Thursday , 1 June 2023

Waiting at Heathrow Airport, London

It’s 9:30am and I was supposed to be on my way to Paris 30 minutes ago on Air France—known to frequent travelers as “Air Chance.” But the flight has already been delayed two hours til 11am, and who knows what further announcements might be made—oops! they just announced 11:15; I hope I make my dinner reservation. Of course I awoke at 5am to make sure I would be ready for my hired car at 6am.

At least I am in the Business Class Lounge with free food and drink and far away from the general hubbub. So rather than sitting here bored, I shall bore—I mean blog—my readers with more scintillating repartee. So instead of moving forward I shall move back to Dover, my final day on the Zuiderdam.

Saturday, 27 May 2023

Dover, England 

 

Another bright sunny day as the Zuiderdam approaches the white cliffs of Dover head-on. Jim McParland’s on-board lecture introduced me to some new facts regarding this iconic view of the English coastline. The cliffs at Dover are not the only impressive white limestone structures along this coast. Not too far west are the white cliffs of Devon. In fact, photos from Devon often appear in ads and articles labeled, “The White Cliffs of Dover.” There are cliffs on the French side as well, known as the Alabaster Coast. The two photos below are the "real" White Cliffs of Dover."

It is another day I have not scheduled a shore excursion because I plan to get around this very small town by public transit and walking. So I get a good sleep-in and a quiet breakfast in the Dining Room. But my well-laid plans are immediately un-laid as soon as I get on shore. There is a shuttle bus available for the drive into the city center. But there has been some kind of snafu with the Chunnel; all traffic—masses and masses of massive trucks as well as cars and buses—have been diverted through the main road in Dover. All traffic is at a literal standstill and I am told that no one knows how long the shuttle will be delayed. Taxis are no good either as they face the same delays. So off I trek the 45-minute walk into town. 

After a short walk through town my plan is to take a public bus up to Dover Castle which overlooks the town and the English Channel, and then to take a short walk on the trail above the cliffs. But because of the traffic snarls neither buses or taxis are heading up to the Castle. And, of course, there are no taxis back to the port. So this makes two days in a row that I will break a number of steps records!

There isn’t much to see in the town itself, so I gird myself for the long walk back. At least I am back in time for lunch and a nice restful afternoon.

I promise a little more interesting stuff from Rotterdam in the next blog—and hopefully I will make it to Paris sometime today. So just as in the previous blog, I leave my readers with some local advice: