The Amazing Race Part II: Hastings to Dover

Day Two of The Amazing Race. On the face of it, it didn't seem nearly as complicated as Day One. Just moving up the east coast slighly. Only one train transfer. No London Underground days before the Olympics open. Here's how it played out.

Route Info: Travel from Hastings via train inland to Ashford International Station. Transfer to express train to Dover. Must arrive in time to check in at guest house, leave luggage, and find way to Dover Castle and tour Secret Wartime Tunnels before they close at 5:00 PM.

Speed Bump: Guest house confirmation documentation notes check-in time begins at 4:00 PM.

Road Block: Although we arrived at guest house by noon, no one was there!

Fast Forward: Guest house manager arrived by 12:45 PM, and not only checked us in, but, due to a cancellation, gave us a much larger room!

Speed Bump: Condition and cleanliness of guest house are questionable.

Fast Forward: We drop bags and leave guest house immediately in search of Dover Castle and don't return until it's getting dark and no longer safe for two woman alone on the streets of a very questionable section of Dover!

The castle is in sight, but it's all uphill! Plenty of time, though.

Nearly there.

Stunning views from this high up. The water's green/blue tint took me by surprise. Almost Mediterranean.

A commanding view of Dover Harbor and across to France from Admiralty Look-out,

a World War I command post.

Somehow, Dover Castle still feels ready to defend itself.

We made it!

On a hilltop where an Iron Age hill fort once stood, King Henry II built Dover Castle in the 1180s. It's a remarkable complex of buildings and tunnels that was continuously militarily reinvented and repurposed for over 800 years, always protecting the English coast.

A Roman pharos (lighthouse), dating to 46 AD, is on the castle grounds, too!

This is one of three believed to remain in the world.

Quick! Enter before they pull up the drawbridge!

Henry II's Great Tower

Deciding if they will let us enter!

The recently restored Banqueting Hall.

A grand bed chamber fit for a king. Henry, that is.

Such bright colors. Didn't I see this in the IKEA catalog?

The Tower's Chapel Royal.

Our timing was perfect, as this lovely illumination shows.

The medieval tunnels under the castle were built to improve its defences after a siege in 1216-17. In 1939 they were converted to an air raid shelter and then a military command center and hospital. "Operation Dynamo," or the Dunkirk evacuation, was devised here in 1940. The Secret Wartime Tunnels have only been open to the public for a few years.

A bit more space than one might imagine, but still fairly close quarters.

Pit Stop: As luck would have it, we took a different route back down the hill and discovered The White Horse Inn. The building itself dates to 1365, when it was built as a residence for the Churchwarden of St James' Church next door, which was sadly bombed out during WWII. It remained in the church's possession until the dissolution of the monasteries in 1539. In 1574 it became home to Dover's ale taster and for the next 55 years was the home of the lucky folk to hold this post, with duties including "checking on the quality of ale and on unlawful measures." The ale taster also had the responsibility of "reporting anyone who kept a disorderly house." (He could have had his own show on HGTV!) In 1652, it received its first license to sell ale and cider, and the rest is history. A delicious meal and cold beverage (When in Rome!) beckoned from the back garden patio.

Road Block: Scary guest house!

Next up...The Amazing Race Part III: Dover to St Albans.

Posted with Blogsy

The Amazing Race Part I: Bath to Hastings

The next three days of our journey played out like episodes of "The Amazing Race." For the uninitiated, "The Amazing Race" is a TV series which features pairs of travellers racing around the world against one another, while following clues given to them in envelopes marked

"Route Info," (general clue that may include a task to be completed before moving on)

"Road Block," (a task that must be completed by one team member before the team can move on)

or "Detour." (a choice of two tasks)

Along the way there are also "Fast Forwards," "Yields," U-turns," and "Speed Bumps," all of which are self-explanatory. At the end of each leg of the race, teams rest and recover at a Pit Stop.

Here is how our journey became "The Amazing Race."

 

Route Info: Travel from Bath, on the West coast, to Hastings, on the Southeast coast, in time so Christie can make it to 1066 Battle of Hastings Battlefield Abbey and Battlefield before it shuts for the day.

Speed Bump: No direct train service. Travellers must take train from Bath to London Paddington and then switch to the London underground, riding the Bakerloo Line to Oxford Circus and then switch to the Victoria Line to London Victoria.

Road Block: Travellers must do this while pulling large, heavy suitcases and carrying backpacks filled with various technological equipment.

Fast forward: Short wait for train at Victoria!

Fast forward: Christie spots Battle train station several stops before Hastings station. Sees it's a quick ride back to goal destination from Pitt Stop location (Hastings).

Route info: It's 2:00 pm and the Battlefield closes at 6:00 pm. Travellers must get from the Hastings train station to their hotel, check in, leave luggage, and get back to train station in time to catch train back to Battle.

Detour: Travellers arrive at lovely hotel overlooking the ocean. The beach is calling loudly! Travelers must choose whether to relax by ocean or push on towards goal. Christie decides to push on. Jennie gives in to call from the ocean.

Speed Bump: Travelers haven't had lunch and it's nearly 3:00 pm. Christie stops to buy sandwich and drink at supermarket using £20 note (all ATM would dispense). Cashier insists it was a £10 and tells Manager. Manager reviews CCTV footage (unbeknownst to Christie) and deems it inconclusive. Expensive sandwich and 20 minutes wasted.

Road Block: Trains to Battle delayed 20 minutes due to track issues.

Route Info: Christie must walk 20 minutes uphill to battlefield from station. It's nearly 4:00 pm and site closes at 6:00 pm.

Pitt Stop: Christie arrives at the Abbey's gatehouse and Battlefield visitor center and staff assure her she has plenty of time. Phew!

Several years after the Battle of Hastings, William the Conqueror founded Battle Abbey out of gratitude for his victory and as a monument to those who died here in 1066. The former Abbot's great hall and library are now a private school.

The remains of the Abbey's latrine block, novice dormitory, and cloister can still be seen from the path.

A lovely woodland path surrounds the 100 acre battlefield's perimeter and allows for observing from several vantage points.

William, Duke of Normandy's view up the hill to where King Harold's army awaited them.

King Harold's view of the Norman advance from the ridge top. It's hard to believe, but no relics from the battle have ever been found on the battlefield.

What remains of the the Abbey church.

 

The Abbey thrived for 400 years until 1538. It was a victim of Henry VIII's suppression of monasteries.

 

A stone marks the spot believed to be where King Harold eventually died. The Bayeux Tapestry depicts him being struck in the eye by an arrow on the battlefield.

The precinct wall surrounding the Abbey.

 

Route Info: It's 6:00 pm and Christie must now walk back to the Battle train station, catch a train back to Hastings in time to meet Jennie between for dinner between 6:30 and 7:00 pm.

Speed Bump: It's 6:20 pm and a train to Hastings has just arrived. Despite her best efforts, Christie misses the train because it was loaded with commuters arriving home from work in London and they don't seem to notice/care as she pushes through them saying, "Can I please get through? I need to make this train!"

Road Block: The train she just missed was actually 30 minutes late arriving and she'll wait another 30 minutes until the next one arrives.

Pitt Stop: It's 7:20pm and Jennie is sound asleep. Never knew Christie was late.

I was exhausted (as you can see), but gorgeous, fresh Dover Sole at the most popular seafood restaurant in Hastings, White's, was my reward at the end of the day.

On the otherhand, a well-rested Jennie enjoyed her bowl of local shellfish.

 

Time to rest up for The Amazing Race Part II: Hastings to Dover.

 

Posted with Blogsy

The Roman Baths at Bath

Welcome to The Roman Baths at Bath!

 

 

I was astounded to see how much of the Roman Baths are preserved, considering they were built 2,000 years ago and discovered in the late 19th century. In my travels this summer, I seen many baths-related artifacts, such as tile and sections of hypocaust (the underground heating system), but seeing these vast remains in situ was beyond my imagination. This fantastic museum surrounds and incorporates the Baths in a way that let's you experience what the time spent at the Baths by residents and pilgrims must have really been like. It had a very different feeling from the "social club" bath houses at the Roman forts of Segedunum, Chesters, and Vindolanda. Here visitors came for the three Cs -- comfort, cleansing, and cure.

The layout of the vast complex at the Baths built around the thermal water, the only such water in the UK. The round pool in the back right corner is the Sacred Spring. Hot water came from this source, while cold came from other sources outside the Baths.

Bath Abbey, watching over the Baths, only adds to the sacred ambiance of the Baths complex.

Hadrian and I met again while strolling The Terrace.

He and seven other Roman emperors keep watch over the Great Bath.

SPQR (Senatus Populusque Romanus), an initialism or logo, if you will, for The Senate and People of Rome.

The Great Bath

Some young visitors enjoying walking in Roman footsteps. I loved that they insisted on wearing their garments throughout their entire visit and not just in the dress-up area!

Some of the surfaces are quite slippery and you don't want to fall in!

The gilded bronze head from a statue of Sulis Minerva, Goddess of the thermal spring, which once stood in the Temple within the Baths complex. The Romans believed she possessed the power of healing, wisdom, and possibly military insight.

The remains of the Temple's ornamental pediment.

The head of Gorgon, cut off by Perseus, loomed overhead from the pediment in the Temple of Sulis Minerva.

 

The haruspex stone, a sacrificial altar, used for the ritual of offering an animal to a deity.

You can see the bubbling waters in the King's Bath, the site of the ancient spring, caused by exsolved gases (minerals separating from one another) escaping.

The King's Bath

The Roman arch between the Baths and the Sacred Spring

Bath's founder, Prince Bladud, has presided over the King's Bath since the 17th century. It is said that his leprosy was cured when he plunged into what was then just a steamy swamp in the 9th century.

One of the many drains within the complex.

The complicated hypocaust (underfloor heating) system, which only those in charge of cleaning out the soot ever saw.

Floor levels were repeatedly raised in the eastern areas of the complex, as they were closest to the river and prone to flooding. Water backing up would have extinguished the all-important furnaces of the hypocaust, which warmed the changing rooms and saunas.

A beautifully-preserved box tile with great detail. During the dig at Arbeia, I uncovered bits of box and roof tile, but sadly none with this level of detail, which would have made them a more important "small find."

Back outside the Baths into the 21st century. Here is one of the entraces to The Pump Room, first opened in 1706, for those seeking a remedy for "internal conditions." There were samples of the water to drink at the end of the tour of the Baths. It was quite warm, with a slightly metallic mineral taste. Not pleasing, or refreshing, by today's standards. Today the Pump Room is a restaurant, but you may still sample the sacred waters there.

 

Posted with Blogsy