English Countryside & the life of Anne Boleyn

After having spent three pretty terrific days in London (especially great compared to 3 relatively lousy days in Paris) we were still happy to be heading out of the city. Over the next four days we saw some incredible sites both historical and mythical. We also saw some positively lovely countryside that made us want to move here.

Our first mission for the day was the check out of our London hotel, make our way to the London Heathrow airport and pick up our rental car. I'm very sad to say that we had yet another bad rental car experience. If you've read my previous blogs, you know by now that I am a fan of the back-up rental car (and of hertz!). In London, we couldn't rely on hertz to save the day but not for any fault of theirs. I don't recall why exactly, but our main rental car in London was with Avis and our backup car was with Alamo. One thing I always insist on getting is a GPS. Back in 2009 it was easier to rent one at the rental car place (didn't have a smart phone). Unfortunately, Avis gave us quite a stink about letting us rent one. It stated clearly on our reservation that we requested a GPS. They had our automatic car...no problem, but adamantly refused the GPS. If this happens to you friends...don't back down. Don't give in. Ask to speak to a manager. Demand that they help you. It wasn't that they didn't have them. For whatever reason, they just decided they didn't want to honor our reservation. They offered to have us pay for an upgrade which included a GPS (still portable) which we declined. To this day, I still can't figure out why when we said to them, "We don't want an upgrade. We want the GPS that you're holding in your hand with the automatic car we reserved. Why can't we have that??" She was physically holding the GPS. There was no reason why she couldn't just hand it to us, but she didn't. We argued with them for over an hour until they gave us a print out of something and instructed us to proceed to the Avis counter where the cars were located (at this point we were still in the airport terminal). There, they had us go through the Avis preferred line to speak to someone who was expecting us. At that point, the new person gave us the car and GPS just like we reserved without any issues. Needless to say, Avis is WAY down on my preferred list. I don't remember why we didn't go to Alamo (our backup car). I think it was because we knew that Avis had what we wanted (for the price we reserved) so it was silly to walk away.

But rental car issue resolved and only an hour delayed, we spent a couple of minutes (and by we, I mean my husband) driving around the London airport getting used to being on the opposite side of the road. According to him, it's actually easier than you'd think because the car is reversed too. The drivers side is on the right, so the same spacial instincts are still there.

We didn't drive too long (only about 25 mins) before making our first stop. Our first day driving the English Countryside (unbeknownst to us) was spent learning about the life of Anne Boleyn: second wife of Henry VIII and mother of the future Queen Elizabeth I (Good Queen Bess). Although the previous day we saw the Tower of London where Anne spent the last few months of her life before being executed, this day we saw Hampton Court where she spend some of the happier years of her life.

Hampton Court is positively enormous, and we didn't dedicate nearly enough time here. We thought that we would spent about 2 hours here catching the highlights, but the palace and grounds are so extensive, I wish we could have stayed longer. Note to any future London travelers: give yourself plenty of time to see Hampton Court!

The back of Hampton Court from the gardens

From the palace where Anne Boleyn spent her life married to the notorious Henry VIII, we drove about 55 mins outside of London to Anne Boleyn's birthplace: Hever Castle. London may be known for its fog, but as we drove outside the city (just like in Paris), the weather cleared and the skies lightened. Hever Castle was a really neat place to visit and not terribly out of the way of anything. The grounds are lovely (with fun mazes for kids...or kids at heart), and I highly recommend it for anyone headed to the Canterbury region.

Hever Castle where Anne Boleyn was born

We spent most of the afternoon at Hever Castle before driving another hour and 15 mins to Canterbury. By the time we arrived, we were exhausted from a full day of sightseeing. Canterbury was just a short stop on our way to other things like the white cliffs of Dover and Leeds Castle, so we didn't have too much planned for our time here.

Our hotel for the evening was a charming bed and breakfast called the Thanington Hotel of Canterbury. I understand it's now called the Canterbury Hotel.  I hope the new owners have preserved the charm that this B&B had since it now appears to be apart of a string of hotels.

Before heading out of Canterbury the next morning, we did make one quick stop before heading to Dover: The Canterbury cathedral. The United States just doesn't have any remarkable structures like this or if they do, they've only been in existence for the last 200-300 years. One of the things I marveled the most the first time I visited Europe was the sheer age of some of the buildings. The Canterbury Cathedral in Kent was no different. Having been built almost 1,000 years ago, this magnificent structure is a must-see for any fans of religious history or those who simply appreciate a phenomenal example of gothic architecture.

Canterbury Cathedral

From the cathedral we drove for a little under an hour to England's east coast and the famed white cliffs of Dover. We didn't necessarily intend on going to the cliffs; we were headed for Dover Castle, but along the way, we saw signs for the White Cliffs national park, so we decided to take a short detour. We had to pay a minimal entrance fee to get into the park, but it was well worth it. We spent an hour or so walking/hiking around and getting up close and personal with the white cliffs themselves.

White Cliffs of Dover

From the white cliffs, we back tracked a little bit to get back to the complex that housed Dover Castle. Much to our chagrin, the castle was closed for restorations, and we couldn't go in. But instead of just turning around and leaving, we decided to inquire about what else there was to see in this quirky castle village. I can't even tell you how glad I am that we decided to do this. One gem that we found was a guided tour of the British World War II underground communications headquarters. As I've mentioned before, I'm a huge WW2 buff, so the opportunity to learn more about the clandestine operations of the United Kingdom during the war was one I couldn't pass up.

What I enjoyed even more than learning about the history of the types of communications they used and the secrecy surrounding their operations was the human factors element they had on display. In this underground world, real people lived for several years. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing how they lived, where they slept, ate, etc. It was all very fascinating to me. I love being taken back in time and given a small glimpse into a world I never knew existed.

Sadly (like the treasury inside the Tower of London) we were not able to take any photographs in the bunkers, but fortune of fortunes, the gift shop sold postcards with images of what we saw. These will forever be preserved in my trip album.

From Dover, England, we drove about 45 minutes to one of my husband's favorite destinations from his childhood trip to England: Leeds Castle. In addition to the castle itself, Leeds has lots of things to see on its grounds.

Leeds Castle on a sunny, beautiful day!

Watch for wild peacocks and make sure they don't damage your car if you happen to see any pecking at their own reflection in the parking lot like we did. (Fortunately it wasn't pecking at our car.)

Silly Peacock pecking at its own reflection

After seeing the Canterbury Cathedral, the white cliffs of Dover, the underground communications headquarters, and Leeds Castle, we were quite tired. Unfortunately, we still had one more thing to accomplish this day. What's my #1 travel rule? Get up early and beat the crowds. You won't regret it!

The very first thing to do the next morning was to see the single most famous tourist attraction in all of England outside of London: Stonehenge. Not knowing what to expect this item of year (even though we had good luck with few crowds so far), we still wanted to get there right when it opened. The problem was that Leeds Castle was a good 2 hour drive from Stonehenge. So, having seen what we wanted to see for the day (and then some), we played a round of ring around the rental car (because we instinctively went to the wrong sides of the car first), and set out for the town of Salisbury.

In hunting for hotels in this region, we stuck to my ground rules of being at least 4-stars and also being under $200/night, but since we weren't near a major city, parking was essential. Without access to familiar public transportation, we were delighted when we found that the Best Western Red Lion Hotel Salisbury had a small car park behind the hotel. Just a short walk from this historic hotel was the Salisbury Cathedral. It wasn't necessarily something we intended to see, but since we still had some daylight hours left, we decided to stretch our legs after the 2 hour drive and check it out.

Unfortunately for me as a tourist (but fortunately for the future of the building) it was partially covered in scaffolding from the restoration efforts. We also got there just 10 minutes before closing, so we were only able to get a quick glimpse of the inside before the clergy politely shooed us out.

Salisbury Cathedral

As I've often said, when you start seeing too many of the same type of thing, you become saturated and remember them less and less. While castles and cathedrals are (in my opinion) some of the world's most magnificent structures, the interiors definitely blend together after a little while. Especially if you can't take pictures of the inside to help you remember the differences, they all become a faded mix of rose windows, stained glass, golden altars, grand pipe organs, and endless rows of pews. I think that's also what helped to make the underground communications headquarters stand out so much in Dover. We expected to see another castle, but instead, we saw something very unique and therefore memorable.

Our two days near England's east coast came quickly to an end and with it the end of England's royal and religious history. We spent so much time learning about England's past rulers, the wives they divorced, and the castles where they grew up. Our next two days would shift focus from the historical to the mystical. From Stonehenge to King Arthur, our journey continues here.

Thanks for reading!

- Foxy the Traveler