Dover

Alright, so I just got back from Dover. Wow... amazing. I went with Danielle and Jenna, and we took the National Express there. It was a good trip, we made a stop in Canterbury, and yes Jenna and I decided that would be going there. So beautiful. We stopped at the bus station, and I just got that feeling that I should be looking at something- so I looked up outside the window and saw ROMAN something. There was a Roman little tower right by the bus station. If I knew the White Cliffs were waiting for me, I would have gotten off that bus.

So we get to Dover, and we are on this little road, Jenna and I are talking about something, and I just looked out the window, and there it was... the castle and the English Channel. Amazing, it was so beautiful. We got off at the bus station, and I just looked back up at the Castle, onto of the hill, and got deja vu from Salzburg. Once again I would be climbing a big hill, and I had no idea how to do it. But first we got lunch, we went to KFC. I was very hungry for Popcorn Chicken, and I really did not want to waste hours at a pub. So we got a really quick lunch, and then went to the shore. There I got my first good look at the cliffs, and I was impressed. We went down to the sandy beach of Dover... um just kidding. It was like Brighton, rocky. But the rocks are smoothish... I picked up two. There it was pretty windy, and the waves were pretty good, I was ready to jump in. After taking some pictures of the beach, we started our trek to the Castle. Jenna and I agreed on one thing.. we don't need directions, it was that way. Of course when we said that we pointed up to the Castle. Danielle commented a few times that we should ask, but it was in front of us, we would find a road. So we were almost right under it, when we saw these ruins, probably Roman, if not just a few hundred years after the Romans. Of course pictures were taken, and we continued on. Up, up, up the stairs we went, to a road, where we followed that up, and it led to the Castle. It was really easy. Not an easy walk up, but easy to find. At the ticket booth, we were told that the 'secret' tunnels from WWII were opened, and if we wanted, go get a tour, and that was included on our ticket. I had read that that was closed, so I got really excited. Jenna was excited too, it was one of the things she really wanted to do. So we went there first. It was so funny, we are walking to the entrance and there is a sign that says, "Secret Tunnels" Yeah well not so secret if there is classical music playing, and there is a sign. But during WWII they were somewhat secret. The Germans knew something was going on there, but not the extend of it.

The tunnels were a lot like the War Rooms in London, but some people had a good time ransacking that place, most of the rooms were empty. When the war ended, they didn't just leave, and the tunnels forgotten about, like the War Rooms, they were used in the Cold War, in case of any radiation problems, but um yeah chalk has no protections against radiation... so yeah, they put a wall of lead in, but that would lead to lead poisoning, so either way not good. The tunnels were actually first built in the wars against Napoleon, but extended for WWII, there was offices, living quarters, there was even plans to put in royal living quarters, but that was abandoned when the caves kept collapsing. But the tunnels are extensive, our tour lasted a half an hour, and we went through some of them. There is a hospital in the tunnels too, but work was being done on them, so we couldn't see them. Sad.

It was interesting because in our group, there was two gentlemen, one who's grandfather spent some time in the tunnels, but died at Normandy, our tour guides relative died at Dunkirk, and I think the other gentleman's grandfather was shot in the face, and spent a lot of the war in a prisoner of war camp. So I overheard these stories, and was just amazed.

Of the secret tunnels I've seen, I prefer the War Rooms in London, because there is so much more. That was literally just abandoned when the war ended, and everything was left. Here, as I said, there was a lot of empty rooms. It was a very interesting tour though, I was in the white cliffs of Dover. Of course all I could think of was Newkirk, and all his talk of Dover.

After the tunnels, we spent some time outside, we saw the statue of Ramsey, who was in charge of the tunnels, and Operation Dynamo, which was when 335,000 soldiers were evacuated in like 9 days from Dunkirk, which is in France. They thought they would only be able to evacuate 65,000 men at the most, but yeah the English Channel was nice and calm, and ships were able to get back and forth, and every boat that was seaworthy was sent over.

We then I think we at the highest point outside, on top of this hill, where I took a video of just us complaining of the wind. I thought we were all going to be blown away. We did get sick of the wind, so we went up to the Castle. Now I have always wanted to go visit some place that Most Haunted has been to, and I did... they went to the Dover Castle. Now I'm not sure completely where, but they were there.

So we go into the Castle, see the Keep, and most of it has to do with Henry VIII. Whenever I think of him, I think Hampton Court Palace, which is course down the street from me. But there was all this stuff about him, his many wives. It was kinda weird. I loved this one room, it has his throne, and if you got too close it would yell at you. Well actually, it yelled at Jenna. So she kept going close on purpose, just to hear what it would say to her. Haha. You could also see his private bathroom, and IT STILL SMELLED! It was gross, I couldn't stand in there for more than 2 seconds. It was amusing, but ick. It had a horrible smell.

We did see the Roman lighthouse, which is always cool. It's in pretty good condition, considering it's age. I got a picture on the roof of the Keep, and behind me is the lighthouse, and of course the water.

After that, we went back down to the town, saw the Roman Painted House, but it's closed Oct-March... not sure why, but that was a little disappointing. Oh well. We got some tea after that, and then walked around a little bit more, and then got dinner.

It was an awesome day, the Dover Castle is amazing, the White Cliffs are beautiful, and it's a cute little town. I had a lot of fun with Danielle and Jenna.