26 April 2014

Dover Day 2
Oh, the White Cliffs of Dover.... Oh the cold, wet, windy, muddy, foggy cliffs of Dover !

We arrived early, and walked for a couple of kilometres, but just couldn't stay. Leaning into a strong, cold wind, hauling ouselves up a steep, muddy slope trying to keep the rain out of our things - you get the picture. Home for a cup of tea and a bite to eat please.

　

The port is in front of these cliffs. Huge ferries cross the channel carrying hundreds of cars and dozens of trucks. Impressive.



　

　

Robyn bought a 3/4 length coat in town - down from 80 pounds to 20. This brings her wardrobe tally (coat section) up to about 50 pieces. It was made in China- the world's factory.

Lunch was fish and chips looking out past the beach to the Straits of Dover. Robyn had an all day breakfast, because we could not see any blackboard, or paper menus. The staff later brought other food to other tables - it must be menu-by-negotiation !

Anyway, the food was OK, even if the fish was too heavily battered. The English still seem to exist on a limited range of food when they eat out. Potatoes, bread, fish, pies, and sausages are ubiquitous.

After lunch we drove to Deal, and stopped at Deal Castle. This is one of the Cinque Forts built by order of Henry the eighth. It is actually a fort, not a castle. Accordingly, it is low, and built right at the back of the beach. The walls are metres thick and the windows small. Gun "embrasures" (holes in the wall to fire through, and room for the cannon or musketeers behind) are all around the outer walls.

An audio guide (an Ipod type thing) steered us through the fort, and told us the layout of the place. It was intriguing, even though I'm not a military history buff. What comes through is the international politics of the time - that was complex, and dynamic. Henry seemed to be France's best friend one day, and fighting them the next.



Driving on through the Kentish countryside, we came to Ramsgate. This is a seaside town, and is part of a holiday strip the extends as far as Margate. However, our next stop was Canterbury, which is at least 6 miles inland ! As with all large towns in England, we had difficulty in getting a park for the car. Then we walked for about a kilometre to the famous cathedral. Even though there is light until about 7:30 here, they still close at 5:00. Entrance cost was 10 pounds 50, so we decided to leave it to another day. The cathedral is impressive though...

Robyn took some more pictures of the medieval town.

We drove "home" to Dover. As it was still early, I walked down to a pub - The White Horse, for a pint (Sussex best Real Ale). There I got talking to two blokes with genuine pommie accents. They talked about future of their town and politics. At least we din't get around to the football (Everton nil, Arsenal nil; repeat fifty times, just change the names of the teams !) I had a second pint and talked to two Australian girls who are travelling around England and Ireland in six weeks. It was good to hear the accents, and the Aussie vernacular. It really is distinctive. I took my leave of them, and headed home (otherwise, I might still be there. It was a warm and friendly place).

So ended a busy day.