Dover Castle and Canterbury

This is my favorite house of all time, ever. I can't imagine the floors are very straight in there.
see all photos »

We had a really great lecturer on Tuesday night come in and tell us all about medieval Britain, to prepare us for Wednesday's field trip to Dover Castle and Canterbury...he was a really nice guy who told Eddie Izzard jokes and managed to make the succession of kings seem interesting.  Props to him!

So Wednesday morning, 8 a.m., found us all on a two hour bus ride to Dover.  We got stuck with the overly enthusiastic tour guide with a penchant for baby talk and squealing, so it seemed a bit longer! Haha, actually, she was quite fun...it's just hard to deal with squealing at 8 a.m.

Dover Castle
see all photos »

As much as I wanted to fall asleep, I just couldn't, and ended up chatting with my seat partner, Alex (remember the fellow Bears fan?  he's a cool kid) most of the way--so of course we laughed at the guide's crazy antics...

We made it to the Castle--a stronghold since the earliest of times, due to its strategic position, high above the cliffs and at the gateway to the rest of Europe.  The earliest castle on the spot had been built by William the Conqueror, and the current castle on the site is mainly from medieval times.  We only had about an hour and a half there, so we attempted to make the most of it...how I loathe tours and their time restrictions!

Looking over the edge of the keep...
see all photos »

The castle and its grounds were amazing.  The view from the upper ramparts stretched for what seemed like miles, and you could even see France across the sea.  Inside, there were great halls and little chambers connected by a random web of twisting staircases and narrow hallways...the architect was a madman, I believe, haha.  We saw the chapel and chambers that Thomas Becket once used, and the rooms where the king had slept and Henry VIII had visited.  My favorite, though, was the royal toilet.  For being royal, it was pretty plain...but I suppose there isn't a whole lot one could do to make a hole in a stone bench really elegant.

Jenn (and a very furtive Courtney) in the stone hallways of the castle
see all photos »

There was a Roman tower there, which had once been used as a lighthouse...how ancient!  A stone wall ran along the cliff (no doubt very white, though I couldn't see from my vantage point) and the view out to sea was spectacular.  I really wanted time to go into the town and stop by the famous white cliffs of Dover, but we had to be back on the bus ASAP...very unfortunate.  So I took a long-distance photo from the one cliff I could sort of see, and headed back with the rest of the group.

Me on top of Dover Castle
see all photos »

Canterbury was incredibly quaint, with a mixture of Tudor half-timbered buildings, Edwardian row houses, Victorian pubs, and a sprinkling of a few ugly attempts at modernism.  Laura, Courtney, Jenn, Kevin, Joe, Jack, and I started out a busy fish and chips joint called Pantellli's, which was insanely popular with the locals and tourists alike, which meant we had to wait in a queue and fight for a table.  It was delicious though, and well worth the hassle.  Afterwards we headed around the corner to Mercery Street, the narrow road that leads up to Canterbury Cathedral.  It's now lined with little shops and restaurants, but was once the site where King Henry IV, after ordering the death of Thomas Becket (okay, not ordering, per se--he and Becket had been pals until they got into a row, at which point he wondered aloud whether anybody would rid him of the clergyman...and some overhearing knights carried out his wishes) crawled on bloody knees in remorse towards the Cathedral where his once-friend was buried, all the while being whipped by monks.

The inland view from the top
see all photos »

The cathedral itself is huge.  From the outside, you can see its several towers, and the intricate stone carving that covers the entire building.  The inside is just as massive:  the stone columns, meticulously carved, seem miles above you when you enter, and brightly colored stained glass allows jewel-toned light to filter in to the quire, giving the rooms a dream-like quality.  It may seem a daft comparison, but the main hall sort of reminded me of the caves of Moria, from Lord of the Rings.  No kidding.  Only add stained glass, and take away the Orcs.

Looking down on Jeanette from a higher tower...
see all photos »

...But I challenge any of you to enter the Canterbury Cathedral, and not look upward automatically.  It's really not possible.  If you think about it, that's what these amazing cathedrals were built to do...

We went into the crypt, where there was a rule of silence...unfortunately, I was wearing my new boots, with little heels that rang out on the stone floors and echoed across the hall.  So I ended up tip-toeing around, looking marvelously idiotic, and getting leg-cramps like mad.  Ha!

Hey! I think I see France! haha
see all photos »

And of course, we saw the site of the martyrdom of Thomas Becket, and the plaque which commemorated Pope John Paul II's visit to the cathedral and the site--the first time the Catholic Pope had entered England since the time of Henry VIII!

By the time I wandered out of the cathedral, the rest of the people I'd been with were long gone (apparently I'm one of the slower sightseers--I just like to take my time!) so I was all by my onesy.  As I was examining some interesting looking ruins behind the church, I ran into Joe (as before mentioned--a lanky blonde biology major and party kid from MSU) and some of my neighbors from Knaresborough:  Chris, Tim, and Justin.  We were all lost, and so decided that rather than be lost and alone, we'd all much prefer to be lost together, and so headed into the center of Canterbury.  We found a half-timbered house that was practically horizontal due to ages of settling, and an interesting stone tower that unfortunately required a small admission fee to go into (I suggested that, since nobody was manning the entrance, we should take our chances and pay up only if caught; but the others were more cautious than I).

I don't even know why we thought this was a brilliant idea at the time...
see all photos »

We also spotted a stream with an interesting history...  Fun fact:  our tour guide told us that, in the good old days, enterprising fathers used to cage up their daughters when they'd taken a fancy to marriage, and dunk them underwater until they lost said ambition...all so that they'd never wed and instead spin thread to increase the family fortunes.  Thus the term spinster...

Eventually we got a bit off the beaten path, and ended up in some residential areas, thanks to Chris's insistence that we keep turning left until we found our way back to town, haha.  I was mercilessly made fun of by the guys (in a fun and loving way, I'm sure) for taking tons of pictures of the little row houses, and all the little gardens, and the alleys, and the chimney tops, and...okay, maybe I went a little overboard on the pictures.  I thought they were cute!  Eventually Tim and Chris went their own way with some friends, and Joe and I continued on until we met up with Jack and Jenn, and considered getting a pint.  We had 20 minutes until we had to meet at the bus, though, and sadly abandoned that plan.  But we did see a cool market on the way, with lots of flowers and stalls...so all in all, I much approve of Canterbury!

Overlooking the ancient walls towards the cliffs of Dover
see all photos »

Cheers!