Dover, England, UK... Part 2 of 2

Have you ever started your day and you know it is going to be a great? That was today and it was an excellent day! The first sight of England when crossing the Channel is Dover’s White Cliffs rising to over 300 feet from the sea and continue for eight miles either side of the town of Dover. I was able to get some great shots of the iconic White Cliffs of Dover and Dover Castle on sail in. Our guide Gary was at the entrance to the terminal to meet us and off we went to discover the Dover area. Our first stop after leaving the Dover pier was the Redoubt Castle and Moat. Here we ducked down and made our way through a low tunnel to enter the moat. Gary being a local knew where to go to get great views of the cliffs that the tourists would never know. We walked along the path on top of White Cliffs of Dover and down to edge for stunning views of the cliffs from many vantage points.  Our next stop was the lovely St. Margaret’s Bay with more fabulous views of the cliffs. One home sits at the bottom of the cliffs was formerly owned by playwright Noel Coward and where his friend Ian Fleming stayed for a year and wrote the book Moonraker. Then we passed Walmer Castle and visited Kingstown hamlet with its tiny cottages and stopped at the beach to see the end of White Cliffs of Dover. Driving through the picturesque Kent County countryside we stopped to see Deal Castle, built by Henry VIII in 1539. In Deal, a fishing village we walked along the seafront promenade to see the boats and had the best ever ice cream at Kelly’s. We toured the English countryside and stopped at Sheperdswell, visited St. Andrews Church and drove through Lydden. We stopped for lunch at an English Pub, The Marquis of Granby in Arkham. It was a cozy pub and it was recently awarded the title one of the best pubs in Kent England. After lunch we headed back to Dover to visit Dover Castle. Dover Castle is perched on the cliffs is the largest castle in the England, while the soft chalk is burrowed with military tunnels going back to the Napoleonic Wars. When we first entered, I went over and took some photos of the St Mary in Castro Church, a heavily restored Saxon structure, built next to a Roman lighthouse.  The Great Tower is Dover Castle in England’s star attraction, and was built by Henry II in the twelfth century. It extends over three levels – which include a banqueting hall, kitchen, store-room and bedroom. We climbed the spiral staircases to the roof of the castle. We enjoyed a perfect view across the entire grounds seeing the green hills of Dover and the white cliffs. The castle was busy today with the atmosphere, displays and music of the 1940s as they celebrated WWII Weekend event on an English bank holiday weekend. We returned to the ship via the Dover port area and stopped for a few photos. The weather today was perfect and so our guide Gary  https://www.horizonprivatehire.co.uk/. Gary was an all-round nice guy who within minutes of meeting us knew exactly how we roll. He was very friendly, knowledgeable and accommodating. We are looking forward to seeing him again in June on our next visit to Dover.