Don't flash the octopus

Tracey, Jordan and I left for the Tube and bus station about 0830 and boarded the bus at 0925. Before I even got off the bus, I was in love. We drove by the White Cliffs of Dover and by the English Channel.

White Cliffs of Dover

Chalk Cliffs

Dover Castle

This is so frustrating that I can't tell you how I feel...Well anyway, we got off the bus about noon and could see the castle from where we were standing, but I think it was about a mile away. We headed north (away from the castle) and walked by a park, then found some food and ate in the park. At the park there was a Boy Scout gathering going on and there were families and pets and beautiful trees and water...It was nice to actually see a bunch of actual British people and not just a bunch of tourists...It was just a really nice scene.

Pond- Notice it has clear water in it!!

Fish

Seagull- THEY ARE EVERYWHERE!!!

We were trying to decide which bus we should take to get to the top of the mountain that the Castle is on, and this really nice old man and his wife helped us figure it out. Turns out they were getting on the same bus, and when we actually boarded he told the driver to make sure he stopped at a certain stop for us and he told us he would ring the bell to remind her. We weren't sure which stop to get off at, but a bell was rung when we were near the castle and I asked Tracey if she thought we should get off there, and a woman across the isle asked if we were going to the Castle and since we were she said we should get off in two stops because yadda yadda yadda. VERY NICE!! When we got off, we thanked him a million times over and waved and thanked the bus driver and everyone was just so amazingly polite...I couldn't have asked for a better day...

We got off the bus and walked probably a quarter mile to the ticket office...but along the way, we had to stop and take pictures because the view was breathtaking...

Drawbridge over the now extinct moat

Castle

This castle is so old… it was built in the first century

Yes, I was sad that no ghosts talked to me. I had heard quite a few ghost stories about the Castle and we even talked to one of the guides about the ghosts. He said that he'd seen the woman in the red dress by the bedrooms and talked about the bottom of a person in the King's bedroom, servants and soldiers. He'd seen some of the queer movement about the Castle and he told us about a headless drummer boy running around. The story of the drummer boy goes something along the lines of he was sent on an errand and took his drum to keep him company. A couple of soldiers heard he was going alone and with a lot of money, so they tracked him down and cut his head clean off with a sword. They found the body, but never the head…even centuries later. A lot of people have accounts of these ghost stories...drumming, and sudden smells of sweat and dirty socks where the soldiers used to be, etc. They've had numerous paranormal investigators at the Castle, and one of them revealed the name of the Drummer Boy: Sean O'Flynn, Irish, 14 when he died.

On the walls leading down to the basement and up to the roof there are names/dates from men/soldiers/prisoners/carpenters long since passed away etched into the stone.

Stairs to the roof and the basement

John Gram ( I think), Drummer Boy, and I think he was part of the 73rd Foot Regiment. I can't remember what the guide said and the picture is a little too unclear to see it. But I do remember that the letters were a mix of capital and lowercase.

April 12, 27th Foot Regiment, known as the Bellinghams.

Names of prisoners who measured how tall they were and marked it.

There are two things that give me the good types of goose bumps: music/lyrics and history. I know believe that Dover Castle deserves it's own category in the "things that give me good goose bumps."

We went into the Secret Wartime Tunnels, but unfortunately were not allowed to take pictures. So the pictures inside are actually ones I found on the Internet. We started the tour with talking about the Dunkirk rescue and WWII, because that's when most of the construction was done. However, the tunnels were started in the early 1800s during the Napoleonic Wars.

Anti-Aircraft, circa WWII era

Secret Wartime Tunnels

Secret Wartime Tunnels

A picture of Jordan taking a picture of himself- it was just funny...

Tracey in the bread oven

The Trebuchet- It launched things at France...hahaha

Me hugging a cannon in the medieval tunnels

Roman Lighthouse (Pharos) - from first century AD and the Church of St. Mary in Castro- 1000 AD

Inside the Lighthouse

Inside the church- It was in ruins by 1720, roofless and used as a coal storage facility. It was restored in 1862 by Sir Gilbert Scott

Stained glass inside the church

Back of the church and the Lighthouse

Roman Lighthouse

Avranches Tower- built late 12th century

I'm wearing black shirts for the rest of my life. One time, I wore my IOWA sweatshirt and some adult walked by us on the street and made some comment about being from Iowa and an American...I bought a football jersey and wore it one day...two different people asked me where I got it, and on our tour the tour guide made some reference to the jersey I was wearing and asked me about it...I answered that I didn't even know who it was =) The first people to ask me where I got it were American, the second were Deutschers!! So I sorta got to use my German because Tracey and I were talking way too fast in English...Oops. I seem to translate things here a lot...btw, I love German. Anyway, today at the castle we were touring the Secret Wartime Tunnels and the when we walked by the actors, one said something about being from Chicago and I told him I was actually from Iowa, and I think he knew where it was! Then I was walking back towards the church at the Castle and there was a man taking a picture of his three family members and so I asked him if he wanted to get in the picture and I would take it...and so he did and when the picture was taken they all started complimenting me on the fact that I was wearing a Cubbies t-shirt...it was cute...but anyway...since my mommy and daddy always taught me not to talk to strangers, I figured I should wear solid colored t-shirts so no strangers will speak to me.

That took an awful long time and I still have way more to say. But it's after 2300 here and I need sleep. Another big day tomorrow. I have about 150 more pictures than what I actually posted on here...but I hope you liked the ones I did put up, keep those emails coming, love you and miss you all!

<3 Kelsi

written by  flaminko on June 9, 2007 from Dover, United Kingdom
from the travel blog: 'Ello Guvnah
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