May 8, 2012 Dover

This is Tuesday, so we must be Dover.  Up early again today, but not feeling too bad as we got to keep the same time zone.  We met our tour group downstairs and headed out for our bus.  

The first stop was Canterbury and the Canterbury Cathedral.  The ride up there was quite beautiful.  Everything is green and the flowers are spectacular.  The country roads that we occasionally drove were narrow, tree lined and quite country.

The Cathedral is quite a site, both inside and outside.  We entered the Cathedral through the main entrance, which put us in the nave. From there we went down in to the Martyrdom area, which is to say the Crypt.  Back up the stairs and into Quire, then Trinity chapel.  A prayer service was held shortly after we arrived.  The Cathedral is Massive and sound is lost in the space, so it seems peaceful and quite, even though there are lots of people around.

HISTORY LESSON:

In 597 AD, Pope Gregory the Great sent a monk, Augustine to England as a missionary.  He established a monastery in Canterbury and became England’s first Archbishop.

In 1170 after a long lasting dispute, King Henry ll is said to have exclaimed ”Who will rid me of this turbulent priest?” four knights set off for Canterbury and murdered Archbishop Thomas Becket inside the Cathedral. When soon afterwards miracles were said to take place, the Cathedral became one of Europe’s most important pilgrimage centers.  The Cathedral is the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury and is very much still a working church.  For millions of Anglicans worldwide, the Cathedral is their Mother Church. 

After leaving the Cathedral, we walked around the town and window shopped.  Returning to the bus we headed for Leeds Castle.

The Castle is very beautiful and the grounds are very nice.  Probably, the most exciting thing about our visit were the Peacocks.  An albino and regular one, both showing off their beautiful feathers.  Of course we had to have a little rain to go with the experience.  The inside was more of a home decorated in 1930’s style.  This is because a rich lady, with the help of three husbands, bought the place in the late 20’s and held lavish parties here.  25 servants for 3 people.

After touring the Castle, we went up to a restaurant on the grounds and had lunch.  Can’t miss a meal on a cruise, even if you are not on the ship.  I asked for the macaroni and cheese.  The nice lady told me that it was the kid’s meal.  I told her “I was a kid at heart”.  It was the best macaroni and cheese I have ever had.  It was made with aged white cheddar cheese.  The chef came out and told me all the ingredients.  He was quite pleased that I liked it so much.

After leaving the Castle, we headed back to Dover, with a quick stop on top of the White Cliffs.  Now sing, there will be a blue bird over the white cliffs of Dover.  We saw some gun emplacements and a beautiful view of the harbor.  We then continued down to the harbor for a short boat ride.  

When we got back to the ship we were tired and not hungry, so we had some room service and called it a day.

If you check back, from time to time, at some of the prior post, you will start to find some pictures.  They take a long time to upload, so I fall behind on them but they will eventually get there.

Dover Pictures