We went inside the castle. It was basically empty of furniture. We went to the roof and we had fairly good views of the English Channel and we could see France.
From here we walked to the place that Dover is known for - The White Cliffs of Dover. We walked along the cliffs and then we had to head back to catch the train.
It was close to 9:00 when we got home. It is amazing how light it is at that time. It never gets truly dark here.
June 12, 2003
We were originally going to go to Bath tonight, but Laurie had an opportunity ti go out tonight with people she worked with so I said lets go to Leeds Castle so we could come back tonight.
We got on the train to Beardsten. The train wasn't very full. It seemed that the train had made stops, but we didn't see any platforms to get off. The next thing we knew we missed our stop. Apparently one was suppose to go up to the fromt cars. We ended up getting off at the Ashford station. We waited for about twenty minutes for the next train back. It was timed perfectly because the bus for Leeds Castle was leaving in about 5 minutes after we arrived.
Leeds Castle is often considered to be the most beautiful castle in England. It was built in the early 12th century. It was inhabited until the 1970's. The decorating is very nice and all the rooms had beautiful fresh flowers from their gardens and greenhouses. The castle has a moat surrounding it and the landscaping surrounding is beautiful. It is a nice walk along the river through the trees. There were alot of ducks and we saw a pecock displaying its colorful feathers. The English garden was lovely. There was a hedge maze that we made our way to the center mound with a little help from a guide on top of the mound. There was a grotto and I am not sure what a grotto is suppose to be. What I saw was a tunnel underground with a cobbled walkway. There were designs in the walls made with rocks and shells. I thought it was kind of neat.
It was a lovely place and a good day. We got the bus back to the train station and went back to London.
I took the Tube to do some shopping and Laurie and Richard went back home. This is giving me a taste of what it is like to live in a city where one doesn't have a car. We have spent a lot of time and energy going from Tubeline to Tubeline, up/down escalators or stairs. Then one has to carry all their stuff, such as groceries. The Tube system is very good and efficient and clean, but it can be crowded, stuffy, and hot.
I got the groceries and arrived back at the apartment about 6:30. Laurie was all set to go out and Richard and I ordered Chinese food. Kevin had some DVDs, so I watched the movie "Others". I think Nicole Kidman does a lot of strange movies. I don't know of too many that I like.
I slept outside on the deck
June 13, 2003
We took the train to Salisbury and from there we took a bus to Stonehenge. This is Europe's most famous prehistoric monument built about 3000 years ago. We have a tape explaining the history and the possible explanation of the alignment of stones. It was believed to be used for rituals and that it is connected to the movement of the sun. Supposedly they brought these stones from miles away.
It is amazing how much history there is here. I know I will find much more as I continue through Europe. It will be a good history lesson for me.
We caught the bus back to the train station and caught a bus to Bath. Bath is another old city with very old buildings and lots of history.
We checked out one hostel and decided to check another which was a YMCA. We were able to get a triple room. The room also included breakfast.
Since we were there fairly early we checked out the Roman Baths. These baths were built in the first century by Romans because of the hot springs that were suppose to have healing powers. The baths had fallen into ruin and it wasn't until the 1870's that they were found after excavation. The baths and the temple that was also built is another amazing piece of architecture and history. We had these hand sets to give us the tour. The machine looked like a large remote control and used like a cell phone.
A site would have a number which we would press in the handset and we would get a recording of the information. It looked funny. It reminded me of the Stepford People of Bath. We were all walking around in slow motion or stopped in the middle of the room with a large remote held to our ears.
The tour was great. It took about 1 1/2 hours. From there we walked around. We saw hot air ballons floating over all of these old buildings and parks.
For dinner we went to a Thai restaurant and then back to the hostel. I was tired and fell a sleep fairly early.
June 14, 2003
After breakfast of cereal and toast, that was included in our room, we walked to the flea market. This was just something to do before we were to go on a walking tour of Bath. It was a free tour put on by volunteers of Bath. There were about 60 people there for the tour. They split us up into four groups. The woman we had was terrific. She told us a lot about the past people of Bath and about the building of the city. It is quite beautiful It is nice that they keep the old buildings instead of tearing them down and putting something else up. It is nice to have a tour because I see things totally different. The tour was about two hours, well worth the time.
