There'll be blue birds over the white cliffs of Dover

It's about time for my Thursday update on my Wednesday excursions. Very, very early in the morning, we, the girls, the teachers, and Tony the coach driver, set out on a long ride to the East coast of England, destination Dover.

Dover, as I mentioned, is a coastal city, known for its strikingly white cliffs along the bank of the English channel. On a clear day, standing on the cliffs, you can see the coast of France, only 22 miles away. As we pulled up to the cliffs, one of the professor's wives got on the loud speaker to sing us the WWII tune, "There'll be blue birds over the white cliffs of Dover."

We drove up on top of the cliffs themselves, and split into two groups to go on a guided tour through the underground tunnels, some of them dating back to the Napoleonic wars but more recently instrumental during WWII. Tony the coach driver was the usual delight -- he bolted right in to the entrance of those caves, elbowing girls out of his way to get the prime spot. Oh, Tony.

The tunnels were really interesting, though. I was thinking of my dad throughout the whole thing -- Dad, if you ever get a chance, come here. You would love it. Unfortunately, we weren't permitted to take pictures inside (I did sneak one picture...it was too cool). I wish I could have gotten a picture of the dorm rooms there and the mess halls.... they were both remarkably reminiscent of our dorm rooms and eating situation here at the centre. Hmmm.

After the mildly claustrophobic tunnel tour, we were left to ourselves to explore Dover Castle before we got back on the coach and drove down along the wharf of the bay to see the cliffs from a rather spectacular view. Then we hurried along to the town of Canterbury, bemusedly listening as Tony forgot to turn off his microphone when he got a little road rage. Oh, Tony.

Next was St. Augustine's Abbey. At first, we were all dreading going to -- yet another abbey. I, however, was delighted when we arrived to see it was the ruins of an abbey. What a nice change, seeing the effects of time on the works of man, untouched, unrestored, merely -- natural. We walked among grave stones dating back to 620 AD, wandered around pieces of remaining pillars, walked up tired stone stairs.

Finally, we went to Canterbury Cathedral, something I've been looking forward to for a very long time. I have to be honest, when we did the initial run-through of the cathedral, I got caught up in the popular photo-shoot kind of visit, and went along with the general pace of the small group of girls I was with. As they were pressing us to leave the cathedral so we would have time to go to some boutiques, I stopped right in front of the Great West Door. I realized I had just skimmed through Canterbury Cathedral. It is very likely that that would be the only time in my life I have a chance to go there, and I almost went through it without experiencing it. So I waved the other girls on to leave without me, and stood at the end of the nave, gazing around me, and for the first time allowing the weight of the emotions of that place to take me over. As I started to get a little teary, the clock struck 3, so it was time for the priest's hourly prayer. What an amazing experience, standing there alone at the head of Canterbury Cathedral, speaking along with the priest the words of the Lord's Prayer. It is a feeling I will never forget. It also was a great reminder that most of the girls here do not place such a high importance on the things I do, and I need to not sacrifice experiences I've been looking forward to forever. I also had the unique experience of purchasing an illustrated prologue to the Canterbury Tales in Canterbury Cathedral itself.

Today was a pretty full day as well. After the morning classes, Kate, Sarah, Elizabeth, Jenna and I headed to Leicester Square to buy tickets for a performance of Jersey Boys this evening. Seriously, being a student here rocks -- we get the best seats in the house for half price! So I have never paid more than 25 pounds for a show, and I've gotten ground-floor seats all but once. Probably the best seats I had were for the Lion King -- we were about 6 rows back, and in a show where elephants and gazelles go down the aisles of the ground floor, those were the seats to have. Anyway, after we got the tickets, we headed to this adorable cupcake place in Covent Gardends called Candy Cakes. Holy crap. Delicious. And adorable. There are cupcakes all over the shop window, the walls are painted green, and you sit around blue tables on pink cushy chairs. The cupcakes themselves are a more muffiny-type cake with candy-type frosting. Oh and there was this totally rude guy on the tube who condescendingly explained to us what a bus was and asked us if we had them in America. Come on.

Jersey Boys was actually a lot better than I expected. For those of you who don't know, it's the story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. The story was not that amazing, just because it was a lot of narration, but the songs were so great. The guy who played Frankie was so so talented. We started out towards the back of the ground floor, but at intermission we ended up moving up to the second row seats, because nobody was sitting in them! We couldn't let such excellent seats go to waste :) And when Frankie sang "You're just too good to be true, can't take my eyes off of you..." I cried. The whole show was so fun, and we were constantly clapping along and singing along and dancing along, and the curtain call was a big dance party between the cast and the audience.

Okay, but London gets loud at night. It's so weird. During the day, you go on the tube, people stare at their laps and avoid eye contact and glare at people who talk. You walk down the street and maybe you'll bump into some French people chatting loudly or a group of school children being rowdy, but for the most part, it's pretty devoid of human noise. Once it gets around 10:30, somehow everything gets loud. People yell on the streets, talk really loudly on the tube... so weird. Maybe it's because by then everyone's had enough drinks to forget their prim British manners that forbid them to act human. And seriously, we get free passes into clubs with every 3 steps we take that time of night, it's exhausting. After the show, we ended up chilling at a second-level (or rather 1st floor in Europe) restaurant right on the famous corner of Picadilly Circus, chatting and people-watching. This has really been a delightful evening.

Another fun little blip -- the other night some of the girls watched Father of the Bride II, and it struck me as odd that Steve Martin was driving on the right side of the road. Then I realized it was odd that it struck me as odd, and I shared a very odd moment with myself. I'm also nervous that when I get back I'll keep asking for the toilet instead of the restroom and trying to get in on the wrong side of the car.

I realize how long this post is. Wow. But it's all stuff that I don't want to forget, even if most of you don't make it through this entire post. And I know my family will love it :) Coming soon will be pictures and also a list of things I miss and things I definitely do not miss. And tomorrow I'm sure I'll have even more to tell, because we're going to the Tower of London!!!

DOVER:

CANTERBURY:

ST. AUGUSTINE'S: