Dover, Part Two

I'd made it off the bus and down the hill toward the gatehouse of Dover Castle without incident. Still upright, which was ... unusual, actually.

I handed over my (almost transparent, it had been used so much by this point) debit card for the L9.50 admission fee.

"And will you be wanting to go on the tour of the WWII military tunnels while you're here?" the ticket man asked.

"How much?" I asked. I like to know the cost before I'm suckered into things.

"No charge," he said.

"Then yes I do," I breezed.

"Well, at least you're honest," he muttered under his breath. I pretended not to hear.

He showed me on a map where I needed to go (as if it really mattered. If I'd read a map correctly at this point, I think the Rapture would have happened). Anyway, the upshot is, I'd need to walk about seven hundred miles to the tour-starting place. And the next tour would begin in ten minutes.

So I booked it down to the tunnel, up hills and down hills, up stairs and down stairs, and huffed and puffed my way up to the tour-starting place with seconds to spare.

I had forgotten, in my zeal, that I am afraid of the dark. And tunnels, by definition, tend to be ... dark. Stupid.

These particular tunnels were--mostly--lit. I made sure to stay in the middle of the pack, though I didn't try to kill anybody with my Vulcan Death Grip of Fear, at least.

So we started with a short movie that told me a bunch of stuff I didn't know--Dover was important in the invasion of Normandy, for example--and then began the guided tour.

We began with a walk of about 100 meters. Uphill the whole way. Another HILL. They should mention that in the brochure, I think.

The tunnels are partly set up like they would have been during the war. As we passed from one section to another, I saw a dark figure pass through the end of (yet) another tunnel. "Great," I thought. "Another ghost." I just think you should know, for information's sake, that Dover Castle totally has haunted tours on the weekends, so it's not entirely impossible that I might have the Second Sight, okay? I will say that I felt very uneasy in the Operating Theatre. Like someone ... else ... was there with us. It was pretty icky.

We walked for miles, under the earth I might add, and I learned a whole mess of crap about tunnels.

When the tour ended, I ate lunch. It was very exciting.

Tomorrow, for reals, I'll get to the castle.