Blogs from Kent, England, United Kingdom, Europe - page 5

The day began with a wake up call at 3:30 a.m. I got to the lobby for a cold buffet of cereal, cold cuts, sliced cheese, and various breads. We loaded up the bus at 4:45 a.m. We are a group of 28 people! I think I am the only person traveling alone. Everyone else is either married or with family. Quite a few people from America. YEAH! Lots of room to move around and plenty of space for my carry on! Our tour guide is Scott. Nice young man. Our driver is Luigi from Italy. We traveled south to Dover and to take the ferry over to Calais, France. We had to get off the bus before getting on the ferry so the French official can stamp our passports. The ferry ride took only 1 ... read more

Geo: 51.279, 1.07992 We arose in the morn and headed back to the cathedral. Alas, it didn't open until 12:30PM. So we walked around the old town of Canterbury. We walked over to the Westgate tower. I climbed it to the top for some good photos. We found the Greyfriar's chapel in a park, but couldn't go into it. It is the oldest Franciscan building in all of England. As we walked toward the cathedral, we saw a boat tour of old Canterbury. So we signed up and took the tour. Our guide was a wonderful young 24 year old kid who had just gotten his architecture degree. After the boat tour we walked over to the cathedral. It is absolutely huge! We spent about an hour and a half walking around the inside of it. ... read more

It looks like we will have a dry day ahead for our ‘tiki tour ‘around Kent and perhaps even some sunshine as the day progresses. Despite the rest area where the Days Inn is located being busy we had a great night’s sleep and no noise at all from the place that goes 24/7. We haven’t bought another toaster after leaving the one we had in Europe at our last stay before we headed to Ireland. So this morning there is none of the traditional toast and jam rather Tesco croissants which while they were OK and filling didn’t have that ‘buttery ‘taste of the ones we enjoyed in France. We headed off down the M20 towards Ashford and took a stop in at the shopping mall. The locals in England haven’t really taken to Sunday ... read more

Leeds Castle, Canterbury Cathedral, and the White Cliffs of Dover We meet up with Sharon and Dave in the lobby of the Holiday Inn in Mayfair and head up the street to the Ritz Hotel to await our bus to Victoria Station. Victoria Station is the main place for all tour busses in London and today we are off to Leeds Castle, Canterbury Cathedral, and the White Cliffs of Dover. As we approached Leeds Castle through the countryside, we could see it atop a hill. Leeds Castle has been a Norman stronghold; the private property of six of England’s medieval queens; a palace used by Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon; and an elegant early 20th century retreat for the influential and famous; and in the 21st century, it has become one of ... read more

Sadly we cannot take the Mazda bongo with us. We will have no base vehicle, we will be relying on Trains, Planes and buses. Our accommodation will have to be cheap as we can find. Hostels, motels maybe even a tent!. When planning a world trip, with such a big canvas, what do you see and what do you leave out?. First it has to be what you instinctively want to see. Ali's was the Great Barrier reef mine was a remote Polynesian island. Initially we wanted to see the Galapagos and Machu Pichu in South America but this would have substantially added to the cost as well as taken a lot of time out of our journey. For the sake of connecting flights we do have a rough itinerary, but the beauty of this type ... read more