February's Flickr winner's blog!

Greetings LoveBrighton blogger readers!

We have announced the winner of February’s Flickr competition, and she has written a fabulous blog for us! The theme for February was ‘I Love You, I LoveBrighton’, and our lucky winner received vouchers to spend at the romantic Riddle & Finns!

Here’s ladolcevita2012's winning photo and what she had to say about it:

"Hi guys,

Now that I have won the competition, this made me very happy for many reasons, not only for the cool prize which I look forward to receive :-) but also because I moved to Brighton recently from Italy (easily understandable by my nickname that I am Italian :-)) and it was love at first sight with this city.

It was the same love with which I looked at Brighton, when I took that picture, and I think that this made it special and the selected picture as a symbol of February as the lovers month.

In my shoot, there were not only the romantic characters of that Sunday afternoon and their hug; I was also there hugging the town, a stranger who was walking around with her eyes full of curiosity and enthusiasm, trying to steal with her camera, moments, smiles, streets and everything that makes this city such a special little gem. I feel at home in Brighton.

I don't need to say more… :-) xxxx"


So remember, if you’ve got great photos of Brighton & Hove, get sharing and start loving: www.flickr.com/groups/lovebrighton

‘till next time,

Siobhan :)

Step into the Garden of Eden

The joy of staying in a hotel with themed rooms is that you can try a different one each time, but when a hotel becomes well established, such as Sea Spray in Kemp Town, it must be difficult keeping the themes fresh. However the good news is that they have recently unveiled a brand new room - The Garden of Eden.


If you have a special anniversary or simply fancy a treat then this is the room to book, it comes complete with its own lounge and even more excitingly a walled garden with a hot tub for two! The owners have anticipated the fact that you won't want to leave the room as breakfast is served to you in the suite's private dining area. Very cosy!

To find out more about Sea Spray go to www.seaspraybrighton.co.uk or check out their video:



Charlotte

From visitor to resident

A year or so ago we launched our Greeter scheme, where enthusiastic residents meet visitors to the city & show them what they love about Brighton & Hove. Each Greet lasts approximately 2 hours and best of all its completely free. It's a great opportunity to get a personal view of the city, and even if you think the know the place you are bound to learn something new.



As with all of our services we ask visitors who do a greet if they have any feedback or suggestions on how we could improve the service. Yesterday we received some feedback that had us all smiling, I won't retype the whole glowing review but here is a little segment:

Chris was excellent and it was great to look around the city with someone who knows so much and in such a relaxed, friendly way. I sent a thank you to Chris, so hope he got it because we really did have a lovely afternoon and will definitely be coming back to Brighton and, as I mentioned, even live there in the future.

Greets can either be pre-booked through the website at www.visitbrighton.com/greeters or you can just turn up and join one of the instagreets which run most weekends and for the whole week from the 10-18th March in celebration of English Tourism Week. To find out if an Instagreet is taking place during your visit either contact us through the website or follow us on Twitter.

We can't guarantee that a Greet will make you want to move to Brighton but we think it's safe to say that you'll have fun, learn something new and discover a new side to the city.

Charlotte

Chip Chip Hooray!

Apparently this week is National Chip Week, which sounds like an excellent excuse to indulge in one of the simplest yet also one of the tastiest of treats.

Giraffe on Jubilee Street have gone all out and have launched a special spud-tastic menu just for this week, so you can choose whether to have your fries loaded with cheese & bacon, dipped in a spicy adobe & chorizo sauce or why not try a sweet potato fry?


Alternatively head to Terre a Terre for the Brighton spin on the traditional fish 'n' chips - Better Batter & Lemony Yemani Relish. But if you want the classic experience then head down to the Brighton Pier, although beware as seagulls are also big chip fans!

Charlotte

A feat for the feet – Brighton Half Marathon

This weekend 10,000 people will set off from Madeira Drive for the Brighton Half Marathon 2012. And I’m one of those donning my trainers to go for a run around the city on Sunday morning.

Now in its 22^nd year, the Brighton Half Marathon is a popular fixture in the sporting calendar. Places for the 2012 event sold out in record time.

For many runners, the February date is perfect for gauging how well they are gearing up for full marathons taking place a few months later, such as the Brighton Marathon on April 15^th.

For others, like me, thirteen miles is a very very long way.

I have to admit to be being daunted by the distance. I’d never run further than five miles before signing up for the Brighton Half and for various reasons (read poor excuses) I didn’t begin training in earnest until the New Year.

I slowly built up my miles, thanks to support from friends with true running credentials and a few sessions at Withdean track nights (where I consistently finished last).

According to numerous training plans I am sufficiently prepared to reach the finish line, despite not having run as far as 13 miles in one go. Let’s just say I expect to be at the back of the pack.

The route takes participants from the start line on Madeira Drive inland to the Level then to Ovingdean before turning round to head to Hove Lagoon for another U-turn back to the finish line near Brighton Pier. Runners are expected to take no more than three hours to complete the distance (gulp).

There is always a real sense of community spirit among the spectators lining the roads wishing the runners well and looking out for amusing costumes. Experienced runners say the encouragement from the watching crowds is truly magnificent and can help even the most exhausted to keep plodding on. This is probably why the Brighton Half Marathon was a finalist in the community event category of The Argus Achievement Awards 2011, a worthy accolade for a well organised sporting celebration.

I am still unsure what motivated me to attempt a sporting feat so far beyond my usual level of physical activity (my mum delights in telling me she thinks I’m mad to do it). Yet with just a few days to go I am really excited about being part of such a fantastic event in our fabulous city.

I wish good luck and much fun to everyone getting ready to take part, watch or help with organisation of the Brighton Half Marathon 2012. Fingers crossed for good weather and fast feet!

And finally, as it is now too late to sign up to run on Sunday, I thought I’d just quickly mention a couple of other chances to take to the roads in Brighton in the coming months…

Sunday March 25 - Sport Relief. Sign up for the Brighton mile to get active, raise cash and change lives.

Sunday April 15 - Brighton Marathon. There are still charitable places left for anyone wanting to tackle the full marathon experience in this Olympic year.

On your marks, get set, go!

Alix

The power of social media

Like the majority of people I use social media a lot both at work and at home, but even so I'm still sometimes surprised but just how quickly it can achieve results...

Our conference team are in the process of putting together a new sales brochure and the design agency had included a fantastic photo to represent the spirit of the city. However there was a slight snag, while the photographer had given his permission for the photo to be used we did not know who the man in the photo was and therefore had no way of asking him to sign a model release form.

Feeling slightly desperate we decided that as a long shot we would try asking our Twitter and Facebook followers not really expecting to get anywhere. Anyway low and behold within the hour we had our man! Best of all thanks to a little bit of flattery he generously gave his permission for us to use the photo so thank you @PlumptonMatthew :)

So it just goes to show the power of social media!

Charlotte

The Beach Boys on the roof of the Royal Pavilion

We like to think that we know a lot about the city but of course we still get surprised from time to time, for example today we have just stumbled across this fantastic video from the early 1970s featuring the Beach Boys performing on the roof of the Royal Pavilion!