We both got up and had hot showers (the hostel had really nice bathrooms) and made breakfast in the hostel for 3 pounds each. Mark and I had to change Hungarian Forints to Pounds so we stopped at multiple exchanges before finally finding an exchange that would make the switch.
We walked quickly to the station because we needed to take the tube to the national rail line in order to exit the city. We had to rush getting our tickets and ran down the platform to hop on the line with one minute to spare. The tube was delayed at one of the stops though so we were running from it to the international rail line. We were running, running, running to get the tickets at the machine and then had to run again to make it onto the train before the doors shut. Woof. What a ridiculous two days. Once we were on this really nice train however we got to relax and enjoy the countryside whizzing by us for over an hour.
After exiting we had about a half hour walk (uphill) to Dover Castle. Woof.
The castle grounds were vast and green and like nothing I'd ever seen before. I was in awe.
After walking the grounds (and me stopping A LOT just to "take it all in") we headed underground to take a tour of the tunnels. There are over 4 miles of them. The tunnels were carved out during the napoleonic period but were used extensively during WW2s Dynamo Operation. The tour was absolutely fascinating.
We exited the underground just in time to see an amazing sunset over the channel.
We wandered down a set of stairs into the cute town of Dover below.
We found a free museum that had exhibits from the stone age and WW2, but what I found most interesting was the special exhibit dedicated to WW1. The exhibit was centered around the importance of remembering those who gave their lives during the war, especially during the Battle of Zeebrugee.
We then went to White Horse, an english pub rich in character. It's an incredibly old building that has served many purposes.
Mark and I each had half a pint of english cask beer (this beer isn't cold, it's kept at room temperature)
The bartender was super friendly and explained that the graffiti covering the walls and ceilings of the bar belonged to patrons who had swum the English Channel. Fun fact: The water of the channel doesn't exceed 60 degrees Fahrenheit in temperature. Add that to the fact that most of the recorded times of the swims were between 13 and 15 hours. I'll just stick to consuming the cask beer and opt out of the swimming side of the pub thank you very much.
The bartender encouraged us to try gin drinks next because the White Horse had over 40 different types of gin, in addition to multiple flavored tonics.
I was hesitant because I am not a gin drinker but I figured if I'm going to enjoy gin somewhere it's probably going to be at a bar known for it's gin, right? Mark and I were incredibly glad that we made the switch from cask beer to gin. The drinks we had were fabulously made with unique mixers.
For dinner we had fish and chips and meat casserole (although delicious, it definitely didn't fit the American version of a 'casserole')
The best part of our pub experience though had to be when the owner came round and opened up a trap door in the floor to get downstairs to the liquor room.
Mark and I were definitely spoiled by our first time pub experience. We headed back to the train station and comfortably made the 7:55pm train (no running necessary!) In fact, it was smooth sailing all the way home. Once back in London we headed to Snowflake, a shop that promises a "luxury gelato experience". I ordered hot chocolate over salted caramel gelato which was ok while Mark had a chocolate lava cake which was quite good. (We both vote that Cioccolatitaliani in Tirana is better though!)
We got back to the hostel around 10:45 and were absolutely exhausted but excited at the prospect of spending another day in London tomorrow!
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