Day trip to Dover

On Saturday we took a day trip to Dover - a two hour train ride southeast of London. The town sits atop the White Cliffs, facing the Continent from high above the English Channel. It has been a strategic military stronghold forever - literally. The oldest structure is a Roman pharos (lighthouse) built over 2,000 years ago. Both King Henry II and King Henry VIII fortified the castle and used it to its full advantage as the most fortified castle in Europe. For you Philippa Gregory fans, this is where Henry went in 1539 after his excommunication from the Church for his divorce from Catherine of Aragon.

The area has more recent military significance as well. The secret underground tunnels were first used in the late 18th century during the Napoleonic wars. Then they were expanded during WWII and used as the command center for Operation Dynamo (the evacuation of French & British troops from France as the German army took control of France). Several years later they were used as the command center for the D-Day invasion of Normandy. Obviously, Dover has a fascinating history.

We enjoyed gorgeously perfect weather for early February and were able to see France across the Channel! Here is a view from Admiralty Look-Out:



Here we are in front of the castle:



This is from the roof of the castle:



While we were waiting for the train back to London, an interesting bloke (national rail employee) was chatting us up and testing our knowledge of America. He was very excited to try to stump us with these two questions: 1.) Which is the only state in America to have a royal family (those Brits love their royals)? 2) How many states are there in America? I will post his answers tomorrow. He then continued to quiz us on the capitals of states. He was a trip! Dover is also the biggest port in England and cruise ships regularly dock there, so I think this guy does this for a living.

We went to a late dinner back in London and got home in time to catch the second half of the ND/DePaul basketball game. Here is Pat celebrating the victory with Mike Brey: