Dover, Leeds Castle, Herne Bay, and Whitstable

So for Post #2 I'll show you some of the highlights from my journeys around Kent. Kent is the home to the famous White Cliffs at Dover, various sea-side towns, and numerous castles (2 of which you'll see here)

First up is Dover. The trip to Dover from Canterbury is just a short bus ride between the two city centres. Then you would have to take another bus up to the Dover Castle, but our goal of the day was to see the Cliffs, so we traveled on foot. 

We walked quite a while around the cliffs, approximately 5 miles, and came upon a lighthouse in St. Margaret's Bay.

This is a view of the Dover Castle from the city centre. We didn't go into it, but hopefully I will soon.

Next: Leed's Castle (not in the city of Leeds). The very first week I arrived in Canterbury, the International Office here at Kent organized a free trip to Leed's Castle for all international students. Originally built in 1119 by Henry I, the castle has been used by numerous Kings and Queens.

The grounds were incredible, there were multiple ponds/lakes filled with geese, swans, and even peacocks. Exotic birds filled the aviary, and there was even a maze.

They had a hot air balloon, even though it only went straight up and then back down.

Now: Herne Bay. Herne Bay is a sea-side town just north of Canterbury, again a short bus ride away. Here, a view of the bay from the pier.

A view of the pavilion at the end of the pier, from the sea walk. 

Next: Whitstable. Sadly I don't have very many pictures of Whitstable, I didn't take my camera when I was there for longer. But Whitstable is similar in feeling to Herne Bay, they are both located in generally the same region. But, I'll leave you with one sunset picture of the sea. :)

Next Blog: Hopefully the next few entries will be about my trips to Barcelona, Spain; Edinburgh, Scotland; and Dublin, Ireland.

New Year's Resolution to Blog

Hi Everyone!

Sorry about not blogging for the first couple months of my trip, I just never got around to it and as time passed it seemed that it was too late to start. But, I've decided it's never too late, so I'll try to get you up to speed on my time here in England.

I live in Canterbury, which is in the district of Kent, south east of London. (Shown circled in red on map below)

Kent is often referred to as "The Garden of England" and Canterbury is no exception.
This is a view from campus. My campus is located on a hill that looks out to the city centre. The trees here mostly obscure it, but you can see the top of the famous Canterbury Cathedral on the right. Which looks like this up close: 

This is a picture looking down High Street. Most English cities have a High Street which is just the name given to the main street in a city centre, usually lined with shops and restaurants.

This is Westgate Tower which currently hosts a small museum. At the top of the tower was a small city jail. This tower used to be part of the larger city wall that surrounded Canterbury, parts of the wall still exists, but not shown in this picture.

This is the River Stour, which runs through the main city centre of Canterbury. There is a really cool river tour for only a couple of pounds that takes you down the river and back (except in winter). On the left is part of The King's School, which claims to be the oldest existing school ever, established in 597 by St. Augustine.

This is an old building that sits on top of the River Stour

This is Dane John Mound, which is a surviving structure from Roman times, it used to be part of a Roman cemetery.

Well hopefully this gives you a little idea as to where I've been living. 

 Next up: Traveling around Kent- Leeds Castle, Dover, Whistable, and Herne Bay