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Published: March 14th 2023
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Wow, so much to cover. Well we had a disruption free journey across the beautiful French countryside and over the English Channel from Calais, France to Dover, England. I couldn't help but picture every WW2 movie I had seen across the large flat swathes of green fields dotted with small villages here and there.
The crossing was a scant 1 1/2 hrs, despite the gale force winds and whitecap large swells throughout most of the trip. Only the die hard French smokers ventured onto the deck until we made it within sight of the white cliffs of Dover. We made it onto London in the evening, all in all an approximate 9 hour journey. Our hotel, The Belgrave, was conveniently located in Westminster, a short walk from the Thames river, tube station and bus stops.
Our first full day was my most anticipated. We took the river boat to the Tower of London as they opened, to beat the rush to see the Crown Jewels and other tower highlights in this 1000 year old castle. Despite neither of us caring at all about the monarchy and jewels, we hated to admit they were quite impressive and unarguable historically significant
and well worth the no wait time. The Tower of London was incredibly fascinating, and we wished that we had a bit more time to explore beyond the recommended 2 hours. We took a Beefeater tour with a hilarious grumpy old tattooed Welsh yeoman who complained about woke politics (yes it's quite a thing in the UK too) and how it's driven him to drink more. If he was any indication of what the Welsh are like then we cant wait to meet some more, we've already been told they are quite unique.
After the Tower we headed to the Globe theater for afternoon tea followed by the Shakespeare play Titus Andronicus. I was beyond thrilled to learn this play was showing during our stay as I had never seen it performed. Due to the extremely graphic nature it is rarely performed, but lucky us we got to see some 16th century torture porn at its finest. The Globe doesn't host plays in it's iconic outdoor theater during the deep winter months, but does it next door in its traditional indoor hall in the style of theaters in that day. With a capacity of 300 seats and only lit
by candles it was really an incredible and intimate experience.However the pit seats in the floor were extremely uncomfortable and our backs were throbbing and our legs were going numb after the first of 3 hours. We finished off the day with some more of the macabre and took a Jack the Ripper tour in the rain through Whitechapel. Despite the area being quite different from the 1880s there was enough of intact historic buildings in the area to create a chilling ambiance to this famous unsolved case.
The following day we had an early start on a bus to Stonehenge, an hour and 45 minute drive out to the Salisbury plain. Despite being one of the most iconic archaeological sites in the world we were awe struck and happy we finally made the trip. It definitely deserves a must see on everyone's England itinerary. With no time to spare we headed off to the British Museum when we returned, to marvel at the plundered treasures from around the world. Dennis loved seeing the Greek treasures, while I looked forward to the Assyrian winged bulls. While some argue these ancient antiquities should be restored to their rightful countries, thankfully
they haven't. Many of the remaining Assyrian treasures have been destroyed by Isis in Iraq through bombings and intentional desecration with belt sanders over their faces.
We finished out a long day in Camden Town, the eclectic and hip area filled with over 1000 small independent shops and stalls, made famous by the Clash and later Amy Winehouse living and dying here. Dinner was some more fish and chips at the famous Poppies here, making it our third straight day of our beloved food.
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