Day 6 - Quinlan Great UK Adventure

London to Dover

A great motorcycle adventure doesn't mean much without a motorcycle. So we jumped on a train and headed about 20 miles southwest to the town of Woking, where we'd arranged to rent our ride for the next week.

Then headed south east down the road toward Canterbury and Dover. 

Even though we'd been in England for 6 days at that point, and had had to remind ourselves over and over to "stay left, look right". Getting on a motorcycle and getting comfortable with driving on the left, takes a while.

We made it to Canterbury at midday and spent quite a while wandering through the church,

 and the spot where Thomas Becket (AKA St. Thomas of Canterbury) was murdered in 1170.

Down to the catacombs and some pretty funky sarcophagi. 

Poor dog. Hope he wasn't really entombed with Edward II.

Since we know Thomas Becket was killed in the church in the 12th century, it was interesting to find out that there was first a church on this site in 597 and the main structure of the current building was built around 1075. 

Just how many people had walked up these steps in the ensuing 1000 years?

Side Note: Be sure you know what the street markings mean when you park in Canterbury. Apparently a double yellow line means you have to have an official pass to park there, even if you are dumb Americans on a motorcycle.

We rode south to Dover and Sean got his first glimpse of the famous White Cliffs of Dover (bucket list item 387. Check!). 

Dover's a lovely town and not too crowded. 

But...while there were plenty of places to sit and drink, all the pubs and restaurants 1) had the cook call in sick so they weren't serving food or 2) the tables were booked the entire night 3) had a water main break in the kitchen and couldn't cook anything or 4) the kitchen was just closed with no explanation.

Seriously. There was no food to be had in Dover. (I'm sure there was a joke about eating Dover Sole in there somewhere, but I was too hungry and tired to come up with it).

We eventually found a table at an Italian cafe and at least got some food in us, only to find out that the White Cliff boat tour we were supposed to take the next morning had been cancelled because of the high winds in the area. 

It couldn't be helped, but we were seriously bummed. We ended up back at The White Horse, one of the first pubs we visited that day, and ended up making friends with the owners Stu and Jules. 

It's definitely a "we'll be back" kind of place and hopefully the next time, we'll have mountains of fish and chips to eat.

Fun fact - we all know gas prices have been high here this summer, but in Great Britain, the prices ranged from £1.899 per litre to £2.059 per litre.

Some quick math in my head said that was around $12.00 a gallon. Glad we were on a motorcycle!

Day 5 - Quinlan Great UK Adventure

 Day 5 was Church Day.

We started the day Westminster Abbey, to actually go inside and look around, rather than just seeing it from the outside as we did on our first day in London.

It's always fun to visit places you've seen over and over again on tv or in the news, and Westminster Abby never disappoints.

From there we made our way back to Buckingham Palace for the changing of the guards. We got there early and staked out a good spot to see as much as possible.

And then it rained. A lot.

The official daily parade was cancelled, but since they really did have to change guards, we were treated to a less formal event. 

We then headed back over to St. Paul's to visit inside the church. 

It hadn't changed much at all (probably since it was bombed during World War II).   

It was really nice to feel the familiar peace that this church brought me.

Since we actually had time on our hands, we went back to the hotel to have high tea (a first for both of us). 

There was a lot of food, but we managed to pretty much consume most of what they put in front of us.

We were leaving London the next day for the second part of this incredible adventure and knew we weren't going to get much rest in the week ahead. Our stomachs full and our adventureness content for the moment, we headed back out to the pubs and tried to have an easy night. 

Day 4 - Quinlan Great UK Adventure

Our adventure continued the next morning after a leisurely breakfast at the hotel. We were booked on a river cruise later in the morning, so we just ambled around Westminster. 

The river cruise went up the Thames River starting at Westminster Pier, 

and stopped at Tower Pier just under Tower Bridge. 

Along the way, we got to see a lot of architecture from from the Roman times, through the Medieval ages to more modern buildings. 

 

We got a glimpse of St Paul's Cathedral from the river,

and finally saw the iconic Tower Bridge.

At the pier, we jumped of the boat and immediately set about trying to get a good selfie in the wind. I really don't remember London being as windy as it was on this trip.

We finally abandoned all attempts to keep our hair out of our faces 

and walked up the hill to the Tower of London.

We were just in time for a free tour led by one of  Yeomen Warders of Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress the Tower of London, and Members of the Sovereign's Body Guard of the Yeoman Guard Extraordinary (also known as a "Beefeater"). 

These guys are always entertaining, but our's today was especially good. He told us all about the Tower, and its uses over the centuries.

He even was kind enough to put up with my questions about the 13th century Welsh Princes who were imprisoned here for years. 

Check out the story of Gruffydd ap Dafydd. It's incredibly interesting and ends with him falling out a Tower window while trying to escape. I wanted to know which window it was and our guide was probably just making stuff up as he went along, but he told a good story!

After visiting the Tower, we had to do the touristy thing and walk across Tower Bridge. 

For some reason, we opted for the "Enhanced View". I cannot begin to imagine why I agreed to that.

It was up really, really high and had a glass floor that looked directly down to the Bridge and the River below. 

I didn't stop to look, let Sean take all the pictures he wanted to, and bolted for the other side of the Bridge.

Since we were on the opposite side of the river, we went in search of the Anchor Bankside, a pub that used to be next door to the Globe Theater, when there was a Globe Theater, and welcomed William Shakespeare and his actors after their performances.

It was past closing time for many of the attractions, but we wandered over to St Paul's Cathedral anyway.

 I used to work around the block from St. Pauls, 

and spent almost every lunch eating on the steps or wandering through the Church, so it was great to see my old friend again.

After another fun-filled, exhausting day, we relaxed at 'our' pubs and just enjoying the people watching.

Day 3 - Quinlan Great UK Adventure

 London

Up with the sun again, we strolled over to Hyde Park, walked by the Serpentine and the rose garden.

It was so very quiet, especially for a Monday morning,

 but the city started to wake up - and we wished we still had peace and the place to ourselves.

We went by Royal Albert Hall (which was closed Monday - Wednesday. Poor planning on my part).

Over to Kensington Palace. Then hopped on the Tube for a quick trip down to Fulham, where Europe's Oldest Harley Dealership was located.

We bought some t-shirts then headed back north toward our next stop, the Churchill War Rooms, making our way via Horse Guard Road.

The War Rooms are the underground facility, in the heart of London, that Churchill and his cabinet worked out of during WWII. It was full of interesting stories of living below ground for so long. And full of lots of Winston Churchill memorabilia.

Several hours later, we were back above ground and wondering what to do with the rest of the afternoon.

Since we had the time, we hopped on the Tube and headed east to Stratford and the Cart and Horses Pub.

This is the home of Iron Maiden, one of Sean's favorite bands. The group frequently played in the pub's basement before they hit it big.

After paying homage to Iron Maiden we made our way back to our hotel. We relaxed after another full day and filled our stomachs with fish and chips and beer. It was hard to be happier than at that moment.