Casablanca Adventure: The New Normal: Out of Africa to Christmastime in London, part 3, Touring England

On Christmas eve day we decided to leave London for the day. We took a coach "Golden Tour" into the countryside. We toured Leeds Castle, Dover, Canterbury and a bit of Greenwich. Even the weather cooperated, so our all-day trip, with Mark as our guide, could not have been more enjoyable.

Richard in front of Leeds Castle

Our first stop was Leeds Castle, located in the heart of the countryside of Kent. It is a lovely castle that has a history of being built and then rebuilt a number of times, depending on its residents. The castle today is mostly 19th-century and has been open to the public since 1976. The structures are built on two islands in the middle of a man-made moat that is quite deep. The moat was created by Edward 1 in the 13th century by diverting the Len River to create the moat/lake. The estate was largely self-sufficient, but a lot of food had to be brought in when the royal court was in residence. There are also many species of birds on the estate, including the famous black swans. A number of films and TV shows have used this location for filming, including some episodes of Dr. Who and the Bond film Moonraker.

Beautiful Leeds Castle and lake/moat

Old Wall from a former structure

Moat view

On of the famous Black Swans; they are quite tame

The mill on the estate

Dining Room

Library

Richard II imitation by Richard Cram

Impressive-looking organ in the chapel at Leeds Castle

After the castle, we boarded our coach and headed for Dover, a town and port also in the county of Kent. Dover is located across the narrowest part of the English Channel from France, so it has always been strategically important to Britain. The famous White Cliffs of Dover, reaching up to 350 feet, stretch across the coastline for 8 miles. Striking to look at, they are made of white chalk with streaks of black flint. Massive tunneling has taken place at various levels of the cliffs at different times. Dover castle can be seen on the top of the hill.

White Cliffs of Dover

Richard on Dover beach; buildings in front of the channel; rocks brought in makes it hard to walk

Dover Castle

White Cliffs on the right; Dover Castle on top of hill

The English Channel, with France in the distance

Following Dover and a festive lunch, we made our way to historic Canterbury. We walked around the city for about an hour, and enjoyed the "old feel" of the town and the Christmas lights and decorations. We saw the outside of the famous Canterbury Cathedral, home of the Archbishop of Canterbury. It was founded in 597 and rebuilt in 1077. After a fire in 1174, it was rebuilt again, this time in a Gothic style seen below.

Canterbury Cathedral

Canterbury Cathedral entranceway

Clocktower is the only remains of St. George the Martyr Church, destroyed in a bombing in 1942

St. Johns of Canterbury (1875), the only Roman Catholic Church in Canterbury

Richard on Butchery Lane

A very brief walk-through of Greenwich was our last stop. The coolest thing we saw there was the Cutty Sark (1869) through the glass building where it is currently housed. This legendary clipper "tea" ship has been made into a museum. I really want to go back to Greenwich someday to have the experience of going into the museum and walking under the ship, which has been raised over 3 meters.

http://www.rmg.co.uk/cutty-sark/history/ten-things-you-should-know