Daytrip to Dover Castle & Canterbury

Today, I signed up for the Day Trip to Dover Castle and Canterbury. Once the bus arrived at Dover, you could see the harbor and the ferries leaving to traverse the English Channel to France and other destinations. It was a bit too hazy on the horizon to actually see the French shoreline, but on a clear day I imagine it is visible. After departing the bus at Dover Castle, I first toured the Medieval tunnels. Next, I walked through the museum that highlighted Henry II, Eleanor of Aquitaine, and two of their troublesome sons, John and Richard the Lionheart. It’s funny to think that five years ago this month I spent the fourteenth of July, France’s Independence Day, with my family outside of Richard the Lionheart’s castle at Talmont-Saint Hilaire. I remember that the fireworks display was beautiful as it lit up the old castle ruins.

Dover Castle has a layered history like so many places in this corner of the world. Driving up towards the town of Dover, our guide pointed out a prehistoric settlement on top of hill, now grown over with grass, but to a trained eye recognizable. The area of Dover Castle itself was originally where a Roman lighthouse stood. Then the Saxons came built a church and turned the remains of the lighthouse into the bell tower. Next came the Norman Invasion of 1066. After that came Henry II and the castle was built. Fast forward to the twentieth century when the castle was used during WWII for Operation Dynamo to rescue British and French troupes from the German assault at Dunkirk.

The castle is a very impressive structure. As we were walking down the hill to depart I couldn’t help but notice all the trees that were growing up beneath the walls, and it reminded me of the Maya ruins at Uxmal in Yucatan, Mexico. I imagine if this area wasn’t still populated that in a few hundred years it would be reclaimed by nature, another lost remnant of the past. Of course this isn’t likely to happen this century.

The next stop was the town of Canterbury, famous for Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, and the murder and sainthood of Thomas Becket. After having a delicious lunch of lamb tagine, I went to the Canterbury Museum. As the name implies it is a museum about Canterbury, first as a Roman settlement, then as a Saxon settlement, throughout the Medieval Ages as a popular pilgrim site, to the present. Most surprising to me was a collection of tiny gold Saxon coins perfectly formed. Actually most all of the Saxon artifacts showed a great deal of craftsmanship. For some reason I’d always thought the Saxons were somewhat primitive with crude skills.

The museum was definitely geared towards children. There were a lot of hands on displays and a timeline showing a very simplified version of how Henry II and Thomas Becket had a falling out. Hardly anyone was in there but a single family, a couple of older ladies, and myself.

Feeling a bit tired I meandered through the streets to the entrance of the Canterbury Cathedral. The fee was more than what I was willing to pay, and I didn’t have a lot of time left, so I decided not to go in. Later, I might regret this decision. Instead I decided to make my way back to where the bus was parked. The ride back was relatively quick and without incident. It sure made up for the miserable trip back from yesterday’s excursion.

Daytrip to Stonehenge & Bath

Today we took a day trip by coach (bus) to Stonehenge. It took about two and a half hours to drive from South London to Stonehenge. The terrain was much more hilly than I had expected it to be. Near the Stonehenge site there were nearby burial mounds. Of course for the sheep grazing this area they were totally oblivious to anything but those tender shoots of grass. Stonehenge was a fascinating site even though there was a moderate number of tourists, me included. You could hear various languages being spoken such as American English, French, German, Russian, Chinese and Japanese. It sprinkled off and on and it was a bit blowy.

The next stop was Bath, which is situated within a bowl of conjoining hills. It is somewhat of a wooded area, surrounded by pastureland and many happy sheep. Beth and I hooked up to ramble about. First we made a stop at an Indian restaurant, on the second story that overlooked a chocolate shop in the foreground and the Bath Abbey in the background. While having our meal, we watched a chocolate making class going on and tourists milling in and out of the abbey.

The first stop after the Indian restaurant was Minerva Chocolate Shop for some specialty chocolates for later in the day. Next we went into the National Trust store and bought some British goods. After that we paid the fee to explore the interior of the Bath Abbey. Inside there were beautiful stained glass windows, an impressive pipe organ, and grave plaques upon the floor and walls.

Once back on the street we made our way up to the Jane Austen Center. Seeing as I don’t have much patience reading through romance novels, I have to admit that I don’t remember actually reading any of her works. Although I do remember watching movies based on them. Besides, I am much more of a Virginia Woolf follower than an Jane Austen follower (Orlando, A Room of One’s Own, and “The Mark on the Wall.”)

Shortly thereafter, Beth and I made our way over to what was once known as the Costume Museum and is now called the Fashion Museum. The collection had a large display of wedding gowns from the last two hundred years, women’s clothing from various eras, and some torture devices such as corsets and high heeled shoes.

After that museum we made our way back to where the bus was to pick us up. We didn’t go into the Roman baths because there were huge crowds and we ran out of time. We arrived right on time to load the bus, but there was no bus. The entire group was milling about waiting for the bus, but still no bus. Then the sky was darkening and wind started blowing towards us. Suddenly, the sky opened up as did our umbrellas and we were experiencing a deluge. Ah, Britain in the summer! Five of us made an umbrella huddle, but the angle of the rain got our legs and shoes soaking wet. Finally, the bus arrived twenty minutes late. Everyone was in a somber mood, feeling damp and cold. Fortunately, Beth whipped out the bag of chocolates to soothe our spirits. Closer to London we hit stop and go traffic. It was a very long and uncomfortable ride back. C’est la vie!!!