Well, we made it to the UK! First stop was Gatwick; we stayed at a B&B called Oakhurst Gatwick about 5 minutes from the airport. It was perfect for the first night and after the long flight we didn’t want to go too far! We had dinner at a restaurant right around the corner that we could walk to called The Parsons Pig. Perfect dinner choice! Very good Indian food. After a night’s sleep we were ready to venture on! On our way to our lovely VRBO in Barham we stopped to tour Leeds Castle. So beautiful and the grounds were amazing!
Next stop was our beautiful little cottage (Church Cottage) in Barham. So cute! Reminds me of the cottage in the movie The Holiday!
Decided to explore Dover next. First stop Dover Castle! It was fun walking around the grounds and exploring inside the castle. There was also an incredibly old church on the grounds that is still functioning! We explored the underground tunnels, so interesting how inventive they were with defending the castle. We then had a tour of the underground hospital – not sure I’d want to be treated there! Lunch was at a pub in Dover – The White Horse Inn. Typical pub menu, had a toastie – ham, cheese and english mustard!
Our fourth day was spent walking around the White Cliffs of Dover. What a beautiful day it was! The cliffs are very impressive! The cliffs face France across the English Channel. They are made of fine-grained white chalk from the remains of tiny sea algae. In great English style after we finished the hike to the lighthouse there was a teahouse where we were able to get cream tea for 3! They even served it in actual china teapot and cups!
Canterbury was our next stop – what a cute town! We of course explored the Canterbury Cathedral – how impressive! I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves! We wandered around the town a little bit, saw The Crooked House, which is now a cute bookstore, had a great lunch in the plaza at The Old Buttermarket – meat pie – which was so much better than I expected! We also walked along Westgate Gardens which was beautiful.
Last days in Kent area we checked out the Church that was the church of our “Church cottage” in Barham and then spent a rainy few hours in Sandwich – just a quick lunch and a quick walk around until we were soaked and gave up to go back to our cottage for a dinner at the local pub so no pics of that day! The next and final day we stopped in Whitstable for a quick breakfast and look around on our way to London!
We made it to London! We have been here a few times so it’s nice to relax and not feel the pressure to see all the tourist sites. We are staying in a “flat” hotel called Marlin Apartments – Aldgate Tower Bridge very nice to spread out with 2 bedrooms, a living room and a deck overlooking the city. First stop was checking out Regent’s Park – saw Queen Mary’s Rose Gardens and Queen Elizabeth II’s new garden. Walked around a bit then stopped for lunch at the Green Man pub where we tried out a couple of their beers. So, one thing strange about England so far is that everywhere we have been to eat no matter what we order they are out of at least one item. Not sure what that is about but we have learned to always have a backup plan! Next, we wandered around Marylebone and stopped at the Daunt Books Store – very cute place! After that we headed back to get ready for our night on the town – dinner and a show! We got tickets to see The Play that Goes Wrong in the West End – very funny – good show. Didn’t know it at the time but it turns out one of the costumes was made by Lawrenceville’s own Sean Robbins, who graduated LHS with Zach! Super cool! Next day we wandered around London seeing sites some were repeats but some we haven’t seen on previous trips. Stopped at Borough Market where we had chocolate dipped strawberries! Yum! Went to the Graffiti tunnel – very cool. Stopped in Paddington to see the Paddington Bear statue then wrapped up the site seeing with a trip to Notting Hill. Very fun day!
traveling with J&D 