Been Dover

After a long night with friends and only five hours of sleep, I awoke to the sound of my alarm at 9 am on a Sunday. By 9:30 I was ready.

Bag, check. Windbreaker, check. Jumper(sweater), check. Comfy shoes, check. Phone, check.

The sun was shinning bright and it was obviously going to be a nice day. Lazy clouds speckled the horizon and glided over the top of Canterbury proper.

Gabby, Quentin, and myself ventured forward following those clouds towards the bus that would take us all the way to Dover. Of course, we started walking at around 9:55 and the bus was leaving at 10:15.

We walked fast.

5 minutes to go and we're 6 minutes away. We run.
 (I wasn't nervous, however,I wanted to be sure to make it.)
Gasping and weezing we catch the bus. We climb on board and ask for our tickets. The bus driver points behind us. We clamber on to the correct bus and wait another 15 minutes because our bus wasn't leaving as early as we thought.

Perfect!

"Today is too perfect. Nothing could go wrong."- Me

Off to Dover castle.

We walk up the steps and see a sign. "Bird's of Prey Showcase Saturday and Sunday, the 6th and 7th of October"

"That's today!"

 
We buy tickets.

"Lets skip it, the show is right now" We walk up the hill towards the castle. Cresting the hill we spot the birds of prey show, not yet started with people gathered around.

"Perfect timing!"

Falcons flew, owls ogled, and toy rabbits were destroyed for our amusement. There was much rejoicing.

We walked the grounds and peeped the peeping areas and the coast.

"Lets go get some food. We'll walk through town and grab some stuff for a picnic on the beach"








Walking down winding footpaths and less-than-crowded streets, we came to city center.

From there we walked towards the coast, stopping at convenience shop after shop looking for a baguette and some lunch meat. All the shops and cafes were closed but we continued on towards the coast.


We're here. The fresh, light breeze hits our nostrils and the restaurant at the end of the wharf met our eyes. We walked in, ordered food, sat out on the deck and enjoyed a light lunch on the deck with perfect weather.

We walked from there down the docks and onto the beach.

Feet in the water.

Gabby is up top, I've got the hobbit feet.

I've been in the English Channel! I've also, unsuccessfully, skipped rocks in the English Channel.

Walked back to city center.
"Still plenty of time before the bus. Lets explore the city!"

We walk into a bar known as the Falcon. Pool 50p per game.

"What have you got on tapped casks?"- Me
    "We're out at the moment." - Bar Wench
"Oh, I'll have a 1664 then."- me
    "We're out."- wench
"What DO you have?" -Gabby
   "We have Fosters! (excitedly)" -wench
"... two of those then." - Kevin

12 taps, fosters is what they have...

We play some pool. I lose but technically win.

We miss our bus...

We wait at a bus stop.
Express bus comes up.
"We need to get to Canterbury but we missed the last bus... could we hop on?"- Gabby
   "Just a straight trip to Canterbury then?"- Bus Driver
"Yes." - Quentin, Gabby, Me
*He waves us on

We ride, tired and well traveled, for the 20 minute trip back to Canterbury, slipping into and out of conciousness.

"Don't miss your coach!" - Bus Driver

We walk away, bus driver didn't charge us a thing.


"Today is too perfect. Nothing could go wrong."

As a parting message that is more vomit-inducing than that of my above stated sunny outlook on life:

I am not a perfect human being. I am a perfectly human being.
-Kevin Bohleber