 |
| Canterbury Cathedral: Under Construction |
July 16 – August
14, 2018 – “The London 15” – OBU Student Abroad in London, England
 |
Beautiful Interior of
Canterbury Cathedral |
 |
Chapel of St. Anselm -
my favorite Archbishop |
This summer, I had the privilege of spending a month in England with a
group of 15 students from Oklahoma Baptist University. Dr. Lindsey Panxhi (an English faculty colleague)
and myself, along with our respective spouses, conducted a faculty-led Study
Abroad that spent four weeks on the ground in London teaching OBU courses to
OBU students while being immersed in the culture and history of Great Britain. These are our stories!
Tuesday, August
7 – Canterbury & Dover!
 |
| Model of Dover Castle (at Dover!) |
 |
| Most of the London 15 on a Dover hill |
Today was the start of our whirlwind three-day
excursion. Up early to be at Enterprise
car rental before 8AM. It took until
8:30 to process all our paperwork and get our 3 vehicles. Arsid drove a 9-passenger Mercedes van, I
drove an 8-passenger Hyundai, and Vanessa got a Volkswagon Touring, a
 |
| View from the Tower of Dover Castle |
smaller
5-passenger car. Despite getting split up
almost immediately, we all made it to Canterbury in plenty of time for our 11:00
entrance. Canterbury Cathedral was, once
again, beautiful, with soaring arches and story-telling stained glass. Much of the exterior was, sadly, obscured by
scaffolding, but the inside was impressive and spiritually uplifting. The grounds were also very extensive and
enjoyable. It was quite warm, and
Vanessa was about done with walking – but I could have spent hours exploring
the grounds and the old medieval walls.
We had a quick lunch (McDonald’s for us – first fast food in Europe),
then on the road again …
 |
| Port of Dover - lots of sea traffic |
 |
| If you squint, you can see France! |
… to Dover Castle!
A 30-minute drive to an immense defensive fortress on the southern
coast, with the shores of France (Normandy) a mere 24 miles away, visible even
through today’s haze. We climbed to the
top of the inner (Central) Tower, and were rewarded with panoramic views of the
city, its
 |
| 9 of 15 @ The Cliffs of Dover |
surrounding hills, and the ocean.
The engineering of the defensive bulwarks was impressive, and we didn’t
even get to visit the extensive underground tunnels, supposedly the most
impressive element of the Castle!
After Dover Castle, we made the short drive to the
Cliffs of Dover park area to view the famous white cliffs of Dover. Most of our group (including Vanessa and I)
only went as far as the main viewing point, which afforded us nice (but not spectacular)
views. Arsid’s vanful decided to do the
30-minute further hike to the far point, and their pictures show it was worth
the effort!
 |
| The famous White Cliffs |
From the cliffs we drove to our hotel (The Carlton) in
the seaside village of Folkestone. When
we booked it in February, its reviews were outstanding – now, not so much. Recent reviews range from mediocre to
atrocious. So we were a bit
concerned. The hotel is definitely old,
run-down, and somewhat dirty.
 |
| Spelunking a little cave at Dover |
Supper was just OK at a Greek Place (Meze House)
across the street; afterward Vanessa and I had dessert (sticky toffee pudding –
we’re falling in love with that dessert!) at a local pub (The Chambers) –
excellent! Fun fact – “pub” is short for
“public house” – a gathering place for locals in the neighborhood. Learn something new every day! Then it was back to the hotel, a quick
FaceTime with the kids, and off to bed.
 |
| Dessert in Folkestone - sticky toffee pudding! |
No comments:
Post a Comment