I’m having trouble deciding if I want to have my Grand Tour be my day-to-day life, exploring my surroundings, or whether I want it to be a Virtual Tour of places I’ve not yet visited in the world. This makes creating an itinerary tough. I could decide to do both, but I’m already doing the Lemurian Tour and the Grand Tour, so I don’t think I want to split myself even further by doing the SoCal Grand Tour and the World Tour Online.
Decision made: I’m going to do a World Tour Online. Now, do I want to visit Europe? I think so! In the spirit of the Grand Tour, I’m going to allow myself to be led along old paths in order to learn new lessons. Excellent! Annika approves. In fact, I believe she has already flown over the Atlantic, while I still sit here congratulating myself on making a decision.
A bit of irony. I love to TiVo “Rick Steves Europe” and travel via television and friendly guide to places I may or may not ever visit myself. Today I watched a segment on southern England, including, you guessed it…Dover! The traditional jumping off place for a Grand Tour!
I found a script from the show on his website, a portion of which I include here:
“Like many travelers, our first look at England is Dover. Even with the opening of the English Channel tunnel, the port of Dover seems busy as ever.
The crossing between Dover and France is a shipping thoroughfare. Ferries, hydrofoils and hovercraft shuttle constantly back and forth. France is just 23 miles away. There it is, within sight on a sunny day.
Southern England sits upon a foundation of chalk. Miles of cliffs tower boldly above the beaches. The most famous are the White Cliffs of Dover.
And Dover — with its bold cliffs and formidable castle — symbolizes the defense of Britain. For centuries, the constable — or chief sheriff — of Dover town has been a symbolically important position.
With the Duke of Wellington, Winston Churchill, and even the Queen Mother all being honorary holders of this office, the message was clear… no unwelcome guests will be allowed on these shores.
Dover Castle. For nearly 900 years, English troops were garrisoned inside its medieval walls — on guard and protecting the coast from any European menace.
But there have been invasions. This Roman lighthouse is a reminder that Julius Caesar landed nearby as the Romans established their colony of Britannia.
The Roman fleet was based in Dover harbor. To guide the boats they burned wet wood by day — for maximum smoke, and dry wood by night — for maximum light.
Long considered the “the key to England” by potential invaders, Dover Castle provides a quick review of England’s military history. An earthen mound, part of an Iron Age fortress, was here when the Romans came. After the Romans, the Saxons invaded and left this church. England’s next uninvited guests were the Normans.
In the 12th century, King Henry II had this keep built making Dover castle the most secure fortress in all England.
Much later — around 1800, with the threat of Napoleon — the fortifications were beefed up again. Tunnels were dug into the chalk to house 2,000 soldiers.
And in WWII, more bombproof tunnels were dug. Visitors touring the maze of tunnels get to see and hear about the vital role they played during the war. There’s an elaborate communications center, an underground hospital and a command center. Attacking Nazi aircraft were charted on screens and Battle of Britain defenses were plotted. From these tunnels, allied commanders looked out over a battle zone nicknamed Hellfire Corner.” (from Rick Steves Europe Episode 103)
I have an open-ended cyber ticket, so I will not assign dates to my itinerary, but I plan to visit the following cities in order, with possible unforeseen side trips thrown in:
Dover, Calais, Paris, Geneva, Florence, Venice, Rome, Naples, Innsbruck, Berlin, Dresden, Vienna, Potsdam, Munich, Holland and Flanders.
For now I will ponder the significance of leaving the most secure fortress on the British Isles for the open waters and uncertain future on the Continent.
