Leeds Castle
Today I took a Grayline tour to the countryside outside of London. Tony Blair had told us to get on with our lives and the Queen told us to carry–on. The advice seems to have been taken by both the British and tourists alike. Since I had done most of the tourist sights in London on my trip last September, now I wanted to visit all those places near London that I had heard about. Grayline picked me up from my hotel about 7:35 a.m. and brought me to their main staging area at Victoria Station. Then we were escorted to the right bus for our tour. I went on Tour 10, Greenwich, Leeds Castle, Canterbuy, Dover, and Cream Tea Tour. We didn’t stop in Greenwich, just drove through it. It looked like an interesting town to visit––it is a Maritime Heritage Area and where the zero meridan line is, so when we drove through Greenwich, we crossed from longitude west to longitude east. From Greenwich, we drove southeast to Maidstone, Kent, to visit Leeds Castle. This is a photo of the castle. It rained off and on all day––typical British weather––but the temperature was pleasant.
Leeds Castle
Leeds Castle
Leeds Castle had been described as “The Loveliest Castle in the World” and as the “Queens of Castles; Castle of Queens. It was first built as a Norman stronghold in the 11th century. It was the castle where widowed queens were sent and King Henry VII visited here in 1522. Before visiting the main part of the castle, we had our Cream Tea––coffee or tea and scones with cream and jam. To eat a scone: Cut scone lengthwise, then put on jam first and then the cream. I thought it was an okay treat. Another view of the castle.
Leeds Castle
Leeds Castle
Entryway to the castle.
Leeds Castle
Leeds Castle
View of the castle past the entryway.
Leeds Castle
Leeds Castle
View of the side of the castle.
Leeds Castle
Leeds Castle
Inside the castle. In 1926, the castle was bought by an American heiress named Lady Baillie. Leeds Castle became her country home and she added 20th century features to it. At her death in 1974, she left the castle to the public to enjoy.
Leeds Castle
Leeds Castle
The Henry VIII banquet room.
Leeds Castle
Leeds Castle
A portrait of Henry VIII over the mantle.
Leeds Castle
Leeds Castle
The patio seen from the second story.
Leeds Castle
Leeds Castle
A window in the castle.
Leeds Castle
Leeds Castle
Lady Baillie’s bedroom. The bedroom was decorated in 1936 by a French interior designer named Stephanie Boudin who later worked for Jacqueling Kennedy at the White House. The style is early 18th–century French Regency.
Leeds Castle
Leeds Castle
Another view of Lady Baillie’s bedroom.
Leeds Castle
Leeds Castle
The Thorpe Hall Dining Room. Lady Baillie had the paneling and marble fireplaces put in in 1927.
Leeds Castle
Leeds Castle
The dining room. It was decorated in 1938 by Boudin. The plates on the wall are 18th–century Chinese porcelain.
Leeds Castle
Leeds Castle
Looking toward the entryway. There is a dog collar museum in the building on the right.
Leeds Castle
Leeds Castle
Some of the dog collars in the museum.
Leeds Castle
Leeds Castle
More of the dog collars.
Leeds Castle
Leeds Castle
We had some time to walk around the grounds and I took this photo. Note that the flag is at half–mast. The grounds and attractions at Leeds Castle are extensive and you could easy spend a day here. There is an aviary, two people–sized mazes, golf course, etc. You can get here from London by train and a bus from the station.
Leeds Castle
Dover
We got on the tour bus and headed to Dover. We made a quick stop here, and as soon as we got off the bus without our umbrellas, as it had stopped raining, it began to pour. I got a quick photo of the village here.
Dover
Dover
I got this shot as well. These are the famous White Cliffs of Dover on the right. Dover is at the entrance to the English Channel and has been the first line of defense of Britian since early times. On top of the hill is Dover Castle. We didn’t visit it but it is supposed to well worth a visit. Our tour conductor told us that Grayline used to offer tours to it but that going up part of that hill was too much for their tour members.
Dover
Dover
Another view of the White Cliffs of Dover taken from the bus.
Dover
Canterbury
Our next stop was in Canterbury, Kent, where we were to visit the Canterbury Cathedral. First, we had lunch at restaurant here––I had my first fish and chips (delicious). The first thing that tour people ask of each other is where they are from. I asked the couple sitting at the next table. The woman told me Long Island, so I asked where. She said Greenlawn, never thinking that I would ever have heard of such a small town. The house where I grew up was just at the borderline of Greenlawn and we got our mail at the post office there and my sister and I often walked up the hill to it to go to its stores. So we tried people’s names to see if knew anyone in common. The one name we both knew was of Ester Stevens, a true legend of this area. I think that if I had more time I would have come up with some more names. Her husband mentioned another famous person with connections in that area and that was Jack Kerouac, which I found very interesting as just the last week I did a walk of Kerouac’s old haunts in San Francisco. Just a really small world out there! After lunch, we met at the Christ Church Gate, the entryway to the Cathedral.
Canterbury
Canterbury
Close–up of the gate.
Canterbury
Canterbury
Closer–up of the gate.
Canterbury
Canterbury Cathedral
Canterbury Cathedral. It is difficult to get a really good photo of the cathedral because it is surrounded by buildings.The cathedral was founded in 597 A.D. by St. Augustine. The origianl church was destroyed by the Normans in 1070. The cathedral was rebuilt and enlarged many times during the middle ages.
Canterbury Cathedral
Canterbury Cathedral
Side of the Canterbury Cathedral.
Canterbury Cathedral
Canterbury Cathedral
Inside the cathedral. I had to pay 2 pounds for a pass to take photos inside the cathedral.
Canterbury Cathedral
Canterbury Cathedral
Also inside the cathedral.
Canterbury Cathedral
Canterbury Cathedral
Memorial to Thomas Becket (St. Thomas of Canterbury). Thomas Becket was the Archbishop of Canterbury when Henry II was on the throne. They had a serious falling out over church matters and Thomas was exiled to France. He returned to Canterbury, but he and the French king also had a falling out over church matters and the king gave permission for Thomas to be executed as a traitor. Four French knights crossed the Channel and killed Thomas with their swords (in the year 1170).
Canterbury Cathedral
Canterbury Cathedral
This candle burns where the shrine to St. Thomas stood from 1220 to 1538. The shrine was destroyed by the order of King Henry VIII. “Canterbury Tales,” by Geoffrey Chaucer, is of an account of a group of pilgrims traveling from London the Becket’s shrine.
Canterbury Cathedral
Canterbury Cathedral
Stained–glass windows in the cathedral. Some of these windows in the cathedral date back to the 12th century.
Canterbury Cathedral
Canterbury Cathedral
Entrance into another part of the cathedral.
Canterbury Cathedral
Canterbury Cathedral
Through the entrance.
Canterbury Cathedral
Canterbury Cathedral
Room in the cathedral.
Canterbury Cathedral
Canterbury Cathedral
Another view.
Canterbury Cathedral
Canterbury Cathedral
Another view. You really need much more time at the cathedral than our tour gave us. You become overwhelmed and then miss much of what there is to see.
Canterbury Cathedral
Canterbury
The streets in Canterbury were closed to traffic at this time and there were many people shopping and looking over the July sales merchandise.
Canterbury
Canterbury
More of Canterbury.
Canterbury
Canterbury
And more. It is a lovely town.
Canterbury
Canterbury
England (as well as Scotland) is host to restaurants of every nationality. Here we have the Cafe Latina next door to the Little Italy restaurant. There was also a Starbucks and a store selling Belgian chocolates.
Canterbury
Canterbury
A hospital and chapel.
Canterbury
Canterbury
You can take a boat ride along this canal.
Canterbury
Canterbury
Old medieval gate to the city.
Canterbury
Canterbury
Part of the old city walls. I forgot what time the tour was to meet to leave Canterbury and when I met up again with the tour group they were waiting for me. Five more minutes and they would have left me there. I made sure that I wrote down the meeting time from then on. But I have never been late before so I didn’t feel too guilty. We left Canterbury to travel back to London and arrived there about 6:30 p.m. You had to choose which of about four places in London to be dropped off––no dropoffs at your hotel. I chose Hyde Park Corner as I knew I could catch a bus there to my hotel. After I figured out which side of the street to be on to catch the bus––not so easy when the buses run on the other side of the road than in the U.S. (you really feel that something is just not right here). This is the day after the bombings––the streets were crowded again and so were the buses (there was no extra security on the buses––anyone could still get on and off with any kind of knapsack). I was tired and opted for a room–service dinner at my hotel.
