The Power Sightseer's Guide to England day two

I have been accused of being a princess or at least acting like one. Maybe that factored into my decision to make my first excursion out of London to a castle, Leeds Castle to be specific.

It is such a beautiful spot and the history of the castle just enthralled me. I chose Evan Evans tours for my trip. Their tours leave from the Victoria bus station which is within walking distance from bed-and-breakfast. They also offer highly qualified and very interesting tour guides. One interesting tidbit I learned is that there is a difference between a castle and a palace. I had no idea. A castle was built for defense and would have fortification. A palace is just a fancy house. Who knew?? Anyway, Leeds was built in 1119 and was eventually used by King Henry VIII in the early 1500s. Henry’s son King Edward VI gave the castle to one of Henry’s courtiers and it has been privately owned ever since. The interior of the castle is as spectacular as the grounds. My favorite room was the queen’s bath, the ultimate in luxury for the time.

 There were peacocks from the aviary roaming the grounds. This beautiful fellow was more than happy to pose for photos but he wouldn’t open his tail for me.

From Leeds we were off to Canterbury. It was a lovely little town and of course the cathedral was amazing. The history of the cathedral began in 597 when the Pope sent the first Archbishop of Canterbury to establish a church. I really enjoyed seeing all the crypts and reading the stories about their occupants. It was very humbling to think that these individuals had passed away so long ago and I was still reading about their life. I wonder if they thought we would still be talking about them all this time later.

Our final stop of the day was in Dover. I am something of a World War II buff so I was very interested in seeing the White Cliffs of Dover. The cliffs are strikingly white and face France across the English Channel. Pilots returning from battle saw the cliffs as a sign that they were home.

The entire day was wonderful and just made me even more excited for the next day and what I would be able to see then.

The Power Sightseer's Guide to England day one

You can, in fact, see a lot of England in just a few days.  With a little planning and a lot of Power Sightseeing energy you can turn 4 days into a ton of memories.  Pre-planning was a big help.  I bought the London Pass http://www.londonpass.com/ before I left.  The pass allowed me to skip standing in lines to buy tickets at a lot of sites and also cut the line to get into others.  I also booked my bed-and-breakfast at Cartref House  http://www.cartrefhouse.co.uk/  This place was perfect.  It is walking distance from Victoria train, tube and coach station so travel is a breeze.  The bed and breakfast is family run, super clean and the breakfast was great.  They were more than willing to accommodate my vegetarian diet.

One of the tricks for me was timing the travel.  I left Dallas on Thursday evening, ate my dinner on the plane and took an Advil PM.  That allowed me to sleep pretty well until we arrive bright and early on Friday morning.  Well it was bright and early in London, still dark and way too early in Dallas.

The first thing I like to do in any large city is take one of the city wide bus tours.  You can catch several right from Victoria station.  You get on/off privileges for the entire day.  I generally ride all the way around once which doesn't take very long.  They I go back and stop at the places where I would like to spend more time.  Be sure you take a bus with a live guide as opposed to a recorded tour narrative.  The live guide will give you much more information than a recording ever could.  I was able to take the entire tour and get back to Buckingham for the Changing of the Guard.

While there be sure you check out the gates, statues and gardens in the area.  They are truly amazing and not to be missed.

My next stop on day one was the Tower of London.  

This place is so full of history and things to see plan on a few hours.  I recommend the Yoeman Warder tour.  The Yoeman Warders have been guarding the tower for over 500 years.   There was so much to see I can't begin to list them all.  But, I loved the fact that you can still see carving in the walls from prisoners.  It really makes you wonder who was in prison here and for how long.  

I guess someone loved Edward, Edna, E???  Don't miss the jewel room.  It holds so many amazing things, but they won't let you take photos. I am sure it is a security risk.  One thing I found fascinating was the fact that the the Yoeman Warders still live in the ancient housing on the grounds.  It was interesting to see their laundry hung to dry on the balconies and think of how many centuries of laundry had been hung in the same place.  

That wrapped up my first day.  I returned to my great B & B to plan out my attack plan for the next day.