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Lincoln Cathedral dominates this town

I love a great English cathedral town, and we’ll be visiting several of them on this journey. I booked a stop here in Lincoln for two good reasons: 1) it’s reasonably on our trajectory up the East side of England toward Scotland; and 2) the town is dominated by a huge medieval cathedral. So here we landed for a couple nights.

What I didn’t realize when I put Lincoln on our map is that 1) it’s kind of a smallish town; and 2) it’s off the American tourist route.

It turns out there are places Americans go and places they don’t. Our previous stops have all seemed flooded with American tourists. In hotels and restaurants it seems like half the voices you hear have American accents. Not so here in Lincoln. Sitting at breakfast you hear all English accents of one sort or another. One woman here just used the word “bloody” twice in one sentence.

On our first evening, two college age lads were sitting at the table next to us, and they seemed to take some interest in us. Finally, they asked where we were from, admitting that they were just baffled as to where our very exotic sounding accents could be from. We enjoyed quite a bit of conversation. Just as we are Midwesterners who made our way to the big city of New York (which they are fascinated by), they are from the Midlands, contemplating a path to better places.

Turns out they are brothers from the very industrial town of Derby, famed for making cars, including Rolls Royces. Fergus, 26, has managed to move up a bit, landing in Lincoln, where he is doing a PhD in neurosciences. Malachy, 20, is still back in Derby — and dreams of going to New York some day.

Fun dinner conversation with Malachy and Fergus

A view from the lower town toward the upper town and cathedral — before the road gets steeper and steeper

An elegant gateway just before the roads starts to really climb

The actual road name gets right to the point

Tantalizing views of what’s at the top of this monster hill

The features that really stand out in this surprisingly small-feeling town: 1) the 12th century cathedral that just dominates the place, hulking over the town from every angle; 2) the huge 11th century Lincoln Castle, built under orders from William the Conqueror; and 3) the incredibly steep road that gets you from the train station up to the town.

Now we’re set to climb back down that crazy steep road to catch the train to our next stop, which is York. I was in York with my parents 33 years ago and loved it. York, too, has a huge cathedral. But, as Fergus and Malachy insisted, we’re going to really love it because it’s a real town!

Did I mention that the cathedral dominates the town? That would include the view from our room!

An interior shot of Lincoln Cathedral

The cathedral is so huge that the services take place inside this large but comparatively intimate choir area

Inside the roof of the cathedral

Details from the roof

Lincoln Castle from the cathedral roof

One feature of Lincoln Castle is a Victorian era prison. Prisoners had private cells because the jailers believed that they were more likely to reform if they were kept from each other’s wicked influence. They would also bring the prisoners to services in this chapel, with little stalls built so they could see the preacher — but not each other.

The prison had a special exhibit about record album covers. You could sit in various prison cells and look at old album covers while they played the music for you. Very weird.

On a somewhat more sophisticated level, the prison also displayed one of the four existing original copies of Magna Carta from 1215

These people have the right attitude

Glorious views of architecture representing several centuries from lunch at a great tapas place

The dining choices here were limited enough that we went right back to the same tapas place for dinner

It was a good idea to change the name of this club

The imposing gothic towers of Canterbury Cathedral rise above the lovely town

Stunning stained glass windows

Somewhat more contemporary windows

Our first stop outside the capital was a two-night stay in Canterbury, an easy one-hour train ride from London’s St. Pancras station. This ambitious stay also included a day trip to Dover to hike along its famous White Cliffs.

Canterbury is a lovely town that is packed with English history. Its soaring cathedral is the spiritual center of the Anglican Church. Its walls have witnessed 1,400 years of tumult, including the infamous murder of Archbishop Thomas Becket in 1170. Becket’s grave then drew centuries of pilgrims until Henry VIII’s war on Catholicism led to its destruction.

This is also the setting for Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, perhaps the first masterpiece of modern English literature. Characters and themes from these stories appear in shop and restaurant names everywhere in this picturesque town.

As the most popular tourist spot in Southeastern England, Canterbury is bustling with energy, yet you are always just steps from calming riverside parks. The Great Stour is a river that breaks into a couple little branches in town on its way to the North Sea. They feel more like creeks, lined with pretty parks and colorful gardens.

The glorious nave of today’s cathedral hails from the 14th century

Jim tours the choir

Henry IV is the only monarch buried in Canterbury Cathedral, along with Queen Joan. He tried hard to associate himself with the holiness of Thomas Becket to legitimize himself after usurping the throne from Richard II.

Also resting here is Edward the Black Prince. A model of chivalry, he was supposed to succeed his father Edward III, but his untimely death left the throne instead to his unworthy and tyrannical 10-year old son Richard II.

The River Stour just below the medieval gateway to the city

Exploring the beautiful riverside parks

A heavenly dinner at a tapas place

Another quick hop on the train took us 30 minutes to Dover, the gateway to the European mainland, just 20 miles across the English Channel from Calais, France. As such, the place is loaded up with fortifications, going back to Roman times. Towering over the town and the huge port is the massive medieval Dover Castle, considered by some to be England’s largest castle.

After spending part of the morning touring the castle we grabbed a quick lunch and set off to explore the White Cliffs that stretch for miles from the bustling harbor. The weather bounced around from warm and lovely to cold and rainy, adding its own drama to the singular beauty of the place.

We packed an awful lot into this two-night stop. From here we’ll head pretty much straight north through Eastern England, making stops in Cambridge, Lincoln, and York, before heading into Scotland. Let’s hope our stay in Cambridge is a tad more relaxing than this one!

Exploring Dover Castle, high above the town

Looking out from the castle, across the English Channel to France

No matter how gloomy the weather would get, you could always spot Jim pretty easily

The Anglo-Saxon church of St. Mary in Castro built around 1000 AD. To its right is a Roman lighthouse, dating to 130 AD, considered the oldest standing building in England. At some point it was converted into a bell tower for the church.

An elaborate old lock on the church door

Hiking from the harbor onto the White Cliffs

Views of the gorgeous cliffs

The spectacular landscape

The landscape atop the cliffs

Me taking a break atop the cliffs

The weather didn’t always entirely cooperate

Exhausted from a long day of travel, touring, and hiking, we had 45 minutes to kill before our train back to Canterbury. We were looking for a place to get some water, but then spied this table at a wine bar just as the sun was coming back out. So we sat down for our water — and a nice refreshing rosé.

Back in Canterbury, a fun (if misleading) sign

The spectacular coastline just a short walk out of Lagos

After the wedding we did a 3-1/2 hour drive down to the Algarve, the region of Portugal that runs along the Southern Atlantic coast. The Algarve is Portugal’s beach playground, with a series of resort towns, of all different characters, dotting the whole coast.

We chose the town of Lagos, close to the western edge of the Algarve. Lagos (the “s” at the end is pronounced like “sh.”) is known as something of a bustling British summer vacation enclave. Because we are here pre-season, we will not enjoy a proper beach experience, but then we will miss out on the partying Brit crowds as well. A reasonable trade-off.

The highlight of the area is a coastline just outside the town that is lined with gorgeous coves and rock formations. A wonderful hiking route leads you to viewpoint after stunning viewpoint. And it was nice to enjoy these trails without the crowds that must be coming as the weather warms up. Jim went a step further, spending a fair amount of time on one of the beaches and enjoying a swim way too frigid for my taste.

This was a nice, low-key stop for a few days, especially after the fun chaos of the wedding. The weather was intermittent, but offered a good dose of sunshine for exploring this stunning coastline.

We love flaming chorizo!

After that wonderful lunch of tapas and flaming chorizo, a rainstorm suddenly came out of nowhere. You can’t tell from this picture that it’s pouring rain behind me, forcing us to stay and have a glass of wine to wait it out.

More Algarve coastline

Our hotel, just inside the old city walls, offered a lovely pool and huge internal gardens, where they grow lots of fresh ingredients for the restaurant

A church in a pretty town square

Jim does a selfie on the hiking trail

In Indian restaurants they think it’s weird when we don’t order rice or bread. But the pretty colors make up for what’s missing in texture.

Elegant homefronts in this low-rise town

Loving the gorgeous hiking

One night at dinner we overheard people at another table talking about “the wedding.” Later someone mentioned “Accenture,” the company where Hajir works. So we had to ask, and indeed we enjoyed meeting Neha and Payton, whom we hadn’t manage to meet at the wedding itself.

Jim takes a “refreshing” swim

One more look at this coastline