Here on the Cliffs of Dover

I've had the Decemberists stuck in my head because of the cliffs of Dover that are so high you can't see over! We went to the Dover Castle first today, and we got to see the underground tunnels that were used during the Napoleonic War as barracks and then were converted to WWII headquarters for communication operators and hospitals and air raid shelters. It was crazy thinking about how we were walking down the same tunnels that were used during the war! There was a Roman lighthouse we saw, but the cooler thing in Dover was the castle! There was a never ending spiral staircase that made me dizzy but we got to the roof and could see the whole city...it was magnifique! I wish we could've stayed there longer, but we had to get to the coach at 12 o'clock sharp!

We drove to Canterbury, the town where Geoffrey Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" takes place. People would take pilgrimages to the Canterbury Cathedral where Thomas Becket, the archbishop of Canterbury, was murdered. The cathedral of course was absolutely amazing, it's massive! There is a candle burning where Thomas Becket's shrine was before Henry VIII destroyed it. The stained glass was teensy and so detailed, and our literature professor, Dr. Howe, showed us the door the knights came through when they came to murder Thomas Becket.

We went to St. Augustine's Abbey, which Henry VIII destroyed along with a lot of other monasteries, so we saw the ruins and entertained ourselves with our cameras!

After a couple hours of walking around the town and a cup of hot chocolate (hazelnut...mmm!) we headed back to the coach for the drive home. Me, Sarah and Kalyn went to Nando's for dinner and I think I could eat there every night and not get tired of it. I had a portobello mushroom pita with chili jam and this orange spicy sauce and corn on the cob! Oh it makes me happy just thinking about it!

Oh! And Monday night we went to see Oliver the Musical since we read Oliver Twist for British Literature. I only wish I hadn't been so tired because I was falling asleep...but I couldn't help it with the soft chairs and dark lights.