Dungeness and Rye

This week our Wednesday outing took us to Dungeness and Rye. A coach picked us up from our flats at 8:00 am. We got to sleep in the bus on the way there which was quite nice as it took a little over two hours to reach our first destination, Dungeness. Dungeness is a very unique little place. It is a nature reserve but also houses a power plant. Sort of a contradiction, but that's just the way it is. Dungeness was unlike anywhere we had been so far. It had a very small population. As you scanned the entire area you saw very few homes and the homes you saw were very small. They were actually designed to look like railroad cars. Surprisingly this area is a highly desired place to live. Even the smallest of homes can cost anywhere from 250,000 pounds upwards to 500,000. Living in Dungness is more about the location and the scenery than anything else. It was absolutely beautiful and is probably one of the most peaceful places on earth but definitely not a place I could spend my life.

When we got to Dungeness we were just told to get off the coach and explore. As Dungeness is on the coast, we had the opportunity to see the Channel. That was probably my favorite part. As we did our little walk we passed an "art museum". It was about the size of a bathroom and the smallest one in Britain. Next we walked down the boardwalk to the Channel. We had lots of fun on the stone beach and running from the waves as they came in. The waves were really unpredictable. We would try and take a picture and they wouldn't come up very close and then all of a sudden they would be crashing towards us and we would have to sprint away. One time Rebecca and I were trying to take a picture as the water rushed over our feet and we weren't paying much attention. As we were taking the picture one of the big waves hit us and we sort of got soaked. Luckily only one of my legs got wet and though it was semi uncomfortable until it dried it was well worth it. To conclude our time in Dungeness we walked along the Channel and collected some seashells to take as souvenirs. Some people found some really neat shells that I have never seen before.

Then it was time to head back to the coach so we boarded and began the short drive to Rye. Rye is another very small area but much more populated than Dungeness was. While we were in Rye we had survey questions we had to pose to the locals for our class discussion on Monday. At first I was a little bummed we had the assignment because I just wanted to enjoy exploring the town but it proved to be quite interesting talking to the locals and hearing their answers. Getting the answers to the survey did take up a lot of our time in Rye but we still got to do almost everything we wanted to. For lunch we stopped at a Fish and Chips shop because Lyndon said it was one of the best locations you could get fresh fish and chips. It was a great recommendation as the food was extremely good. After lunch we headed up the hill to St. Mary's church. In the church you can walk up to the bell tower and get to overlook Rye and the surrounding areas. It was a pretty incredible view and I loved the look of the country side. Getting away from the city for a while was a really nice break. I really enjoyed our time in Rye, but wished it could have been longer. We only got to spend two hours there and by the time we had lunch and asked our survey questions it was already time to go.

We had about a two and a half hour coach ride home. We were all extremely ready to get off the coach by the time it dropped us off at our flats. I really had enjoyed the day but was questioning weather it was really worth it. We were on the coach longer than we were able to actually spend in the places. That was a little disappointing but overall a great experience. I'm very glad I was able to visit those places since its not a common thing people would do while they are here in London!