Leeds Castle, Canterbury Cathedral, Dover (Round 1) (photos & videos)

The day after the Royal Wedding, Brittany and I went on a bus tour through southeastern England. We first stopped at Leeds Castle. I hadn't really done my research on English geography because I was assuming Leeds Castle was in the city of Leeds. Leeds, though, is actually up north, about halfway up to the heart of Scotland. The origin of the name Leeds Castle is still debated by historians. Anyway, it was lived in until just a few decades ago, so it's still in pretty good shape. The interior was fancy and all, but the most impressive thing about it was actually the setting. The moat/lake really made the castle "pop." The gardens were nice, plus they had an aviary and a hedge maze.

A peacock welcomed us to the castle.

The gate house

The front face of the castle

A small Tudor section of the castle

This fireplace dates back to the time of Henry VIII.

A very stately dining room

The side of the Castle

Still a little tired from the Royal Wedding

Dog Collar Museum... pretty random, right?

Nice view of the castle on the moat/lake

We then proceeded to Canterbury Cathedral, which has a history of over 1,400 years! It was basically where Christianity got its early footings in the British Isles. The church is surprisingly gargantuan for how old it is (almost a millennium). For hundreds of years, English Christians would make pilgrimages here to the site where Thomas Becket was martyred. Today the Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop/head of the Church of England, though he actually lives and works in London. (The Queen is technically the "official" head of the church.) The current Archbishop officiated at the Royal Wedding of William & Kate.

Elaborate, imposing architecture... especially considering its age

Does this remind you of those awkward moments in
testimony meeting when no one wants to speak?

The choir

Unfortunately, we didn't spot any celebrities on the red carpet.

We found this couple that looked exactly like us, so we decided to take their picture.

Our final stop on the tour was a disappointing one. What we were most looking forward to on the tour was seeing the White Cliffs of Dover. Unfortunately, our tour didn't take us close to the cliffs, we could barely see Dover Castle, and we really only stopped for about 10 minutes. We were quite disappointed. Thankfully, we were able to come back later with Jason & Krista to have the experience we wanted.

This is as close as we got to Dover Castle.

The White Cliffs of Dover in the distance