Has it really been almost a year? Really? That is just a little bit terrifying.
Our time in the UK is actually just about over. We arrived in this country on August 26th, 2009 and will be leaving it on July 31st, 2010, less than two weeks from now. After everything is said and done I’ll probably write some sort of post summarizing my feelings and thoughts about the year that was, but for now I’ll detail one of our last trips, a day trip we took yesterday to Canterbury and Dover to see the two things those places are most known for — the cathedral and the White Cliffs, respectively.
We arrived in Canterbury after a pleasant couple of hours on multiple trains, one of which was a high-speed service from London St. Pancras to our destination. Canterbury definitely has that old-timey English village feel to it. Classic-looking buildings dominate with the occasional legitimate medieval structure thrown in for good measure. Right in the middle of it all is the biggest friggin’ church I’ve ever seen in my life.
Canterbury Cathedral is the symbolic home of the worldwide Anglican church, just as its Archbishop is the church’s symbolic leader. It’s been around in some form or another since 602 A.D. It is an impressive structure.
So we ambled inside and walked around for a while. I thought I had seen the whole thing in about five minutes, but then I went through a door to reveal about twice as much more church lay beyond.
So yeah, it’s big. And its upkeep apparently costs about £12,000 A DAY. Yeesh. I’m all for historical preservation and whatnot, but for that much money you could probably feed an impoverished African nation for a year.
We also took a boat tour in Canterbury which was relaxing but unremarkable. I remember nothing of what the tour guide said.
After the cathedral we hopped on a bus and headed for Dover to check out the famous White Cliffs. Upon our arrival we saw a few signs directing us where we wanted to go, but after a while the signs disappeared and we got very frustrated and tired of walking. Apparently this is a place best accessed by car, as evidenced by the long, winding, and sidewalk-less road we walked over to get there. After about an hour of getting lost and trudging uphill we found the place. And y’know, it was kind of worth it.
It’s pretty beautiful. It also kind of reminds me of Newfoundland, save for the chalk. We took a few pieces of the white stuff, which is probably a painfully touristy thing to do, but we didn’t really care.
I never realized just how close France is to Dover. You can actually just see it from atop the cliffs.
Here I am helpfully pointing out where France is.
The proximity to France made itself known another way too: Kat’s cellphone connected to a French network and sent her a text to let her know. Mine stayed connected to the English network, for whatever reason.
The rest of the day was eventful for us, boring for a blog entry, consisting of several travel hiccups which turned out to be not terribly damaging in the long run.
As we wind down our time in England, we have four days of work left, then a week of packing up to move home. We’re taking at least two more day trips, one to Warwick Castle to see some jousting, and one to Bath and Stonehenge.
