Dover and Canterbury - November 10-11, 2006

Dover

We're lookin' over a four lane to Dover! It was an awesome adventure to go to Dover this weekend! A small group of us (to include Jacob, Melissa, Austin and our friends Maaret, Maggie, Ang, Josh and Ashley) went down south for a few days. We started our trip on Friday, seeing as it was a "down" day. (Jacob had the day off for Veteran's Day on Saturday). In a short, few hours we were there! Wee! I had a fun time taking tons of pictures (Jacob just bought me a new memory stick and I can take around 400 pictures - I was a little disappointed to see that I only came away with 241 at the end of the day!) Unfortunately, dusk was falling quite quickly and the "Welcome to Dover in White Cliffs Country" came out a bit on the fuzzy side, but all the same I HAD to take it! (That and the Bugles on my fingers...)

One thing about driving down to the Kent area, we had to travel over the Dartford Crossing (the tunnel on the way home). Even though we see it everytime we come around the M25 this way, I thought I'd snap a shot for memories sake (sing with me ... misty water colored memories ...)

Come on and zoom! Yeah, we're in the Dartford Tunnel here - of course, not one of my favorite pictures; however, how often do you have the opportunity to take a picture whilst in a tunnel in England?










Arrival at dover Castle. Today was a bit on the windy side - okay, who am I kidding! It was very windy!

A bit nippy, you might say! Melissa is taking some photos whilst Ang and Josh are getting ready to experience the Castle!

A short distance from the castle, it's history goes underground to Hellfire Corner and the secret wartime tunnels. The medievaltunnels have been under Castle Hill since 1216. They were mined following a lengthy French siege. The idea was to enable the english soldiers to move undetected or conduct undetected operations. This castle didn't have any dungeons, but visiting these tunnels gives you the feeling of being imprisoned - the big iron-studded doors lent to the atmosphere!

Hellfire Corner - it's what makes Dover Castle so awe-inspiring! The secret wartime tunnels were extended during the Napoleonic Wars in the 18th century. A barracks for more than 2000 men was created, giving this castle the only underground barracks ever built in Great Britain. They were also used by the Coast Blockade Service to combat smuggling gangs but by the 20th century, they had been largely abandoned. The tour that we took in the tunnels was very interesting! We were taken down into Casemate, the bombproof headquarters of the Royal Navy's Dover Command. We were able to see original footage from WWII before our journey underground began. We viewed the hospital on Annexe level above Casemate, some of the quarters that housed over 10,000 troops, a canteen, a military telephone exchange, switchboards and transmitters. The original plotting table in the operations was still there! Also, the clock in the Anti-Aircrafts Operation Room was original - the clock was in sync with Greenwich time and every other clock underground took it's time from that one. The tour was very interactive. Whilst underground, you would hear the sound of an air raid and the voices of men and women going about their regular duties. In the canteen, the food even smelled real - and looked real, too! There was a lot of time and money put into preserving this wonderful historical landmark. I believe the tour guide mentioned that it took 9 years to prepare the tunnels to look like they did in WWII.


Austin and Maggie are "scaring" up some fun in the medieval tunnels. Boo!

After enjoying the medieval tunnels, we came upon some very tempting hills ... Jacob decided to do a little 'butt surfing' (nice trail!) and Josh was in charge of making sure he was safe!

Austin and his rollie-pollies! He is so funny! He had to go down a few times - he literally flew down that hillside!

Melissa, being the refined young lady that she is, decided that doing a rollie-pollie would not be appropriate so instead, she decided to run down the hill. I think she underestimated the hills steep incline ... there was a point where I thought she was going to trip over herself!

After said rolling around, Austin said he had "a bug" in his eye. That thing was pretty big and wanted to burrow into his eye! Ew! Being the concered Mom, I had to take this shot first - hey! These things must be documented for posterity! Geesh! Well, I eventually had to dig it out with my nail! Poor Austin, his eye hurt for awhile after!

Here is the little vermin ... thinking back, I don't even think I smooshed it, I was too concerned with Austin's eye!

Here is a picture taken outside of the medieval tunnels. We really were lucky this day - there was only one other man in the tunnels at the same time we were and there were very few people touring the castle that day! YEAH!









Here's a "group action shot" of everyone.

Ah - the White Cliffs from the car! We spent around 3-4 hours at the castle and by the time it we arrived at the cliffs, it was sunset time! Okay, it was only about 4:30, but it's close to winter time here and it gets dark pretty early!

Austin and Melissa are standing at the top of the cliffs with Dover Castle i nthe background. It was still very windy and hard to get the kids excited about ANOTHER picture!

I finally got my contacts! Woo Hoo! It looks like I also have the "Alfalfa" look (the little boy from The Little Rascals). ;)


The fuzzy wuzzy White Cliffs! We really need to go back here!


Austin is exploring the cliffs - he's trying to follow Josh up the cliffside but Austin's mother was getting a bit "foofy" and didn't like him climbing the cliff too well!

Ah - we are out of the cold and in a pub called The Eight Bells. They had really reasonable prices and Melissa dubbed the mac 'n cheese there "the worst I've ever had". We will continue our quest to find the "best ever" and will let you know.
Canterbury


On November 11, Veteren's Day, we were on our way to the Canterbury Cathedral when we spotted some chaps selling poppies. I had a nice chat with the bloke on the left about the "local boys" who fought in the war.
The Canterbury Cathedral is one of the oldest (if not the oldest) cathedral in England. The Cathedral's history goes back to 597AD when St. Augustine was sent here as a missionary. In 1170 Aruchbishop Thomas Becket was murdered in the Cathedral and ever since, the Cathedral has attracted thousands of visitors and pilgrims, as told famously in Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales. Maaret and I were able to be in the Cathedral at 11:00 - the time the armistace was signed, ending WWII - and the bells tolled. There was 2 minutes of silence to remember those lost during that war. I will never forget the feeling I had there. It was a humbling and awesome experience.


We took the "park and ride" in Canterbury, seeing as we didn't want to pay too much moolah for parking. This particular bus was a double-decker and Austin and Maggie really enjoyed being up front! They even pretended to be the bus driver(s). It was cute ...

The gang at the tail-end of our trip. This pub, The Old Gate or something, had a really nice ambiance. Josh and Ang highly recommend the Scotch Broth and bread (it was a HUGE chunk-o-bread), Maaret had a cool bottle of water, and Jacob said the steak was "okay". May I state again, this pub had a really nice ambiance!



Melissa has eyes only for her Papa!
It's home at last! Classically known as the "five-ways roundabout", this is a beacon of light when you have been driving awhile and need to take out your contacts! Oh, and take the A1065 to Swaffham.