Cliffs of Dover

Since we had 3 days in England, we decided to take a day trip. I had a book “The 25 Best Day trips from London” so I tossed it to Boyd and let him pick. We all figured he was more of the history person than the rest of us so he could make a good decision. He had a hard time deciding between Battle, where the Battle of Hastings took place and Dover, where the big white chalk cliffs are. It turned out to be a great decision on Boyd’s part.

We jumped a train for about an hour and a half ride down to Dover. We talked to the man on the train selling refreshments and he gave us the hints on where to go. We followed around the city map and went to the tourist information booth and they told us take the bus up to the castle because it is a long walk and when Europeans say that, we listen. After waiting a few minutes and staring into a pretty stream, we caught the bus up to the castle. When we paid the entrance they asked if we wanted to sign up for the War Time Tunnels tour free of charge. We said yes and then set off to explore the castle. The castle was really neat because everything was open. There were no rooms roped off and they had a lot set up like it might have been back in the day. The castle has served a lot of purposes over the year ranging for a place for royalty to stay all the way down to a prison. We also learned why a bathroom is called a W.C. (Water closet) because they kept their clothes where they used the restroom because the ammonia would keep the moths away. I’ve always wondered that, and now I have the answer.

After exploring the castle, and purchasing a bottle of mead, we headed to the tour meeting place to explore the tunnels. The tunnels were expanded and used during WWII and were going to be a backup plan during the Cold War in case nuclear war. Considering the cliffs are chalk, they determined that it wasn’t the best idea due to how porous the rock is. The tunnels were also used as a make shift hospital during the wars and offered suffered condensation buildup that would drip on the control rooms that helped communicate to the rest of the world and run missions for evacuating soldiers from France.

It was a great day exploring another part of England and drinking the mead on the train ride back. It was terribly sweet, but if someone offered me another glass, either iced or warm, I would take it. Room temperature wasn’t the prime drinking temperature. I don’t have any pictures because I let Karla the photographer take the pictures and we haven’t all exchanged pictures yet but trust me, they are great. If you want to know more about Dover, you can click the link HERE.