The Eleventh Day: Dover and Canterbury

Today we were finally able to get out of the city of London and see some of the infamous English countryside! We took a coach tour to Dover where we saw the White Cliffs of Dover and Dover Castle. The castle was built originally in 1220 in the County Kent but became famous when it was strategically used during WWII. There's a complex system of underground tunnels that span three levels and over 6 miles and were used during both World Wars to house troops and acted as a command center for Britain because of its strategic location along the coast.


From the castle there are a plethora of gorgeous views of the entirety of Dover. It overlooks the English Channel and is the nearest point to France in Britain, separated only by 17 miles of ocean. On a clear day you can see the French coastline. You can also see the town of Dover, and the White Cliffs, which are named so because they're composed of white chalk.






They also had an admiral post there where we were able to take some group shots. The first is all the seniors on the trip and the second are the juniors (rising, mind you).



I enjoyed the views from Dover and seeing the English Channel, but for whatever reason I disliked the castle and the tunnels we toured. There was a level designed in case of a nuclear attack and although we weren't allowed to go in those tunnels, you could kind of see down some of the passageways and that just weirded me out. Ever since I read 'On The Beach' for my 9th grade I.S. report, I've had an irrational fear of all things nuclear war related, so this tour didn't float my boat per-say.

However, we did take a detour to the beach on our way out of Dover and we were able to put our feet in the Channel. It was FREEZING. And what's worse is that there were these crazy super-athletes who were just diving in all over the place apparently training for this that and the other thing and they were just cruising along in the water, swimming back and forth across the two walls that enclosed the port like it was no ones business. We all just dabbed our feet in and that was all we could handle. It was beautiful though, and I'm a huge fan of the ocean/anything sea related, so I had a ball.



That last picture is definitely my favorite of Amanda, Megan, and I from the day. You can be sure that will be framed when I get home :]

After Dover we drove north for about 1/2 an hour until we reached Canterbury. Canterbury is a famous site for religious pilgrimages and is also where Chaucer set his infamous 'Canterbury Tales'. We were given a while to mill around and see the town and find something to eat, then we went to the cathedral. The inside is in the old gothic style and has some great stained glass work. We were there just as they were finishing evening prayer, so we caught the last of the choir singing. After about 45 minutes of that, we loaded back onto the bus and came back to Kensington.




Everyone on our trip is slowly but surely getting sick: our immune systems are shot after a lot of walking, not enough water to make up for the aforementioned walking, and poor air conditions. We went to the grocery store when we got back and between our group of 23, I think we bought out half the pharmacy. I'm calling it a night with Megan in our room with a glass of orange juice, some cough drops, and quite possibly several episodes of Glee. An eventful night on the town? No, but necessary if half of us don't want to collapse during our last few days here. Say a prayer this all goes away quick, please!