Making much of time, with Pagan festivals

Well, the tain carried me on to Worcester (pronounced Woo-ster, I think!). I was a day early for meeting my friend Sara (pronounced Sah-rah, sorry for ALWAYS screwing that one up, baby!), so I got a room at the Travellodge, a luxury I felt I had earned with the poor accomodation in London. There were no hostels anyway, as Worcester is not exactly a huge tourist destination. All the same, I walked around that night for while, and it seemed like a nice enough little place. I ate supermarket sammies for dinner, and turned in, to watch some wondrful cinema like 4 Brothers, Madagascar, and Land of the dead...god, who makes that shit up? Utter crap, never watch them (although to be fair, I didn't get to see all of the Land of the Dead...pity.)
The next day, I called Sara up, and she got me no worries at the train station. We had a job ahead of us, planning out our trip to Brighton. On such short notice, we had a tough time finding a B and B (no camper van, as there was no camping in Brighton...shame). As she is an awesome cook, I was more tha happy to have her make dinner, watch some tube (my name is earl), and then turn in.
The drive down south was no trouble (especially for me as I can't drive stick at home, let alone on the wrong side of the road), and we made good time. Our BandB was great, a little place called the Marine View (mom, if you and morag come here, I recommend it).
Brighton itself was a great town, with a very cosmopolitan Continental feel to it, like London, without the bad bits. Winding lanes house many cool shops, and creative restaurants. Of course, it is Englands gay capital, so I made sure my ass was on display!
That night we took te train to Lewes, the town where they hold a huge Guy Fawkes bonfir night. The story of Guy is very simple. In the years following the Reformation, England was in turmoil religiously, as the catholics and protestants vied for power. At last the protestants won out, but that really pissed off the catholics, so they conspired to blow up Parliament, with the king in it (the king was the head of the church of England). The plan was carried out, but at the last minute, as the gunpowde was being set in place by Guy ( a low level conspirator, as it turned out), he was betrayed, and caught. For his attempted assasination and treason he was hung, drawn and quartered, then burned at the stake...they really had to make sure they got him. Now, every year on the weekend closest to Nov. 5th, towns all over the country have parades, bonfires, fireworks, etc, to celebrate the traitors death. Actually, it i piggybacked on a much older pagan festival, but Guy gave them a chance to modernize it.
It was unreal...I had no idea what I was in for. Firstly, I was in the company of a beautiful lady, who I was rapidly becoming enamoured with. Secondly, we split a 26er of gin on the 7 mile train ride. When we arrived, this small English town was RAMMED full with drunken revelers. There were thusands of people who had descended on the town. We fought our way down to the main street. As we walked, people were setting of very powerful fire crackers, which quickly became deafening. Garbage cans were being blown up by them, people were everywhere, it wa madness.
Then we got to the parade route. The town has 5 bonfire societies, all of whom compete with each other to outdo the others. They marched by in all sorts of dress (vikings in full gear, smugglers, French revolutionaries, etc.), all carrying torches, and carrying banners and standards that were alight..I have never seen so much fire used in a parade. At last, the societies dragged out enormous 20ft effegies that were to be torched at the various fires. There was one of Guy Fawkes, the Pope, and Condoleeza Rice (a nice touch I thought). It was full on wild.
We then made our way to one of the free bonfires. It was so huge, it felt like it was melting your skin off, and we were 50 ft away, at least. This fire was a massive blaze. There was also quite the fireworks display. It was like Victoria Day, only with fire and pagan symbolism, and a lot more fireworks.
We were cold and exhausted by that point, so we got the train, and returned to Brighton. What an amazing time!
The following day, we just lounged about the room, making our way into town eventually, just wandering aimlessly, without an agenda, simply relaxed and enjoying each others company. We met up with Sara's friend John, and went off to play some mini putt along the sea front (Brighton is an old seaside resort town). Of course, Sara won...must have cheated! After a few pints at a pub right on the water, the "Fortune of War", we said goodbye to John, and went out for Sushi.
Another night in town was well spent in each others company, as we knew that the next da would see us back in Worcestershire. We did not get an early start, and then met John again for lunch, before we made the long drive back up north. God what a time! So much fun.