates slammed shut and for a moment caught my backpack. Now we and others with us are on board the next train that will take us west along the south coast to Southampton.
Peter in Hastings Old Town.
Ye Olde Pumphouse, a pub along George Street.
Butler's Gap in Hastings Old Town.
Two men by a wall in Hastings.
German bombs fell here on May 23, 1943.
Christer visits Costa Coffee in Hastings.
16.11 Two gentlemen in yellow-green reflective vests with the text Rail Independent Officer just boarded our train. I wonder what their duties are. One of the passengers has no particular information at this time. He is simply sleeping. We have just passed Worthing and are currently traveling through the county of West Sussex.
16.27 The yellow-green gentlemen disappeared to the back of the train. We are currently in Chichester. The town is famous from a sketch by Monty Python. A man tried to break different kinds of records. One of the attempts involved eating the city's cathedral, Chichester Cathedral. He failed and destroyed his teeth instead. 16.38 The conductor was just here for a visit. The sleeping man must not go any further, but must get off as soon as possible. He had a ticket to Chichester but slept past that stop. 17.46 We have arrived at today's final destination Southampton and have moved into the Linden Guest House (https://www.lindensouthampton.co.uk) near the railway station. This time we are in room 5. Now we are going to have a little snack before exploring the city. We bought a little of each at the Premier Express convenience store before checking in. 19.00 Slightly full, we are going out to explore Southampton more closely. What will we rejoice and wonder about here in this city? We are staying two nights here so we don't have to see everything tonight. However, we are planning an excursion tomorrow which will take most of the day. 19.16 We started by walking along extremely boring terraced houses on Newcombe Road. It is the type of terraced house where you have one meter to the neighbor and barely have room for the rubbish bin on the plot. We have walked to Le Tissier Court, a newly built fine residential area named after the footballer Matthew Le Tissier who played for Southampton from 1986-2002 and scored many great goals. The residences are built on the site where the team's former arena, The Dell, was located. It is now demolished and the team plays at Saint Mary's Stadium down by the River Itchen these days. 19.36 Behind us in East Park is the city's Titanic monument, the Titanic Engineers Memorial. It was from here in Southampton that the sinking boat left on April 10, 1912. Now I am disturbed by a man who claims that he is epileptic and therefore wants money from us. He has to come up with something better to get a penny from me. Also, we don't have any cash with us.
A boat has ended up a little wrong.
Hastings railway station.
Linden Guest House, Southampton.
Peter in room 5. We don't know who is on TV though.
Le Tissier Court. The Dell football ground stood here until 2001.
Titanic Engineers Memorial.
19.52 Our walk took us from East Park to St Andrews Road. Here we have passed Southampton Central Mosque and Solent University. We are on our way to St Mary Street, a street where there should be some possible dinner restaurants.
20.10 After going wrong a few times on a few viaducts we arrived at St Mary Street. Here, football is played in the middle of the street. We didn't get any passes. A few more church bells have been given free play and just keep ringing. It is probably the nearby Saint Mary's Church that wants attention. We are waiting for our dinner at the small restaurant Family Kebab (https://www.familykebabsouthampton.co.uk). 20.55 The restaurant was small but the portions large. We are very satisfied. On the way to grocery shopping and then further walking home, we have stopped at Bargate, an old medieval city gate that remains where the High Street begins. 21.05 It's nice to walk on real streets again. On the way from the restaurants, we had to cruise past various roadworks and roadblocks. We haven't seen much of Southampton yet but it is a city with large parks and it is unusually spacious for an English city. There are 252,872 inhabitants living here in Southampton. The county we are in is called Hampshire. 21.41 On the way home we bought tomorrow's breakfast at COOP on Commercial Road. Back at Linden Guest House, there were actually two small breakfast bags outside our room door. They will probably be our travel food on the excursion tomorrow instead. 22.32 There are few occasions in life when coffee is not good or does not fit in. That's why we drink coffee again. It's a nice way to round off the day. 23.21 We have serious plans to change our plan for tomorrow. Our plan was to take a ferry to and from the Isle of Wight south of Southampton but it will be a lot of expense and a lot of stress for an island where there is not much to see. We don't have much time to plan before tomorrow becomes today. The excursion tomorrow will probably go in a different direction.
Southampton Central Mosque.
We visit Family Kebab.
Bargate, Southampton.
The tower at the Sea City Museum.
You can see 95 photos from June 24 in this photoalbum.
You can see 65 photos from June 25 in this photoalbum.
You can see 58 photos from June 26 in this photoalbum.
You can see 48 photos from June 27 in this photoalbum.