The White Cliffs of Dover

While in London visiting my close friend Kendra, we decided to make a weekend trip to the coast to see The White Cliffs.  She had an event at school to be at Saturday morning, so we took a train early in the afternoon to the small city of Dover for a little exploring.

Once in the town, we walked 15 minutes from the train station to our airbnb where we met up with my friend Sheridan who drove in from Oxford.  Sheridan was my closest friend while I lived in Madrid over 5 years ago now, and it was so fun to spend time with both her and Kendra.

The sun drops early during the winter in England, so we didn't have much light left that day.  We decided to drive to the visitor centre by the cliffs so I could get a few photos of the sunset over the channel to France before dinner.  We walked along the trail for a bit before choosing a spot to set up my tripod and take a couple shots.  The sunset included gorgeous hues of purples and pinks and we got excited for the hike along the picturesque cliffs that was coming the next morning.  The spot also overlooked the port, which was neat to watch the hustle and bustle of as the lights came on.  This port is the main ferry connection between England and France and it was constantly busy loading and unloading as ships came in and out.

After our quick visit to the cliffs we went in search of the other reason we came to the coast - fish and chips.  We initially assumed any neighbourhood pub would be serving the UK classic but soon realized that even on a Saturday evening most pubs did not serve food.  With the help of google we managed to find a nearby pub/restaurant but upon arrival read a notice apologizing that their kitchen was closed for the week.  It included a note, however, that guests should feel free to bring in take-out from another restaurant, so we walked over to a fish and chips take out shop down the road and finally got our hands on some freshly fried cod.  My mouth is watering just thinking about it.   

We woke up Sunday morning and after a quick breakfast at our airbnb we headed back to the cliffs.  The trees along the road were dripping with what we assumed was morning dew but later saw was lingering signs of the rain that had passed less than an hour before.  We began an easy walk along nicely maintained paths but soon we noticed how much the rainfall had saturated the grass and chalky trails, making them a slick disaster waiting to happen.  We laughed at our slow progress, clenching our toes and the railings in hopes of staying upright and dry. 

Of course no falls was far too much to ask for when we were all wearing casual sneakers with little grip.  It wasn't long before I had a near death experience running down a steep section of wet grass and right into a fence pole (which thankfully kept me from falling off a ledge and into bushes and brambles below).  Kendra, however, was the first to end up on the ground - twice in a row after slipping on some muddy grass.  And because I'm a wonderful friend, here's a photo of her attempting to wipe off the mud in some long grass which may or may not have been sprinkled with rabbit poo.

As we continued along the coast we were amazed by the ever changing views of the steep cliffs, rolling hills, and crashing waves.  The clouds in the sky were moving quickly and the transitioning light allowed fresh perspectives each time I looked up from the slippery path.  As we watched freights and ferries make their way to and from France even our phones decided to take the trip with them, changing timezones and indicating that though we couldn't quite make out the land, it wasn't far off.   

Though our plan was to walk to the lighthouse and make it back before noon so Sheridan could make her rugby practice later in the day, we had not calculated for our slower pace due to the wet trail so we didn't quite make it all the way to the landmark.  Instead I photographed it from a distance before we turned back in the direction of the car.  This time we chose the path closest to the cliffs' edge, succeeding in finding a drier route with some new views.   

We arrived safely back at the car park above the port about half past 11.  After attempting to clean off at least some of the mud from our shoes and pants we hopped in the car and continued on our way to Canterbury for the afternoon.