Dover!

So last Saturday a large group of us took a trip to Dover. We left the flats at around 6:45 in the morning and headed to Victoria station. From there we caught a two hour train to Shepherd's well. Unfortunately the Dover train station was closed for renovation, so we had to take a rail replacement bus to Dover itself.

Dover was exactly what I needed. It was so nice to get out into the English countryside for a bit, breathe some fresh air, see the ocean, and just enjoy some green fields. Once at the city, we stopped at a small cafe and ate some lunch to prepare for the long journey up the hill to the Dover castle. One thing I don't think I'll ever get board from is the amazing sandwiches and the amazing cheeses in England. We found out that in the UK, nothing really is allowed to be mass produced when it comes to food. For example, its illegal to made chedder cheese, unless you're living in Chedder, England. And that just about applies to everything. But the upside of things being a bit more expensive, is they taste incredible. So after gettin a cup of tea and a sandwhich we headed off towards the castle.

Just an insert, I am now officially addicted to British tea. I've been having at least a couple cups a day. A morning tea, an afternoon tea, and an evening tea to say the least. Tea, milk, and a bit of sugar is all I need to get through the day.

I didn't really know what to expect when it came to Dover castle, but it was incredible. We got to the castle, after climbing more stairs then I think I have ever faced before and one crazy steep hill, and then just walked around for hours. I know this doesn't sound amazing, but some of the landscapes and buildings at Dover were breathtaking. We saw the oldest building in England, a first century Roman lighthouse, saw the keep of the Dover castle (the rest was going under renovations), the views from the cliffs across the ocean (supposedly you could see France, but it was a bit cloudy), and the green fields of green grass were just beautiful. Pictures can only describe the amazing views, which are at...http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/jqueally. Yes that is my random plug for my pictures site.

Little did I know, under the Dover castle is an entire series of tunnels. They date back to the Napoleonic period, where men literally hand dug the tunnels by repelling down the cliffs with an axe and hacking at the stone. More recently, they were a main base for the British during World War II. An entire military base was operated from the cliffs. They called Dover hellfire corner during the war because of the amount of shells it took from the enemy. there was an entire hospital inside the cliffs for wounded soldiers! I had no clue it was all there. We took an entire tour of the tunnels, which was definitely one of the highlights of the day.

After the tour, we made our way back to central London. Let me just say that we were all completely dead on the way back. As soon as we boarded the train after taking the bus, I think every one of us was out like a light. At one of the train stops, supposedly a British man walked onto the train and exclaimed, "Why are there so many sleeping people?" Let's just say that we all arrived safely back at Victoria Station, later the flats, and then I passed out on my bed for a long rest.