Good morning from London. Today is June 4th and I get to sleep in longer than expected because Pete and Faith are due to arrive around 8:30 a.m. instead of their originally scheduled time of 6:30 a.m. I had a good night's sleep at the Hilton Gatwick and the rooms are really soundproof. You can't hear any planes from the room.
I eat the last of my Delta Sky Club cookies (I know, great breakfast) and get ready for the day. Then I head to the lobby with my luggage around 9 a.m. and wait for Pete and Faith to arrive. They made it through customs quickly at Gatwick and we meet up at about 9:45. Our private car service is scheduled for 10:30, so that works out perfectly. I joke that we only live 25 minutes apart but we have to fly to London to see each other!
The driver arrives promptly at 10:30 and we barely fit all our luggage in and get started for our journey to our next destination: Dover. That means we are one day closer to getting on the Disney Magic! The drive time is 1 1/2 hours. The traffic runs smoothly. However in the opposite direction, if you are going into London there is some traffic congestion.
We arrive into Dover at the Premiere Inn which is located right on the waterfront just a five-ten minute walk or so from the port where the Disney Magic will come in tomorrow. The Inn is very nice. The hotel room is large (for European standards) and the price was great at 45 pounds. Here is a picture of the room. You could actually sleep three people in the room. If you haven't traveled to Europe before, hotel rooms to sleep more than 2 or 3 are hard to find. I get a purple light above the bed. Hold on everyone, this could be a party room....not
Pete and Faith are on the second floor and I am on the third floor. The hotel is quiet and very clean. Once again the bathroom has those peculiar faucets and toilets and there are no washcloths. (Faith asked and they don't have any....what is it with Europe and no washcloths).
Shortly after arrival, Pete and Faith knock on my door and off we go with their fitbits so we can get our steps in for the day. I brought mine, but need to figure out how to work my new one and get it charged. It is on my list of things to do.
We walk towards the city center. It is warmer today than yesterday, that's for sure. The sun is trying to get through the clouds.
Off in the distance (very close actually) is the Dover Castle. The Dover Castle is the largest castle in Europe. It was founded in the 11th century and has been described as the "Key to England" due to its defensive significance throughout history. It is also known for the wartime secret tunnels.
The outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 saw the tunnels converted first into an air-raid shelter and then later into a military command centre and underground hospital. Word has it that there are over 3 miles of tunnels in the cliffs of Dover. I have already been to the Dover Castle and tunnels as well as Pete and Faith, so we will just take pictures from a distance today. It is well worth visiting it you have not seen it before and you can easily walk to them the day of your arrival. We checked into the ship and took all our stuff to our room and went to the castle last time and the tunnels and easily got back to the ship with plenty of time to spare. I would say allow a couple of hours to go up there.
In the middle of town there is a statute erected for the soldiers who fought in the war. It says:
"To the glorious memory of the people of Dover who gave their lives for their country in the Great Wars 1914-1919 1939-1945 and in all other conflicts"
Faith and Linda enjoying the day in Dover with the Royal Crown! Of course, we are both princesses. LOL
It is going on 4 p.m. so we decide it is time to have a late lunch/early dinner since Faith states she will be going to bed by 7 since she was up all night last night flying to Europe. We decide to go to The Eight Bells. The Eight Bells is an English Pub right in the heart of Dover. I decide on the Fish n' Chips. I mean I am in England. Now in England you can get them served with peas, either regular peas or mashed peas. Now mashed peas to me would look just like baby food and I can't imagine eating those unless I lost all my teeth. On second thought I wouldn't even eat them it I didn't have teeth because I hate peas. My mother is probably wondering why I got the peas since I have never like them since I was a child. I thought I would trying to do as the English do, but mom, one bite of the peas and my suspicions were confirmed, I still do not like peas. They were the only thing I didn't eat. The fish and chips were delicious.
The pub stands in the shadow of St Mary’s, one of Dover’s main parish churches for more than 400 years. The church was totally rebuilt in 1843, except for the tower, which has the eight bells, giving
the pub its name.
Linda, Pete and Faith after our meal at the Eight Bells.
Dover is a small town. I think it is basically known for the Dover Castle, the tunnels and the ferries and cruise ships that come in and out of town. The main town is very easy to walk to from either your hotel or bed and breakfast (there are plenty of these in town) and there are stores, shops and restaurants.
We walk by The Funky Monkey. Looks like a dance club where the party happens every night. We will long be in bed before this club opens tonight!
After our meal we head over to the Best Western to meet up with Gary and Janice McCall. They live not far from us in Celebration, but it takes all of us going on a cruise to catch up and visit. We met in 2010 when Janice joined us in Germany when we flew over to Meyerwerft Shipyard and spent the day on the Disney Dream in Papenburg on the ship as it was being built. (this was an excursion by Disney). There were 7 of us that flew over to Papenburg that day (another adventure of a lifetime!)
Around 7 p.m. Faith needs toothpicks to keep her eyes open, so we say our goodbyes to Janice and Gary and walk along the waterfront back to the hotel.
The sun is really trying to break through the clouds. It was much warmer today than yesterday, that's for sure but still sweatshirt weather for me.
One of the Ferry boats getting ready to depart from Dover.
A view of the Dover Castle from the waterfront. I have this zoomed in on my camera but it is really only a 10 minute walk or so to the castle.
We get back to the hotel and call it a night. We decide we will play it by ear in the morning to decide what time to head over to the terminal. It is about 7:30 when we return so watch some television and work on the blog.
It is 9:30 and my eyes can hardly stay open so I am going to bed but will finish this in the morning and post before leaving for the Disney Magic.
Later.....................
Well it is now 11:30 at night and I am wide awake. My mind is thinking it is daytime and not night and figures a 2 hour nap is sufficient. So for the last three hours I have been charging my electronic devices, downloading the last of the pictures (while I have free internet) and playing solitare on my IPad.
Much later............
It is now 2:30 am. At this rate I could just stay up and go out to the waterfront in a couple of hours. I can pretend like I am in Miami and I am with Elaine, Michael and George and we are running down the waterfront welcoming the Re-Imagined Disney Magic into port at 4:30 in the morning! What a great time that night was. And Michael, trying to light our "Tangled" lanterns to welcome the ship but the winds were just not cooperating.
Well, I will see what happens in another 2 hours and whether I am awake or not and can do the United Kingdom version of welcoming the ship. In the meantime, I am now going to try to get some more sleep and get on UK time so I can
Tomorrow (or should I say today) I will officially be on my favorite ship......The Disney Magic for cruise #59.
So, officially, I am saying goodnight from the Premiere Inn in Dover, England!
I eat the last of my Delta Sky Club cookies (I know, great breakfast) and get ready for the day. Then I head to the lobby with my luggage around 9 a.m. and wait for Pete and Faith to arrive. They made it through customs quickly at Gatwick and we meet up at about 9:45. Our private car service is scheduled for 10:30, so that works out perfectly. I joke that we only live 25 minutes apart but we have to fly to London to see each other!
The driver arrives promptly at 10:30 and we barely fit all our luggage in and get started for our journey to our next destination: Dover. That means we are one day closer to getting on the Disney Magic! The drive time is 1 1/2 hours. The traffic runs smoothly. However in the opposite direction, if you are going into London there is some traffic congestion.
We arrive into Dover at the Premiere Inn which is located right on the waterfront just a five-ten minute walk or so from the port where the Disney Magic will come in tomorrow. The Inn is very nice. The hotel room is large (for European standards) and the price was great at 45 pounds. Here is a picture of the room. You could actually sleep three people in the room. If you haven't traveled to Europe before, hotel rooms to sleep more than 2 or 3 are hard to find. I get a purple light above the bed. Hold on everyone, this could be a party room....not
Pete and Faith are on the second floor and I am on the third floor. The hotel is quiet and very clean. Once again the bathroom has those peculiar faucets and toilets and there are no washcloths. (Faith asked and they don't have any....what is it with Europe and no washcloths).
Shortly after arrival, Pete and Faith knock on my door and off we go with their fitbits so we can get our steps in for the day. I brought mine, but need to figure out how to work my new one and get it charged. It is on my list of things to do.
We walk towards the city center. It is warmer today than yesterday, that's for sure. The sun is trying to get through the clouds.
Off in the distance (very close actually) is the Dover Castle. The Dover Castle is the largest castle in Europe. It was founded in the 11th century and has been described as the "Key to England" due to its defensive significance throughout history. It is also known for the wartime secret tunnels.
The outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 saw the tunnels converted first into an air-raid shelter and then later into a military command centre and underground hospital. Word has it that there are over 3 miles of tunnels in the cliffs of Dover. I have already been to the Dover Castle and tunnels as well as Pete and Faith, so we will just take pictures from a distance today. It is well worth visiting it you have not seen it before and you can easily walk to them the day of your arrival. We checked into the ship and took all our stuff to our room and went to the castle last time and the tunnels and easily got back to the ship with plenty of time to spare. I would say allow a couple of hours to go up there.
In the middle of town there is a statute erected for the soldiers who fought in the war. It says:
"To the glorious memory of the people of Dover who gave their lives for their country in the Great Wars 1914-1919 1939-1945 and in all other conflicts"
Faith and Linda enjoying the day in Dover with the Royal Crown! Of course, we are both princesses. LOL
It is going on 4 p.m. so we decide it is time to have a late lunch/early dinner since Faith states she will be going to bed by 7 since she was up all night last night flying to Europe. We decide to go to The Eight Bells. The Eight Bells is an English Pub right in the heart of Dover. I decide on the Fish n' Chips. I mean I am in England. Now in England you can get them served with peas, either regular peas or mashed peas. Now mashed peas to me would look just like baby food and I can't imagine eating those unless I lost all my teeth. On second thought I wouldn't even eat them it I didn't have teeth because I hate peas. My mother is probably wondering why I got the peas since I have never like them since I was a child. I thought I would trying to do as the English do, but mom, one bite of the peas and my suspicions were confirmed, I still do not like peas. They were the only thing I didn't eat. The fish and chips were delicious.
The pub stands in the shadow of St Mary’s, one of Dover’s main parish churches for more than 400 years. The church was totally rebuilt in 1843, except for the tower, which has the eight bells, giving
the pub its name.
Linda, Pete and Faith after our meal at the Eight Bells.
Dover is a small town. I think it is basically known for the Dover Castle, the tunnels and the ferries and cruise ships that come in and out of town. The main town is very easy to walk to from either your hotel or bed and breakfast (there are plenty of these in town) and there are stores, shops and restaurants.
We walk by The Funky Monkey. Looks like a dance club where the party happens every night. We will long be in bed before this club opens tonight!
After our meal we head over to the Best Western to meet up with Gary and Janice McCall. They live not far from us in Celebration, but it takes all of us going on a cruise to catch up and visit. We met in 2010 when Janice joined us in Germany when we flew over to Meyerwerft Shipyard and spent the day on the Disney Dream in Papenburg on the ship as it was being built. (this was an excursion by Disney). There were 7 of us that flew over to Papenburg that day (another adventure of a lifetime!)
Around 7 p.m. Faith needs toothpicks to keep her eyes open, so we say our goodbyes to Janice and Gary and walk along the waterfront back to the hotel.
The sun is really trying to break through the clouds. It was much warmer today than yesterday, that's for sure but still sweatshirt weather for me.
One of the Ferry boats getting ready to depart from Dover.
A view of the Dover Castle from the waterfront. I have this zoomed in on my camera but it is really only a 10 minute walk or so to the castle.
It is 9:30 and my eyes can hardly stay open so I am going to bed but will finish this in the morning and post before leaving for the Disney Magic.
Later.....................
Well it is now 11:30 at night and I am wide awake. My mind is thinking it is daytime and not night and figures a 2 hour nap is sufficient. So for the last three hours I have been charging my electronic devices, downloading the last of the pictures (while I have free internet) and playing solitare on my IPad.
Much later............
It is now 2:30 am. At this rate I could just stay up and go out to the waterfront in a couple of hours. I can pretend like I am in Miami and I am with Elaine, Michael and George and we are running down the waterfront welcoming the Re-Imagined Disney Magic into port at 4:30 in the morning! What a great time that night was. And Michael, trying to light our "Tangled" lanterns to welcome the ship but the winds were just not cooperating.
Well, I will see what happens in another 2 hours and whether I am awake or not and can do the United Kingdom version of welcoming the ship. In the meantime, I am now going to try to get some more sleep and get on UK time so I can
Tomorrow (or should I say today) I will officially be on my favorite ship......The Disney Magic for cruise #59.
So, officially, I am saying goodnight from the Premiere Inn in Dover, England!
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