Hey hey hey. Welcome back Monday, what a joy you are…
This weekend has been exhausting to say the least. I am shattered. But it was great!
Saturday Ben and me had to sadly miss Parkrun as we were heading to Brighton around 9ish. We both got up early to head out for a run though. Ben ran with his friend and I ran solo listening to a podcast. I love running on my own as long as I have something to listen to. The white noise in my head is not very entertaining.
I’d planned a tempo run so aimed to do at least three of the middle miles speedy (somewhere around 7.20-7.30mins/mile). I set off at a nice warm-up pace and then found the speed came quite easily and I just tried to hold on to it for the entire run.
Then lots of foam rolling and stretching before racing around to get ready. This might have involved eating a bowl of porridge (oatmeal) in the car as we set off!
Brighton is beautiful. After catching up over coffee, my friends and me set out for a lovely long walk along the Brighton promenade to the famous Palace (Brighton) Pier.
I didn’t actually get a good photo of the pier but I did get lots of photo of tasty snacks we had (pier or snacks…hmm I know what I’d choose!!). 
I got some extortionately priced frozen yogurt with fruit salad in it. Heavenly. But bloody freezing!!! My friends chose chips (fries to you Americans out there 
) but my heart was set on fro-yo and I had seen something else that I instantly knew I wanted.
CHURROS!! It was a serious mental battle though because I also wanted a toffee apple but I knew I’d feel incredibly sick if I got both #firstworldproblems
So Ben and me shared a bag of FOUR churros. Two each and I could have gone back for more. We also got melted chocolate to dip them in. That, my friends, is heaven right there.
We larked about a bit and enjoyed the arcade, a few of my friends tried the bucking bronco (hilarious) and, dodging the seagulls, we headed into town with one important mission. Find the Choccywoccydoodah shop. This is possibly the best chocolate shop ever. They make chocolate everything. The level of carving and sculpting skills is phenomenal. They even have a TV programme about this shop. So I was excited to say the least.
We first found the Choccywoccydoodah cafe where they sell chocolate-related drinks, coffees and cakes. 
I all but threw myself at the cakes. Ben went for a hot chocolate (made with melted chocolate) and (still feeling a little full from churros and fro-yo) I decided to buy two slices of cake to gobble up immediately for Sunday after our half marathon.
The pieces the lady cut I can only describe as monsters. They were HUGE. She advised that we microwave them, add a dollop of ice cream, put our jogging bottoms on, close the curtains and enjoy That’s my kind of advice!
Ben very much enjoyed his hot chocolate. I enjoyed stealing a (full-sized!) marshmallow or two off him
We found the actual shop close by. They had all their Halloween displays out. They always have a theme. This year it was pet cemetery. So there were lots of carved chocolate animals about!
Once inside the shop you just didn’t know where to look. So many decadent delights. Skulls carved from white chocolate. Chocolate tombstones. Chocolate cakes. Rocky road slabs.
Amazingly I didn’t buy a thing. Maybe this was because I had two very weighty slices of cake with me
We enjoyed a late lunch at a lovely little pub near to my friend’s flat. I had the chicken Caesar salad.
It was amazing. Good amount of parmesan and anchovies. Crunchy croutons. Spot on.
Then it was time to say goodbye to Brighton and head home for an early night before the Solent Half Marathon the next day…
I’ll leave you with this photo. Sunday’s post-race dinner.
Sicilian lemon cake and chocolate icing, with strawberry sauce and melted chocolate all over it (because why not!!). I don’t even need to tell you how good this was.
What did you get up to this weekend?
Have you ever been to Brighton? What are your highlights? I wish we could have seen more but we were only there for the day and it was more important to catch up with my friends.
Have you heard of Choccywoccydoodah? It’s amazing. That is all.
I’ve never been to Brighton, but if they sell cake slices as big as my head – i’m all for making a visit one of these days. I cannot get over how beautiful those chocolate sculptures are.. I don’t think I’d even want to touch it with a slight fear it’d collapse and all their hard work would basically be down the drain.
I think they’re sculptures are quite solid. They’re like pure chocolate rocks hehe. Brighton is definitely worth a visit if you come to the UK!
Looks like an incredible weekend. I hope your race went well!
That cake… oh my.
I think I would love to walk through that chocolate shop even if I didn’t buy anything. The sculpted animals are so good!
It was just so impressive what they could sculpt out of chocolate! I could have bought everything!
Oh my word, that’s like the biggest slice of cake I’ve ever seen ha! I’ve never been to Brighton but I hear it’s great for Vegan’s, looking forward to checking it out once we move to London.
I know! It’s definitely equivalent to two slices at least I’d say. I could’t manage it all at once. Way to much even for me!
hahahhaha that lady gave the best advice everrr
I know – I mean seriously, we pretty much did that haha.
I LOVE Brighton! It is one of my fave places to visit, along with Bath! I must like B’s.
I love the Montezuma’s shop, and the Naked Tea and Coffee shop. But there are so many cool shops and little cafes and things. There are loads of lovely veggie cafes too so I always feel spoilt for choice whereas usually I just choose from one of two veggie items.
Although I am not a fan of Chocywocydoohdah- I watched their show a few times but all their cakes end up looking the same- they are no Ace of Cakes. Your chocolate cake looks amazing though- good call for post half marathon food 🙂
I’m sad we didn’t get to look round it more. I think if Ben and I went on our own we’d investigate a few more shops but because there were quite a few of us we just all wanted to chat!
Yes I agree that once you saw a few episodes the Choccywoccydoodah cakes did seem very similar. But still fairly impressive with the sculpture like chocolate shapes!
Brighton is my second home! We’ll be back down in November and I can’t wait, Chocywokky used to be so much better, its very expensive now and I don’t think the chocolate is as nice as it once was. My 21st birthday cake was from there and it was epic!
Oh really? That’s such a shame! Well, I must say the slice of cake I had was very yummy but extremely rich. It seemed quite busy and it was very expensive. I think I prefered the cafe to the actual shop.
I’ve never been to Brighton but it sounds amazing with lots of my kind of food :). I’ve never tried churros either, those look fab!
The cake advice sounds amazing, can’t think of a better way to enjoy a slice (or two!) 🙂
I definitely need to go back there. Lots of very yummy naughty food. British seaside at its best!
I had to google what Churros were! I’ve never had them, but shall be looking out for them next time I head to the seaside! 🙂
Basically they’re donuts. But they’re long and thin and they’re so lovely and crispy on the outside and soft and doughy in the middle. If you have one there’s no going back 😉
That pier looks like so much fun!! What a great way to spend the day. I also looooooove your coat!
Hello!!
I train in Brighton frequently… I’m a Brightonian on her 4th marathon! Nice to see a blog writing about such work!
However… the reason I came across your blog was for you raving about choccywoccydoodah…. honestly!! Haha! I am a guide for Chocolate Ecstasy Tours and have to say… If your a chocolate lover, you have a lot to learn… Brighton is full of AMAZING chocolatiers but choccywoccydoodah are artists over anything else Ive tasted from them! Fantastic at what they do but not the best by a long shot!
happy choccy times 🙂 C x