Dover, England

We set our clocks one hour ahead between Falmouth and Le Havre, so, revisiting England, we set our clocks back one hour.  It’s about as much a pain in the A­­ as changing money.  We started in Ireland with the Euro, then the British Pound in Cornwall, the Euro again in France, then the Pound again in Dover.  We’ll use the Euro in Holland, the Norwegian Kroner in Norway and finally the Danish Kroner in Denmark.  The Danish & Norwegian Kroner are worth about the same, 16¢ in US dollars, but they cannot be used interchangeably, similar to the Canadian and US dollars; the same but different.

Leeds Castle

Tom woke up in Dover feeling lousy; nausea and an upset stomach.  He skipped breakfast and decided at the last moment to take our scheduled tour to Leeds Castle and the town of Canterbury.   Dover is the gateway to Kent, a rich agricultural area specializing in grain and apples.  Kent is also at the shortest crossing point between England and the continent, and as such, was on the traditional invasion route for incursions from the continent.  The Romans took control of England here, beginning with Julius Caesar in 55 B.C.  After the Roman legions were gone, Germanic tribes called Jutes landed on the same beaches in 445 A.D.  Then in 597, Augustine of Canterbury landed with missionaries, seeking to spread Christianity to the Anglo-Saxon tribes.  The invasion went the other direction in 1944, when the allies chose Dover to became the headquarters for the Normandy invasion.

Leeds Castle & Moat

Leeds Castle is about 35 miles from Dover, and is about 900 years old.  It began as a Norman stronghold, then became the private property of six of England’s medieval Queens and a palace used by Henry VIII.  In the 1930’s the castle was purchased by a private owner, an Anglo-American known as Lady Baillie, who entertained high society from both London and Hollywood for the weekends.  It is furnished as it was in the 30’s, with fine art, porcelain and furniture.  It sits on about 120 acres, with lakes, gardens, a golf course and a moat which surrounds the castle itself.  The castle tour was fascinating but Tom was more interested in finding a bathroom than visiting the Queen’s bedroom.

From Leeds Castle, we took our bus back to the old town of Canterbury, located on the ancient Roman road called Watling Street.  The town has prehistoric roots, but it became truly important as the capital of Kent and Augustine’s religious hub.  A century later, a bitter dispute between Archbishop Thomas Becket and Henry II resulted in the murder of Becket by the king’s knights.  Becket was acclaimed as a martyr to religious liberty and Canterbury became a shrine to pilgrims and tourists alike.  Excursions to the town became so popular that Geoffrey Chaucer based his “Canterbury Tales” on a pilgrimage.

Canterbury Cathedral Gate

After a brief guided walk around the center of the town, we were on our own for exploration, food and drink.  Tom still didn’t trust his stomach, so we found an old pub and enjoyed a pint while relaxing.  We were to meet our guide outside the gates of the cathedral, and when we got there, we were in the company of a large number of French school children. The French election had been held the previous day, and President Sarkozy had been defeated, so a holiday celebration was going on and French schools were closed for several days.  Amidst the hubbub we found our guide and made our way back to the bus to Dover.

We got back on the ship at around 4 PM and Tom went straight to bed where he slept pretty much through the night.  The next morning, all was well and we were now in Rotterdam, Holland.  Tom was ready for a little breakfast and the day’s tour to Amsterdam.