So much weekend, so little time...

[vic_amy_z]

Well, this past weekend turned out to be a whole lot busier than originally planned. And so I intend to tell you all about it. With pictures! Many, many, pictures...

On Saturday I had a last-minute visit from wackinessensues and her lovely partner Andy (last minute because it should have taken place the previous weekend but I was sadly suffering from chronic alcohol-related fail!) Anyway, they finally made it down to sunny Hastings and we headed off to take in the sights.


First we took the picturesque route into town, via sweeping sea vistas...


... and our quirky little funicular railway (that’s a train what goes down the side of a cliff, to the rest of you!)



Then we had a wander through the Old Town (it really doesn't take very long to cover the nice bit of Hastings!)


This is Butler's Gap...


... and these are our tacky amusements!


Then we were forced to stop for a late lunch at Webbs, where the lure of the tasting menu proved too great to resist, and wackinessensues confused the local service industry by asking for iced tea! Silly, silly American... ;o)


There were also awesome desserts but somehow we scarfed our way through these without thinking to take a picture! Finally, no trip to the seaside is complete without getting your toes wet, so we headed to the beach and had fun getting to grips with the many, many pebbles.


We did battle with the beach. I think the beach won.


A little light paddling?


Here's wackinessensues stealing some of our beach, and me totally enabling her!


And here's Andy with his Slush Puppy. Red flavour, apparently!


Eventually, I was forced to let them wend their merry way back home. I can't believe that it's been six years since I last saw wackinessensues, but hopefully we won't leave it so long next time!


And on Sunday - there were Pirates! Aaaargh!! Yes, Hastings has an annual Pirate Day and this year we were having our second crack at the Guinness World Record for the most number of pirates gathered in one place - a record that was ours in 2010 but was cruelly stolen away last year by those scurvy dogs Penzance! [shakes fist]

Pirate Day has long been part of Hastings Week celebrations (and one of the four days in the Hastings calendar that are not to be missed, along with May Day, Hastings Bonfire and the Seafood & Wine festival). Two years ago it was decided that we would have a crack at the World Record for the largest pirate gathering, which at the time was held by a town in Germany and stood at around 1,800. We smashed that with our gathering of 6,166 pirates and honour was rightly bestowed upon our little town.

Then the people of Penzance got wind of our achievement and decided that some silly musical entitled them to the record and they broke ours with a gathering of 8,734 pirates. Grrr... So this year, we pulled out all the stops (including moving the event to a weekend as the first record was set on a Friday) and we managed a total of 14,231 pirates! Suck it, Penzance!! Yeah, my town pride kicks in at really strange times...

We started the day off at D's sister's house by having bacon (cooked on the barbeque, because hello - summer arrived!) which was washed down with rum. At ten in the morning. Yes, it's that kind of day! This is the motley crew of extended family and friends...


Then we joined the flow of pirates heading into town. And there were A LOT of them! The official count was taking place on the beach between 1pm and 2pm, and the final number only included those people who actually got themselves counted - there were probably thousands more pirates who were elsewhere in the town. Basically, it was pirates as far as the eye could see! North...


... East...


... and West!


Then there was some bawdy pirate drinking to be done. This is me and D basking in the shade of our local biker's pub.


And after some pirate grub (oh alright, fish and chips!) we ended up down by the net huts.


Why yes, Hastings can be extremely picturesque...



Finally, the day was rounded off perfectly with an absolutely jaw-dropping display by the Red Arrows.



Mad photography skills, I haz 'em!



Yeah, okay, I'm not sure what happened here but I swear that no seagulls were harmed during the display... ;o)


Aww, we love you too, Red Arrows!


Good lord, I really need to figure out how to use my new camera properly - I swear there were supposed to be planes in this shot...


And after a VERY long, hot and tiring walk home (dear Hastings - if 20,000+ people are visiting you, you might want to consider some more buses and taxis and shit!) D and I found ourselves utterly exhausted (and a tad burnt) by our day in the sun and pretty much just fell into the shower and collapsed into bed. Who knew that being a pirate was such hard work?!

If Penzance manage to beat this record, I shall be looking for some serious reinforcements to take it back again. So have your cutlasses at the ready, LJ, and start practicing your pirate-speak!

Comments

[vic-amy-z.livejournal.com]

Thank you, it was much fun being a pirate! And our little cliff railway is just lovely, even if it is very Victorian and a tiny part of me worries a lot about the safety of 140 year old machinery...

Not seeing the Red Arrows because of wind is just rubbish, but they were amazing. I saw them a little further along the coast last year but having the huge gap between England and France to play in made them far more impressive! Next time they're here, I will absolutely tell them off for not coming past your house more often... ;o)

[princess-s.livejournal.com]

Love the pirate pics!!

[vic-amy-z.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I felt that D and I made rather fetching pirates. And if we have to reclaim the record, can I rely on you to fulfil pirate wench duties...? ;o)

[princess-s.livejournal.com]

Of course I have my leather boots, skirt and frilly loose blouse at the ready, oh and even the giant gold earrings ;)

[vic-amy-z.livejournal.com]

Awesome - consider yourself recruited! ;o)

[sometimeredhead.livejournal.com]

aaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhh!

[vic-amy-z.livejournal.com]

You're hired! ;o)