Our third day in Brighton was cool and breezy, but not cold enough to keep us from visiting the famous Brighton Pier. Daughter Liz, son-in-law Peter, granddaughter Adeline, and I were guided through the delights of the Pier by our host Mark.

We walked out past the small restaurants and food stands, picking up some candy floss for Adeline on the way. Then Adeline wanted to try some of the carnival rides. 

They bought enough tickets for several rides. First Liz and Adeline went down the Helter-Skelter. This ride, made famous by that Beatles song from the White Album, is a building with a winding staircase inside which brings the rider out on top to ride down the slide that goes around the outside of the building. Liz was amused by its sign which read “You can see the Isle of Wight” in large letters with “on a clear day” in small print underneath.  After sliding down on their burlap mats, Liz and Adeline decided to ride on the somewhat rickety roller coaster which had a 360 degree loop in it. They survived the loop (Adeline’s first) and it was on to the next.

Their final ride was on the Galaxia, one of the horrible contraptions that spins around while it moves violently up and down. This, it turned out, was the scariest of all, both to watch and to ride. Let’s just say that there were lots of screams, though it was difficult to say if they were of terror or delight.

Back at the house we had a lovely British Mother’s Day brunch, and it was soon time to bid farewell to our most solicitous, remarkable, and charming hosts.

Thanks to their many kindnesses, we thoroughly enjoyed our trip to Brighton.  The Lanes, the Royal Pavilion, our trip to Lewes to see our first twitten—all of it was wonderful! Our days there had been filled with fun, and lots of sweets, thanks to the delightful pastry chef Julien Plumart. What larks we had!

But it was time to pack up our little MG and head out because we had an appointment to see the most famous boy wizard in the world, a certain Harry Potter. You may have heard of him. 

Liz had made reservations for the Harry Potter Studio Tour, and Miss Adeline couldn’t wait to see it all—Diagon Alley, Gringott’s Wizarding Bank, and Hogwart’s School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The drive took us about 90 minutes, or about 20 “Are we there yets?”