Canterbury Cathedral, White Cliffs of Dover, & Dover Castle

This morning we took a coach to the city of Canterbury. We got to wander around and take a tour of The Canterbury Cathedral-the church where the Archbishop of Canterbury presides. He is the one who crowns the monarchy at their coronation. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the highest position in the Church of England and  is equivalent to the position of The Pope in the Catholic religion. 

Canterbury is a quintessential "English" town full of nostalgic pubs, old cottage style shops, and a rich heritage.

This facade marks the entrance to the Canterbury Cathedral.

A peak through the archway corridor looking at the cathedral.

The Cathedral is in the shape of a cross, like most places of worship built during that time period, (1077-1174) which is the cathedral that is still standing. Before that, there were other churches built in the same location. The first archbishop was St. Augustine in 602. 

The pulpit in the Nave; the first section of the cathedral at the entrance.

The painstakingly, intricately carved partition between the nave and the choir.

The photo just past the partition walking into the choir section of the cathedral.

This is the crypt of Saint Thomas Becket, former Archbishop of Canterbury. He is thought to be slain by the men of Henry II. 

This is the stone that marks the exact spot where St. Thomas was murdered.

This is a plaque located closely to where St. Thomas was mudered and as you can read, is also the spot where Pope John Paul II (pope at the time), and Robert Runcie (archbishop of Canterbury at the time) united in prayer. This was a monumental moment, because a lot of what happened during the rocky times during Becket's life were the result of the clash between the Catholic Church and The Church of England.

Archbishop of Canterbury's view :)

If you looked towards the middle peak behind the cross, that's the seat/throne where the Archbishop of Canterbury leads the service from.

The beautiful choir section of the chapel.

A darling old lady walking down the street to get some groceries with her push cart :)

Old cottage style homes on a river turned into a restaurant.

I used to watch this show, "Rupert", religiously when I was little and I was really excited when I found the museum down a back alley:) It brought back a lot of childhood memories!

A woman taking a smoke-break from work. A lot of people smoke here.

After seeing Canterbury and their cathedral, we headed back onto the coach to see The White Cliffs of Dover and The Dover Castle. The White Cliffs could only be seen from the bus because the castle is located on the top of them, so you'll have to deal with the rain on the bus windows like me. They were absolutely majestic. There were some houses built into them and they must have been absolutely stunning!

Me standing on a citadel wall that drops about 50 ft. on the other side! The view from the top of the cliffs was breathtaking! I could have spent a whole week just looking out from the top of the towers. 

A view of Dover from the cliffs.

A view from atop the castle. 

Chainmail close up

Many powerful people have lived here from William the Conqueror to Henry VIII. It was used up until WWII and held a secret tunnel system of war-time tunnels. 

The tallest point on the hill. Those are people, not ants on the ground! It was extremely windy!

Tunnels/Barracks built into the side of a hill.

Shooting a canon...like a gun...haha :)

A giant monster attacked me at the bookstore!!!

A view out of the imprisonment chamber of the underground tunnels. Here's a funny story-I was walking in the underground tunnels and decided to walk back to this dark corner past the canons because I saw some peep holes. I looked through and screamed because at the other end, there was a man looking back at me! I was sooo startled! Everyone thought I tripped or something, but they started laughing at what had happened :)

The entrance to the wartime tunnels. There is an ambulance/hospital sign posted on the hillside, because during WWII, they would bring wounded soldiers here. We walked through setups of operating rooms, kitchens, and barracks. 

I actually wasn't supposed to take this pic, but it was before he said no pics, so I figure that it's okay. This is just the entrance to the barracks. Nothing special. our tour guide was saying that there are 3 levels of tunnels that if linked together would span just over 4 miles!!!

We were right on the English Channel and could just barely make out the hazy blob that is France, just 22 miles away by ferry. There are huge marinas and shipping yards located in Dover.

Me walking on a wall, just exploring :)

Some of what is left of the moat around the castle walls.

We stayed at the castle until 4pm and then started to make our way down the hill just as the sun started to go down. It was an absolutely awesome day, and like I said, I could have stayed forever just hanging out in the cliffs overlooking the ocean :) Hope you're enjoying the pics I'm posting:)