England : Oct 11 – 13 – So, Live; Through Travel

What a busy and fast paced few days in the U.K.
First lesson, England makes part of Great Britain makes part of the U.K. Had to learn this because I was very confused using them interchangeably.
I did this trip on a tour with a group of 30 people and great tour guide. Note to self: Do the adult only trips. 4-6 year olds are tiny monsters.

Stonehenge

The most recognizable and bucket list place I visited. It’s true, it’s not the amazing National Geographic, History Channel place you would imagine. It was worth going to, because why not, but it’s not everything you’d think of. It was also raining pretty good when we got there so we were kinda soaked walking around it and that didn’t make for the best time, as well as the audio tour was annoying saying they think/ assume/ suggest information about Stonehenge when in actuality they have no idea. Fun fact, its called stone HENGE because of the moat-like circle around it. Apparently there are several surrounding places that make up the greater history of Stonehenge, but I didn’t pay close attention honestly. This is a roughly one hour event. Visiting is not an all day thing because there just isn’t much besides to walk around a pile of rocks. Got the post card and ornament and checked if off my bucket list.

Windsor Castle

Was pretty excited to go here because I became really interested in the royal family after watching The Crown. Whatever you think of as beautiful and royal, multiply it by a lot and then that’s a royal castle. Everything is beautiful in every detail, ornate, perfect, and grand. Couldn’t take any photos inside the castle on the self guided audio tour, but it was so awesome. Couldn’t go into the cathedral because of a service, but lots of history in there – it’s where the Queen’s father, mother and sister are buried. Windsor Castle is where the queen grew up and what she considers home even though she lives at Buckingham Palace now. She was also there when we arrived. We didn’t see her of course, but it was really cool to know she was on the same grounds as us. Cant wait to go to the other royal places.

Salisbury Cathedral

Honestly don’t know what’s so special about this place, but whoah is it built well. Fun fact, the foundation for this building is only 4 feet deep. Whenever it was thought of being built, someone (probably important and in a book somewhere but you know I didn’t care to remember) shot an arrow into the sky and said wherever it landed would be where they built. Well, it hit a deer and the deer ran and died on marshlands and so that’s why it’s built here in subpar conditions. When the steeple was built on later it was so heavy that it leans at around 21 degrees and is reinforced in several places just to keep it upright. Again, don’t know the significance, but the architecture is stunning no matter where you stand. Also, one of four Magna Carta’s is here. It’s in a little dark room in protective glass. No idea what it said since it’s a foreign language, but I guess it’s cool to see history.

Dover Castle

The best part of this was the underground casemate tour. It was a great tour about the people who led Operation Dynamo which was the op to get all the soldiers off Dunkirk and back to the U.K. (Highly recommend watching the movies Darkest Hour and Dunkirk.) I love WWII history and it was very well done explaining the significance of rescuing so many soldiers from German area at the edge of France. The rest of the castle was ok. Just an old castle with history I know nothing about.

White Cliffs \\ Romney Marsh

It was very drizzly with poor views as we approached Dover on the ferry Friday afternoon and again Saturday morning on top of the cliffs. But, it was cool to see. Minus the crazy things the guide said like how its over 100 million years old and blah blah- things this creation believer doesn’t want to hear; it was interesting to see the chalky substance and spot some wild horses in the distance.

Putting Romney Marsh in here because its where we went around Dover area for dinner. The guide told us about hag stones and then we got to find our own. These are created by tiny rocks getting imbedded in larger rocks and with water and movement over time they drill a hole through the rock. The ones with the tiny stones still wedged in are called pregnant hag stones. Pretty cool little thing to find, the beach was covered with them. I picked up one until I found another I liked more and still left with six hag stones. Also, the owner of the restaurant we went to caught this old B17 engine while fishing one day. The serial number says it was from the war. Read the placard for more info. To commemorate they made a B17 beer here, made from American hops. It’s the only place in the world you can get this beer. I tried it, not awful but I’m not a beer person.

Food & Drinks

I didn’t have any bad food on our trip. Really great having the guide tell is where to eat and I tried several things. I was hesitant about the fish and chips because I’ve never liked fried fish like this, but it was actually really good and tender and.. I even ate it with tartar sauce. (Moms jaw just dropped) The chips of course were good, can’t go wrong with a thick, crunchy fry. The pie was good, its similar to a pot pie. The prawns were really good in a traditional butter and garlic sauce, also great chips here.

The best thing was all the ciders I had. Drinking at lunch and dinner was great to try new things. Definitely becoming a solid cider fan.