On Saturday we had to get up early and leave campus at 7:30 for our trip to Canterbury and Dover. We drove an hour into downtown London to pick up the ISA London students and then from there it was about an hour and a half to Canterbury. I felt super sick on the bus so that was pretty miserable. Never having Nutella toast as my only thing for breakfast before riding on a bus for 2 hours evver again.
When we got to Canterbury we walked through town and got on a cruise of the river that runs through the town. It started raining once we got on the boat, as is typical of every tour we go on. Our guide was Irish so he had an amazing accent and was really funny. Some of the houses in Canterbury are insanely old and it was really pretty but rather touristy. In my opinion Bath is still the best city haha.
After the cruise we were given an hour of free time. We went and got sandwiches at Pret A Manger. No idea what it means or how to say it but it's a chain that I've seen everywhere. They have a wide selection of sandwiches and "toasties" to choose from as well as soup and coffee. I got a pesto and mozarella toastie and it was delicious. We sat in there a bit because it was so cozy and warm and it was freezing and windy outside. Then Nathan and I hit up the ATM and walked through town a bit more before meeting the group.
After the free time we went into Canterbury Cathedral which was absolutely gorgeous. We were given roughly an hour to explore inside before meeting back with the group to go home. Religious people in Europe have got it so much better than people in America; all of their churches are absolutely gorgeous. We saw the place where Saint Thomas died when one of the King Henry's had him killed for being too Catholic.
Once we left Canterbury it was a little less than an hour drive to Dover. Dover was a really pretty town situated right on the coast looking across the English Channel to France. It's apparently the closest town to mainland Europe and is also situated at the closest crossing to France, about 18 miles. The Chunnel goes by right next to Dover. We stopped at the beach to take pictures of the cliffs and then we were off to Dover Castle.
At the castle we stopped in the gift shop and then went through the Castle, where we saw the kitchen, dining room, and bedrooms. Then we split up and half the group continued the tour and the rest of us climbed to the top to get the view of Dover from the ramparts of the castle. It was a gorgeous view albeit cold and windy. We saw a rainbow over the town and then it started to pour down rain. While we were there it rained, snowed a bit, was extremely windy, as well as having sunbreaks. Typical English weather apparently.
After the castle we headed to the Secret Underground War Tunnels, some of which were originally created hundreds of years ago and then updated for use in WWII. They wouldn't let us take any pictures even though it's long since been out of use. They set up everything the way it would have looked back when it was in use and took us through the hospital area, operation room, barracks, phone room, map room, and a couple others. They also rigged the lights to flicker and black out as well as the sounds of bombs dropping. It wasn't so fun when the lights went out haha. I think I would have gone crazy if I had to live down there for any period of time.
After the tunnels we got back on the bus and drove back into London where the traffic was awful to drop off the London students before returning to Reading. When we got back it was already 8ish and we hadn't eaten since lunch so me, Nathan and Breezy ordered some good old fashioned Dominoes pizza. It was actually really really good. Then we hung out and attempted to be productive but it didn't go all that well.
Sunday we got to sleep in a bit since we didn't have to be in London til 1:30. Eventhough we left 20 minutes after Maria suggested we still got to the tube station in London 30 minutes early. Once the London students arrived we met up with our guide and started our tour of the Tower of London, which was originally a royal palace but is most famous for the royal imprisonments and executions that took place there. It's where Queen Elizabeth I was imprisoned and King Henry VIII had his wives beheaded.
After a guided tour we were given around an hour to explore. We saw the crown jewels which we weren't allowed to photograph and then we went into the tower itself which had all of the armor and weapons and such. Then we were out of time and had to meet the group.
After the tour the guide led us around the seedier parts of London on a recreated trail of the Jack the Ripper murders, which was super creepy. The tour ended at Spitalfield Markets otherwise I probably would have passed on it. Unfortunately we got to the markets at 5:30 and everything closes super early here so some of the vendors were already packing their stuff up. We got Souvlaki at this fancy looking but affordable Greek place. Not quite as good as Gyro but the same basic principle. Then after some confusion we found the tube station and the right tube and were on our way home.
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