Spencer's Semester Abroad: February 18th (Dover and Canterbury)

Today, as part of our program, we took a day trip to the British countryside to visit the Canterbury Cathedral and the Dover Castle. I’ve always wanted to see the White Cliffs of Dover, so I was pretty excited for this trip. I had to be at the bus at 8:30a.m. which isn’t easy if you’re up to 3 or 4 am the night before. Once I got on the bus, I feel asleep. When I woke up, we had reach our first stop; the district of Canterbury, in Kent.

Canterbury

When I got off the bus and started to walk around Canterbury, I realized how charming this little city was. Almost every street was tiny with zero car traffic. To give you perspective, it seemed like you were in an alleyway everywhere you walked. There were little shops and restaurants all over the place. We walked through medieval streets until we came up the entrance to the Canterbury Cathedral. This particular Cathedral plays a major role in British history. Dating back to 597 A.D., Saint Augustine was sent by the Pope to set up his seat, or “Cathedra” in Canterbury. The Archbishop of Canterbury resides here, heading up the Church of England. Seeing it reminded me a lot of Graham Chapel, which is on Wash U’s campus. But this place was enormous and the architecture was awesome. It’s hard to believe that structures like this were built without modern day equipment.

Once we walked inside, I was again taken back with the mere size of this building. The ceilings were some of the highest I’ve ever seen, and each door, hallway, and glass window was filled with intimate details. Also, there were tombs of the former archbishops as well as other prominent historical figures scattered throughout the entire cathedral. When you look at the dates on the tombs, it’s amazing to think that almost every one was older than the United States. After the Cathedral, we again took to the streets in order to find some lunch before leaving for Dover. A few of us stumbled upon a pub that was established in 1698. Not only was it a pub, it was also Britain’s oldest remaining brewery. I took a sip of their homemade ale, and to be honest, I’m surprised they’ve been in business so long! The fish and chips were delicious though.

Dover

When I told some of my coworkers I was going to visit Dover, they said the only reason to go to Dover was to leave it. It’s a small city on the Eastern coast of the island, touching the English Channel. It’s the narrowest part of the channel and you can actually see France from the castle. As our bus drove through the English countryside, we passed fields and fields of sheep roaming the land. When we finally got to the castle, we walked through the front gates. Actually, I did the “Monty Python” horse noises and pretended to ride in, giving quotes from various movies. Pretty much, I’m a huge dork that has to find ways to entertain myself. But I digress.

Walking into the castle was something special. As you approach the gate, you see where the moat was dug out and how tall and thick the castle walls actually are. Throughout the outer walls, there are archer slits and cannon holes that used to be used to defend the castle. After an extremely long uphill walk, we made it to the Dover Tunnels. Essentially, these tunnels were created to house hundreds of soldiers stationed there to defend the country during the Napoleonic Wars. During WW2, these tunnels were extended and used as an underground hospital and intelligence office. It actually played a huge roll in the war and helped plan the rescue of hundreds of thousands of allied soldiers from the beaches of Dunkirk. We toured the tunnels and got the experience from the perspective of a soldier. We listened to the famous “King’s Speech” as well as Neville Chamberlin’s address that the country was at war. The tunnels had years of graffiti and carved names throughout it, and I had the chills the whole time. This has definitely been one of my favorite experiences in Europe so far.

We exited the tunnels and ascended further up the hill to the summit, where the Keep, or main part of the castle was. Entering the castle was pretty cool. It’s made of stone, but there is zero insulation. It was more of a stone fortress. Overall, it’s not as glamorous as one might think. But walking through it and seeing where the servants worked, where the thrones and dining hall was, as well as the residencies. When we got to the turrets, I put my head between two stones and instantly was pelted with wind to the face. It was so turbulent that it felt like getting punched in the face. After touring the castle, we hopped on the bus and headed back to London.

That night, a lot of my friends were going to a club called the Ministry of Sound. This club ended up being really cool and full of students. We met up with some friends of ours from schools and other people on their programs at the club. A friend of mine knew someone who had access to the DJ booth, so we got to stand in the front overlooking the crowd. It ended up being a really fun night.