On the edge of England II

Lomography - Dover harbour



First post here.

I got woken up by the bright sun peering through the curtains on the Sunday morning. It took me a few minutes of squinting to look outside to see the clear blue sky over the sea. Everything we were hoping for. We are economic travellers and decided to skip breakfast and have an early lunch instead. We took off to explore Dover a bit more.

View from the pier

We headed for the sea - can't get enough of those pebbles apparently - and walked all the way down to then end of the pier. We walked for a while, chatting, enjoying the sun, fighting the wind and avoiding to get hooked by all the fishermen. And suddenly we realised we've been walking for almost half an hour and were quite far in the sea. It is a nice walk and it's great to see the beach, the cliffs and the harbour from the sea. We stayed there for a while, just enjoying.

Stairs to the castle

Lomography

Lomography

Dover in February is cold and windy. It's even worse on the pier. So we headed back to get some lunch before attacking the cliff climbing again and the castle. I love medieval castles. I was very much looking forward to it. After going up and up the streets, up the stairs, up the path we arrived on a side of a road not at all secured for walking. We ended up straight on a road with a car passing with no good indications of where to go. We tried to go a bit out of the way, in order to avoid getting run over, when a very rude lady in a shack started to shout at us. We had to pay. We were not trying to sneak in. We were trying not to die. We walked to the shack on the grass by the road to see it was £20 to get in. More than a train ticket. It wasn't in the budget. It was a bit sad but we could still enjoy it from the outside. 

We went down the path, down the stairs, down the streets and headed for the cliffs. This time we took the higher path and walked in the fields rather than on the edge. We walked for hours. The day was so clear and beautiful we saw the coast of France on the other side. It is so close. It's tempting to try to get further. I was still not feeling very comfortable but nothing compared to the day before. There were a lot of people walking but it's big enough not to be annoyed by anyone and still have a nice quiet walk. I was feeling dizzy with the wind and the sun. After a while it's hard to stand the wind. It's freezing, you get a runny nose and crying eyes. But it is refreshing.

On the way back we popped in the only - open and slightly - touristy shop. We finally found postcards. They also have all the tacky souvenirs and very nice local products. We got tempted by raspberries, white chocolate cookies and blood orange marmalade. I have finished the marmalade a long time ago. I need to go back to Dover and bring 10 jars. It is delicious. I know, I could probably find some in London. But it wouldn't taste the same. It wouldn't taste of the sea salt wind when I take my breakfast in rainy London before going to work.

From the cliffs we sadly went back to the railway station. Sad it was so short and that the weekend was over, sad to leave the sea. We crossed Dover again, going through smaller streets (thank you google maps). Dover is not nice. It is not lively. It is dull and grey. And empty. There is a real difference between the seaside and the more inner city. So I would say, Dover is not worth it for more than a weekend. But it is definitely worth it. The cliffs are breathtaking. I loved it. Most people were surprised when we said we were going to Dover, they didn't see the point of it. Let me tell you, they are missing out.

This is our next castle destination. I'll work on my vertigo.

On the edge of England



Lomography at the train station

One of the things I have in common with Tom is travelling. We came up with the idea of finding places accessible by train from London for a day or a weekend. We wanted to be able to have time off London every two months or so. Wedding planning and money saving came a bit in the way.

One day of February, fed up with the stress of work, of finding a flat and packing, we decided to go to Dover. I think Dover came up while watching Brighton Rock. Those white cliffs do look nice, let's go. We booked our train ticket for the weekend. Our last weekend before moving house. And still half of the flat unpacked. Probably not the most sensible decision and timing. I hate being sensible. It bores me.

Dover white cliffs - Canon powershot A560

Sea resort - Canon powershot A560

We took the train on the Saturday morning. We arrived to a white-grey sky and cold wind. But we could already feel the relief of being away, having a break. As much as the excitement of discovering somewhere new. Dover is small enough to walk everywhere. But it is an absolute nightmare to cross the road. There are barriers everywhere. We directly headed for the shore - after a false start the wrong way. Pebbles. I'm not good at walking in pebbles. We were still giggling like kids taking a million pictures.

Our hotel was by the sea. Not the most charming hotel, but it was a safe choice, we knew the room would be clean and nice. And I love waking up and look at the sea. Next time we would probably search for a bed and breakfast. It seems there are quite a few around. We dropped our bags and headed out to the cliffs.

We climbed and climbed, found the "entrance" to the cliffs and followed the path. Wrong path. Well wrong path for me, that is the one closer to the edge. I know how James Stewart feels in Vertigo. I felt sick and dizzy and weak and like weeping. People getting closer to the edge made me feel like fainting. I never felt like that before. The path is something like 50cm wide and then the edge. No barriers, nothing. it seemed ridiculously dangerous to me. I don't know if "normal" people thought the same. But despite all that I was still amazed by the scenery. It is breathtaking (in part because of the freezing wind). The green of the grass, the white of the cliffs and the black of the sand (rocks?) of the small beaches. It was different to what I've seen. Since I couldn't stand up any longer, we headed back to safe land.

I still managed to take a picture. It looks less impressive...

We walked a bit more by the sea, looking at the ferry coming and going to France, before going back to the hotel for a rest. We are broke. Food places are a bit expensive as they get tourists all day long. All that was left was to walk to Asda in the night under heavy rain. Interesting experience. Of course with the wind our umbrella died. We hurried back to our hotel room to eat our dried pasta and watched a film in bed. Vertigo. Without realising the irony of the situation at the time.

Sunday was another day. There will be another post.