This past weekend was meant to be the FTG house summer getaway. Except for one thing missing - summer. We managed to time our weekend at the beach over probably the wettest and most miserable weekend in ages! But as they say, it doesn't rain inside a cocktail bar.

On Friday we caught the insanely packed train from London Bridge after our original train was cancelled, getting into Brighton around 8pm. The hostel was just down the road from the station so after checking our bags we headed off towards the pier for a late sundowner at Victoria's Bar on the pier, which was a proper old man's pub, but good enough for a thirst quencher before moving on into the town.

At least the rain held off on Friday evening, so we managed a bit of pub hopping between the Black Lion, the Mesmerist and ending up at the Pitch and Piano with our newly acquired black afro wig. The atmosphere in the streets of Brighton reminded me more of a European City than a British seaside town, with crowds of people and music lining the streets. The Pitch and Piano was good to finish off the night, and not forgetting a stop by the SFC for some late night chicken and chips before heading back.

Saturday morning we awoke to absolutely rubbish weather - wind, rain and cold. And it didn't appear to have any thoughts of clearing either. We braved the elements anyway and took a walk into town and through the Laines, until the rain got way too annoying and forced us into the first covered place we found, which happened to be a corner pub, which was pretty average as far as pubs go, but out the rain which helped.

After a short stop off there we went on search for lunch and came across Sophias, a small Italian restaurant amongst the Laines, which was perfect for both a three course lunch as well as escaping the weather. After lunch, a unanimous decision took us back to the hostel for an afternoon nap before our night out in town.

Saturday night started off at Yates on West Street, the main road which leads down towards the seafront road, and with £1.50 Jagers, was definitely a good call to start the evening. A couple of rounds there and we moved on to Tru which was clearly only filled with people like us who too had been tricked into it with their voucher and left there as quickly as we had arrived.

Dinner was nothing more than a stop via Burger King and then onto a wicked bar with awesome red neon above the bar counter and decent music as well. We hang out there for a few and then moved over onto Oceana, which I had last been to about 3 years ago and was looking forward to another night out there. But what a disappointment! Amazing the difference 3 years make. Or maybe it was the crowd. Or the state of music these days. Either way it wasn't a great night out, but at least Friday night made up for it!

Sunday morning was much the same as Saturday - rain, wind, cold and miserable. Still no sign of summer. We decided on a fry up and found a small little side street cafe, which did a great breakfast and coffee, exactly what we needed to kick start Sunday considering the outside weather. With the beach out of the question, the next best option was a sports bar to chill out in front of the big screens, and watch the Tour de France for the afternoon. We managed to find Smugglers which was real quiet but they had the Tour on in front of the sofas, which meant that was our afternoon sorted.

After a good while there, we passed the hostel to grab our bags and make our way to the train station, homeward bound, with Thai takeaway for dinner as none of us could be bothered to make anything worthwhile. Unfortunately not quiet the beach and beer-garden summer weekend we had hoped for, but still good to get out of London for a couple of nights for a quick city break. It just means we'll have to plan another, proper, summer weekend away!