May 4, 2024 Dover, England, 1 day left of 138

 We all have heard of the white cliffs of Dover. I saw these on my first trip to England in the late 70's, and it left an impression. It was a delight to get to see them again.

Dover is the nearest city to France across the English Channel. Its strategic location, and as the port was under constant threat because of its location, the massive Dover Castle provided protection. Note the arches and windows on the cliff face. During WWII this was an important troop garrison, and first line of defense of England.

Today our excursion is Historic Canterbury. The area we are going to walk around has Roman walls and gates.

I love the way they are preserving history. They find a way to keep their treasures, and use the buildings. Cars and buses are able to navigate their way through very narrow streets and gates.

This gate was built for a Royal wedding between a Catholic King of England, and a Catholic Spanish Queen. It was to build relations between the two countries, and strengthen the Catholic church in England. Unfortunately the marriage was not a long one the King died young, and his brother married Catherine of Aragon, his brother's wife. After a few years, another woman caught Henry the VIII eye, and he requested the Pope's blessing on a divorce, which was not given. Henry the VIII banished the Catholic Church, and started the Anglican Church of England with him as the head of the church. He divorced Catherine of Aragon and married his second wife. The Catholic church behind this gate is now an Anglican Church.

 

Below you can see it is being restored and cleaned, so not easy to see the full effect. That is the story everywhere we have been, scaffolding and constant work to keep up these historic buildings. This building has been under restoration for 8 years, and they are nearly finished.

This is the King and Queen of England from the past in a garden.

If you notice we are in England with blue sky and sunshine. This has been an epic day. We were told that yesterday it poured rain, so we just hit it right.

As we were walking back toward the bus we passed the crooked house. The story is that the house was built straight, but at some point someone thought it would be a good idea to remove some support beams. The house shifted, and has since been supported, but was left crooked. Don't be afraid, just step in and look around.

We had our last show by the staff, so our last time to see our Sky Vocalists on the stage.