October 2017
Sometimes I like following my whims and all of a sudden make an article on a trip from a past, which is very far from our current life and our current selves. 5 years ago. In October 2017, we had been Londoners for a whole month and were eagerly discovering the unexplored South (what a change after 2 years in Teesside! We also had a friend visiting, who you might have seen in our posts about Malta and Rome, and our task was to show her some bits of provincial postcard England after a long and intense week in London. That’s how on a gloomy October day three of us found ourselves on our way to the coast.
Deal
Our first stop was a small town called Deal. I will spare you from any lousy puns around this name. It got included in our itinerary because some time ago we had stumbled on a picture of the Deal Castle, whose architecture had a very particular shape – it looks as if it were built in several circles layered on upon another. As we are proud members of English Heritage, the entrance fee for us was free of charge, which menas that missing this little pearl would be a crime! Unfortunately, from below it doesn’t look as good as from above, just another reason to be jealous of seagulls.
Initiation to the Fish & Chips is a compulsory ritual for any person setting foot in the UK. Our personal experience proved that it tasted best in a take away box on a bench in front of the sea and that was exactly how it went. I keep thanking the Universe for having developed liking for this gastronomic specialty only during our last month in Saltburn, otherwise we would definitely have had a different clothes size upon settling in London.
Sandwich
We wouldn’t dream of missing a town called Sandwich learning along the way the story about the sandwich-sandwich 🥪 (google it, it’s quite fun!). Yet again, we were stricken by the hard contrast between visiting an English village and living in one. Anyway, I was happy and weirdly proud to show my friend those iconic streets with tiny bookshops, a tearoom, a red telephone cabin and a true British pub serving an endless selection of beer, ale and cider. Even if we had seen hundreds of them in various corners of the country, showing them is a totally different experience (which I loved!).
Dover
The third and the final stop was Dover. Since we were kids, the legend (a true story? a myth?) about Romans who were smitten by the white cliffs of British coast was repeatedly told and retold to the young innocent students of the English language – us. Seeing them is just as important part of the trip to England as visiting Buckingham Palace and the Tower of London. For Xavier and me these were our “second” white cliffs after Seven Sisters, the weather, season and the light were completely different though, as well as the effect they produced. A gorgeous moment of reconnecting to the strict nature of England.
I can’t really say why it took me so long to post this article. I loved this little escapade, loved everything we saw that day and it took a special place in my heart along with other very first impressions of our new London life. Five years have passed, the world will never be the same it was then. Fortunately, we have our memories to take refuge in whenever needed.
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