Castles and Cathedrals

So I didn’t post last night so I’ll start first with yesterday’s day trip. As a group we went with our tour guide Rob to Dover!! We went into the Dover Castle and walked around which was really impressive. It was Henry II’s main castle I believe. So it was freezing we all had on a bunch of layers- tights, jeans, nike thermal shirt, vest, north face, and shell. Oh and we were definitely rocking the mom’s look with jeans and sneakers too. We walked around exploring, went up to the roof access of the tower. We were able to drive below the castle so that we could see the beautiful white cliffs.

            After that we drove to Canterbury to see the Cathedral. For everyone that has read the Canterbury Tales, this is the Cathedral that they were on a pilgrimage to worship. The Cathedral was huge and really stunning. This Cathedral is the place that marks St. Thomas Becket’s murder and memorial. After the Cathedral we just had time to walk around the town. It’s really an adorable town! I really liked it. It had small alleys and roadways with lots of store fronts. There were cobblestone roads and stone buildings. It’s hard to imagine people really living daily life there, but I really liked it!

Except for one part….during our exploring a few of us decided we were going to go to the Canterbury Tales visitor attraction. We were forewarned it was corny and had to pay but decided it was worth it. I guess it was worth it for the experience…it was actually really creepy. Each station was dark with different lights lighting up people as their stories were told.  I guess it’s hard to explain, but a storyteller takes you through the different pilgrim’s stories. Maybe if it wasn’t so dark, and the figures didn’t look so bizarre and creepy…but anyways it was an experience! Also in Canterbury we were able to see St. Augustine’s Abbey which was impressive.

            After being pretty cold all day, it was great to drive back to Little Venice and see that it was SNOWING! Absolutely gorgeous to see the snow falling in London.

            Today I didn’t do much except a little bit of tube riding and walking to figure some things out and get more situated. Tonight we may hit up a super bowl party with the International Student House…but I’ll let you know about that in my next blog.

Hmm I love London even in the cold and snow.

More London facts:

            -bathrooms are called toilets

            -they love their roundabouts

            -they call the phrase knock on wood “touch wood” (haha I love this)