Canterbury and Dover Castle

First, I have to mention that two nights ago it SNOWED in London. The first October London Snow since 1934 (thank you BBC Breakfast for that trivia). It was gone by morning.

Yesterday was a daytrip. We've had fabulous weather on all of the daytrips so far, and yesterday was no exception. It was cold, calm, and sunny.


My roommate Marissa and I bundled up by a river in Canterbury.


In Canterbury. Pathways from medieval times, cobblestones, monumental cathedrals - pretty much what I expect from England now. When I say monumental cathedral, this is what I mean:


Impressive, no?

After a cup of tea and a bite to eat, we went to Dover Castle. I feel like once you see one castle, you've seen them all. But Dover Castle has a great view, and I feel differently about views. You can see France from the top of the castle, it's only 21 miles away, the shortest distance from England to France.

This is one reason that Dover was bombed a lot in WWII, which is unfortunate because many children were evacuated from London (with the thinking that London would be bombed) to Dover. It also means that when you hear about people swimming across the Channel, they are usually swimming from Dover. If any of you are thinking about swimming the Channel, I have to warn you that while it's only 21 miles across, because of the strong tides the distance that you swim comes to around 36 miles.


On top of the castle. It's hard to see the horizon but the Channel is behind me. Scarf by Mom.


The white cliffs of Dover (sorry for the glare, we only saw them from the bus). There's some famous song about these cliffs that I've never heard. Apparently it talks about bluebirds over the white cliffs of Dover, which I don't get, because 1) the cliffs are gray, and 2) bluebirds are not native to England.

I am looking forward to the next few days.

Friday is Halloween and I am going on a Jack the Ripper walking tour. I have been wanting to do this since I got here. I didn't go with the group over summer, because I wanted to wait to go on Halloween, and the wait is almost over. I expect to be horrified.

Tuesday, November 4th...well, no explanation needed. I don't talk about politics on my blog (mostly because I hate talking about politics), but I voted absentee and I am ready for this to be over. I will be anxiously watching the results in the middle of the night.

Wednesday, November 5th is Guy Fawkes Day (for those of you who don't know what that is, no worries, I didn't know about it until the movie V for Vendetta). Basically, loads of fireworks. I will most likely miss them because I have to work, but I am staying optimistic that I will have time to catch the show.

Watch this space for pics and commentary of the above events.

Also, is anyone dressing up for Halloween? I'm thinking of being a librarian...