White Cliffs of Dover – Dover, England
We left Birmingham at 9:15 a.m. on Thursday and arrived in Dover (via London) at 4:30 p.m. the same day. It’s a 7-hour bus trip (including a 1-hour layover at London’s Victoria Station) but took almost an hour longer because the A2 beyond Canterbury ended up being closed (we routed through the small town of Sandwich to get to Dover). As in the USA the bus system is pretty low on the food chain when it comes to intercity travel: Airlines, Rail and private auto are all preferred methods of transit before buses (called coaches in the UK). But it’s also the least expensive: Birmingham to Dover was £18.70 + £1 GBP (booking fee) pp.
Hostel Alma – Dover, England
We’ve used National Express for the most part and they seem to get us where we need to go. Since we don’t rent automobiles anymore (we’ve been on the road so long our California driver’s licenses have both expired) we stick to public transportation. Plus, our reflexes aren’t what they used to be and they drive on the wrong side of the road over here (but don’t tell them that). We would cause a major accident in short order. Petrol is another reason—it’s really expensive in the UK at: £1.28 GBP per litre or $5.82 USD per gallon (diesel runs slightly more at about £1.32 GBP per litre). Buses (coaches) are the way to go.
The Beano Cafe
Rail is probably a more comfortable way to travel but not necessarily any more convenient (more train changes to get to your destination) and it certainly costs more. For instance, the trip from Birmingham to Dover by rail is less than half the time (3hrs-11min by train versus 7 hrs by coach) but costs 4 to 5+ times as much (with two scheduled train changes): Standard fare £85.20 GBP pp and First Class fare £108 GBP pp. We will put up with more discomfort to save that kind of money. And Airlines just speak for themselves—unless you’re travelling long distances the costs are outrageous and they just suck. We’ll stick to buses (coaches).
World War II Casemates – Dover, England
Anyway, we pulled into Dover at 4:30 p.m. and grabbed a taxi to our hostel (Hostel Alma). It’s very basic but clean and serviceable (private twin room, private bath, free in-room internet and free Continental Breakfast). In an earlier post I said we were paying £27 GBP pp per night but it’s actually more like £23 GBP (or $30 USD pp per night). Still expensive by our travel budget standards but much less than what we’ve paid elsewhere in the UK—included is the free breakfast (a plus that saves us £5 to £7 GBP pp). We grabbed a quick dinner close to our hostel and settled in for the night.
White Cliffs of Dover – Dover, England
We were knackered (British-ism for exhausted) after a long travel day. We went on walkabout yesterday for a couple of hours to explore our new surroundings. Town Centre Dover is quaint and quirky with the emphasis on quirky. The weather is magnificent with the high today (Saturday) reaching 17°C/63°F with a slight 11 mph wind and bright and sunny blue skies. It’s hard to believe that Calais, France is just a short hop, skip & jump (or swim) across the channel from us. There’s a lot of WWII history here: Calais, Normandy and Dunkirk so close and visions of allied bombers & fighters flying over the White Cliffs of Dover.
The Chalk of the Town – Dover, England
America’s Eighth Air Force, who flew daylight precision bombing missions deep into Germany during WWII (resulting in extraordinary losses to both people and planes) flew from England. You can almost imagine the B-17 Flying Fortresses with their heavy payloads and P-51 Mustang fighter escorts filling the skies on their way to Germany to defeat the Nazis—perilous days indeed. It makes me ashamed to think of what our political systems and cultures have become since then—I don’t think that’s what our fathers and grandfathers were fighting for back then. The current crop of politicos in both countries make me sick.
The Chalk of the Town – Dover, England
Well, back to more positive thoughts. We found a great little cafe for dinner last night—Beano. I know what you’re thinking, with a name like Beano what could possibly go wrong. The Beano Cafe is a great bargain—excellent food at extremely reasonable prices. I’ve never met a value yet I haven’t appreciated. I had a HUGE traditional Roast Beef dinner (beef, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, potatoes, Yorkshire Pudding) for £5.50 GBP and Joel had Fish & Chips for £6.00 GBP—adding two sodas the total came to £13.50 GBP (very reasonable by UK standards).
Dover Castle – Dover, England
Well, there’s certainly more to share about Dover but I’ve tried to get this finished and posted for a week. Our hostel is affordable and convenient but the internet connectivity has been problematic. So without further adieu I will bring this to a close and post it before I’m knocked offline yet once again. We will be leaving Dover, England sometime on Thursday and crossing the Channel by ferry to Calais, France (about a 1½-hour trip). We’ve booked a two-week stay in Calais before we travel farther north towards Belgium and beyond. Hard to believe we’ve been in the UK for seven months. Wow.
Stephen F. Dennstedt
Expat Journal: Postcards from the Edge 
How wonderful to see the Hostel Alma again … I’ve walked right past it, and up those steps to watch the sunset! I hope you found it as comfortable and cozy on the inside at the exterior suggested. If your schedule and budget allow, I highly recommend a visit to the castle — especially the Roman pharos and tunnels that were dug into the cliffs during the war. You’re right that it’s sobering to consider what has become of the politics in both countries after millions of men (and women) sacrificed so much. But it’s also heartening to consider that even when we take the occasional step backward, humanity continues to make progress and march forward.
Sorry it took so long to reply … my computer has been up & down at the hostel (mostly down). It’s back up and I’ve got a few minutes before heading to the ferry to cross over to Calais, France later this morning. Yep, we hiked up to the Castle and spent a few hours there. I don’t know what you paid to get in but it now costs 22 GBP pp (as a non-residents and seniors we got in for 18 GBP pp). Hopefully, my computer will work fine in Calais (I think it’s a router problem here at the hostel).
22 GBP per person?! Wow, Stephen … that’s outrageous. Even 18 sounds a bit steep. I hope the tour was worth the expense. And sorry to hear about your computer woes! Glad to see you posting more regularly again and eager to see what you’re up to in Calais.