Dover

We stayed in Dover quite a bit longer than we had planned.  6 days, to be exact, and it was a good rest.  Kitties seem to have gotten over the trauma of the ferry ride, and we have been playing tourist all over the region, by train, bus, and on foot.  The first afternoon we wandered thru the Dover shopping district – the “High Street” area – and were a bit surprised to find that the shops closed promptly at 5:00PM.  All of them, including M&S.  It seems like the small shop mentality is even more strict here than in France, where you can at least find a boulangerie open at 6-7PM (maybe almost out of bread, but still open).  Wonder if this is associated with earlier dining hours here than in France.

Canterbury

This is all you can see,
without paying 10 pounds.

We first went up to Canterbury, to see the mother church of the Church of England. Naïve us, we expected to be able to just waltz in and take a look, just like they do it in Rome.  Unfortunately, it is not so simple – or as cheap.  The Church of England is evidently hard-up these days, because they charge £9.50 per person to get into the grounds and the church.  It is surrounded by walls and you can only see the tops of the towers from outside the walls.  We know – we tried by walking all the way around it.  Maybe living in France and visiting all the continental sights has given us a jaded perspective, but £20 for a couple to come inside and look at your church is a bit much.  So, we didn’t get to see it.  Instead, we had a nice lunch, did some shopping, and  a LOT of walking.  The train trip was quite civilized.

Cinque ports

The next day, we headed off by bus thru the English countryside.  The bus systems have a special Family Explorer ticket where a family of four can travel all day, on however many buses they want to ride in Kent, for only £10!  We had a number of suggestions that we take a look at Deal and Sandwich, further up the coast, so this seemed to be a good opportunity. The first stop was Deal, a quaint seaside resort, with a pier that jutted out into the Manche.  We bought some interesting sausage rolls from a local butcher, but the town was not as interesting as we would have hoped, so off we went to Sandwich.  

Stately Manor with Garden

Sandwich is indeed the home of the sandwich, and they had just had their annual sandwich fete the week before.  The Earl himself showed up to participate, and one of the town restaurants was named to produce the best sandwich in town.  Another quaint english town, with one really outstanding feature being the "Hidden Gardens" attached to one of the large houses in town.  These gardens had originally been designed and built in the late 19th century, but had then been allowed to go back to weeds until the turn of the 20th century, when they were restored.  Quite a sight.  

Sandwich Port

Sandwich is one of the Cinque Ports on this coast that were issued royal warrants to provide ships for the English kings in times of need.  They used to be quite significant trade centers, but their harbors gradually silted up or otherwise declined.  It is still possible for boats to reach Sandwich, and we could even do it at the right state of the tide, but then we would have trouble finding a place to stay afloat.  One port, Dunwich, is well known for being wiped out in one night when a storm moved an enormous amount of debris into the port, effectively filling in the entrance.  It never recovered.

Tunnel of Thrills

The bus trip from Deal to Sandwich was quite exciting - it was a double-decker, and we, or course, headed up top to sit in front.  After a few minutes we realized why we were the only people up there. These local buses take the small roads all around their routes, with trees close by the road, and sometimes arching over the road entirely.  The drivers also seem to know exactly how many millimeters they can shave off the trees, walls, poles, etc., as they make their very fast turns in very tight quarters.  As a result, the tops of the double deckers are like the deck of a boat in a gale, with the sight of various objects seemingly hurled at you, and the sound of tree limbs banging against the top of the bus.  All-in-all, very thrilling, and seemingly designed for an amusement park.

On the way back into Dover we passed a Morrison's and an Asda (Walmart) on the outskirts that we had missed during our walks, so it was overall a very good day.  A lot of walking, and we slept like logs.

White Cliffs

No bluebirds, unfortunately.

At about this point, the weather situation started to deteriorate, with a change in direction to the ENE, and strong wind warnings posted, so we decided to stay a few more nights to get better conditions.  It was still sunny, though, so a walk up the cliffs seemed to be in order.  The National Trust maintains a nature preserve on the cliffs to the east of the port, so we walked all the way over to it, and up the cliffs to the visitor center.  It was a glorious view of the town and the Manche and then back along the coast.  The ferry port was just below us, and we noted that it seemed to be filling up.  In the end, we noticed that the truck traffic for the ferries on Friday night seemed to back itself up into town (and maybe even beyond), and did not seem to abate till Saturday AM.

At this point, the weather turned really bad, and we decided to stay till Monday AM.  It gave us the opportunity to do some shopping at Morrison's, and see how the Brits celebrate the Queen's 60th anniversary (Diamond Jubilee) as Queen.  It rained quite bit, but the stiff upper lip stayed stiff, and everyone seemed to have a good time.