Just when we thought things would go back to normal…
This morning I woke up at 5:10 AM as I needed to be out of the room by 6:15 AM. I caught the sunrise from my balcony.
I finished packing my carry on and waited on the back of the Lido deck outside for a while.
A few more photos of Dover from the ship, including the old train station.
Carnival announced the self assist folks (carry your own luggage off) could leave, but because of a massive traffic problem (ferry port is in Dover) no buses were arriving. In fact there were no taxis and hardly any cars arriving. I actually saw some of my new friends waiting for their transportation to arrive. They were supposed to be picked up at 7 AM.
My tour was supposed to meet at 8 AM and depart at 8:30 AM. I called just before 8:30 AM and they told me I could try to leave the ship as my guide was there, but the coach was not. By this time Carnival announced that luggage tags 1-4 could leave. However it seems that everyone decided to leave, which left a large number of people in the terminal building waiting to get out.
I found my guide and they said the bus was maybe 30 minutes away. We waited about an hour. It was 10:00 AM before we left the pier.
The bus was able to make it mostly out of Dover, but due to UK Health and Safety rules he was required to take a 45 minute break just after passing the castle. The bus stopped at a Holiday Inn with a very small parking lot. Luckily there was a McDonald’s just a few minutes away where I got a quick snack. It was a bacon and cheese flatbread and a hashbrown.
After the bus driver managed to 24 point turn (it was tight between the cars) we were free from the hotel parking lot and headed to Canterbury. I took a few pictures of the city walls of Canterbury as we arrived.
The tour finally arrived at Canterbury and the tour guide walked us down to the Cathedral.
We had two options, take a walking tour with her, or go explore the Cathedral. I decided to pay the 14 pounds sterling (plus 2.5 for the audio guide) to tour the Cathedral. It reminded me of Notre Dame (before it caught on fire).
I took a lot of pictures, but their virtual tour is great, be sure to check it out.
I had just a few minutes to walk to the end of the city to take a picture of the city gates. Apparently it still exists because it was used as a prison.
I made it back exactly at 1:45 PM and the bus arrived shortly afterward. The bus then took us to Leeds Castle. On the way there the bus drove by a field of hops which is used to brew beer.
It was a bit of a walk to Leeds Castle (about 15 minutes), but it was a nice walk. The skies started to threaten to rain, but it was mostly dry.
The castle was well preserved and was full of furniture, unlike some castles I have visited in the past. This one was much more modernized – it even had a buzzer system and a display to tell the help where to go.
I walked around the outside of the castle and took some more pictures.
In the parking lot I found a Rolls Royce.
Back to the bus at nearly 4:30 PM, the meeting time. I was transferred to a minivan with some others to be dropped at my hotel. It was nice to not have to drag my luggage through the tube.
The route took us past the O2 arena, the Emirates Airways (gondola) and through the Blackwall tunnel.
When I got to the hotel I started to back up some of my photos to the cloud, and recharge my phone. The hotel looked fairly new and was next to where the Formula E race would be the following weekend (unfortunately after I leave). I had to make a phone call to re-organize some bookings for clients, so I did that as well.
I finally left the hotel after 9 PM. I took the DLR (Docklands Light Rail) to Tower Gateway station which was very close to the Tower of London and Tower Bridge.
I arrived at Tower Bridge just in time for it to open, but I wasn’t in a good spot for photos.
I walked around the Tower of London to get to my favorite photo stop.
There is an area near London Bridge which has a perfect angle for taking pictures of Tower Bridge. I attempted to record the Dixie Queen going under Tower Bridge.
I decided not to push my luck and arrived back at the hotel around midnight. I believe the last DLR is 0:37 AM, but the last bridge lift was at 10:45 PM, so not much reason to stay out much longer.
I took a couple more photos of the Tower of London on the way.
Today’s timeline:
