Time with American friends in Dover
The trouble with having friends all around the world is that I don’t see some of them for many years at a time. This is the case with our American friends Michael & Laura Grace who live between Washington DC and Baltimore. So, when we heard that they would be doing a trans-Atlantic cruise that would be docking in Dover for a morning, we were quick to plan on seeing them.
Vee and I went down the evening before and stayed in a hotel close to the docks so that, as soon as Mike & Laura called at 8.30 am, we could pick them up. After a lively chat, we did a bit of tourism by visiting Dover Castle which was built by Henry II in the 12th century.
Vee, Mike, Roger & Laura at Dover Castle
While there, we took the opportunity to go on a short tour of the Secret Wartime Tunnels which were brought into operation in 1942.
Mike & Laura overlooking the white cliffs of Dover
Our time together was over all too quickly and we had to drop Mike & Laura back at their cruise ship the “Celebrity Constellation” by 2 pm. They have invited us over to the States and provisionally we’ve planned to go over in May 2012.
Before heading home for London, we took the chance to visit the Battle of Britain Memorial at nearby Capel-le-Ferne. This has a wall listing all the 3,000 Royal Air Force pilots who fought in the Battle which includes Vee’s father the Czech Karel Kuttelwascher.
Battle of Britain Memorial
The name of Vee’s father