The South Downs: Beachy Head and the Seven Sisters

I love the sea. Water is my element. The endless horizon calms me and so does the sound of the waves crashing onto the shore. I love how the wind tousles my hair and how the spray covers my glasses with tiny drops of salty sea water. Whenever I can I try to spend some time at the seaside. Sadly, not every place I visit is close to the water. But this last summer I had the great opportunity to visit friends in Brighton who then took me to see the chalk cliffs at Eastborne, also known as the Seven Sisters. It was a sunny day with a bit of wind, but warm enough to walk around in jeans and a shirt. The view from the cliffs was stunning, the sea was a surreal blue-green on which tiny ships appeared every now and then in the distance. We took a long walk, I snapped too many pictures, especially of the Beachy Head lighthouse (of which I had unknowingly bought an old black and white photograph the other day), before we decided to drive a bit further and explore the beach, try to walk towards the lighthouse. Sadly it was high tide and it would have taken a while for the path to be above sea level again (and the weather had changed by the afternoon anyway, as rainclouds were starting to cover the sky). So we simply relaxed on the stony beach and listened to the waves. This was possibly the best day of my short UK vacation.

In case you plan to go there: there is a train connection from London Victoria to Eastborne and from there you can take a bus and then walk the rest of the way. We took the car and enjoyed driving through the tiny country lanes. But not everyone is comfortable driving a car on the left side of the road.