Dover

This morning finds me with the plan of heading to the Castle of Dover. It's about an hour or so away to the Southeast. I pack up as I did yesterday and head out. The navigation system and I still at odds with the voice commands, I happily motor down the road. I find that driving down the motorways (freeway) comforting. The speedlimits are seldom posted, however, and those that are are ridiculous targets...40, 50, 60mph depending on the conditions of the road. I say ridiculous because if you actually drive at 60mph here, you'll cause mass histeria. 60mph seems horribly slow. The average speed seems to be in the 80's. Even then, people will be going faster than you.

A couple days ago I found a station I can listen to. It's a classical station. Laugh if you wish, but, you can always find a classical station no matter where you go. It's not like the standard stations that play the same five songs over and over again. When a band that you like comes on, you get one of two songs that the station plays. After a month of listening to any station I want to throttle the DJ for playing that song again. Don't you realize that the band put out seven albums? There has to be another song by them that you can play. ANY song will do. Not so on a classical station. Seldom will you find them playing the same songs over and over. Even if they do play the same song, it'll be performed by a different orchestra and will be played differently. Besides, I find the music enjoyable while driving.

This station was different than others I've listened to in other cities. First, I could receive it find all over. From the Western edge to the Eastern. Next, and most significantly, they play opera as well. That was kind of a change to me. Here I am listening to Vivald and *bam* there's some opera aria up next. It'll take a little getting used to. I don't mind opera. It's just not that I would have chosen that as my genre of choice. ::shrug::

Coming into Dover was nice. There was much less hustle and bustle here than there was in Bath. A couple of turns presents me with a sight of Dover Castle. I am awestruck. Here is an actual castle. I have to really concentrate on the road and not on the castle itself. I turn onto the castle premisis and pay the entry fee. With the car parked and me geared up for adventure, I push forward. I don't have the words to describe the feelings I have for this place.

I wander aimlessly taking in sheer bliss taking pictures of everything I see. It's said that on a clear day you can see all the way to France across the channel from here. It's not a clear day. As a matter of fact, as soon as I'm out walking on the outer battlements it begins to rain. This will not stop me from my exploring. I find passageways that are completely dark. That doesn't stop me. I carefully wind my way through every passage that isn't blocked off.

As the rain continues to fall more and more, I see the sign mentioning the tour through the secret wartime tunnels. Rain? Tunnels? Perfect. I get myself on the next tour. The tunnels are underneath Dover Castle. They were started during the Napoleonic wars. They were expanded and used extensivly during WWII as a secret command headquarters. I don't have any pictures of them, as photographs are not allowed (for some strange reason). By the time the tour is over, the rain has stopped and many of the tourists are gone. I'd left the main keep for last.

I wandered through the keep giddy as a schoolboy. Like the outer battlements, I wandered down any passageway that wasn't blocked off. I even wandered down passageways that were blocked off...at least up to where they'd blocked it. I found a circular staircase going up and found myself on top of the keep. I got up to the top of one of the towers and just stared out at the countryside. It was nothing less than spectacular. As I said, I don't have the words.

I stayed in the place for so long, they had to tell me that the castle was closing and that I would have to leave. Unfortunately, by the time I got down from the top of the keep, the gift shop had closed :(.