dover

Along with seeing as much of Europe as we can while we have the handy hub of Heathrow nearby, we’re also trying to take in some of England. A few weeks ago, we spent a day in Kent with stops at Dover, Sandwich, and Canterbury. As our Lonely Planet says, the city of Dover isn’t worth the trip, but the walk along the cliffs was a perfect way to spend one of the first really warm weekends of the year.

We didn’t visit the castle, but we drove around it and viewed it from the cliffs. It’s an impressive structure, set just a little way off of the white cliffs and surrounded by green countryside. Some kind of crop was in bloom, Paul thinks rapeseed, making the scene even more stunning. Our walk along the cliff tops took us past a large field of the flowers, which smell like honey. We met many friendly walkers on our two mile stroll to a lighthouse and back.

From Dover, we drove north to Sandwich for a lunch of …fish and chips. This village has a nice old center of meandering narrow cobble stone streets that we walked before getting in the car and taking the scenic country route to Canterbury. I was impressed with how rural England can be. We walked around the walled medieval city and had a cup of coffee before heading home. It was a great day trip, and I hope to do more of these over the summer.