On a Sunday
Barclay took us to Dover, Gavin and some of Barclay's family
went sailing. I, the ever searching tourist, went to Dover Castle.
I was intending to do Dover, but the castle proved more than
a days entertainment.
Firstly
I went on the tour around the wartime tunnels in the White Cliffs.
Very smelly and realistic, with bombs landing all around and
lights swaying and going off, gave me a real sense of WWII.
They masterminded the rescue from Dunkirk here, and it was also
an underground hospital. As the cliffs are chalk, water always
seeped through making it very difficult for wounds to heal.
It was extremely well done.
Then up to the Keep. This is still one of England's strongest
structures despite being built ages go. It was quite simple
inside, used by earlier kings such as Henry the third, and Henry
eighth. From the roof you had a great view over to France. What
I really liked about the Castle was that you had free run of
the place, no guided tours which take you along at their pace,
no arrows pointing the way you must go, it was great. I took
in the 1216 experience, which involved King Louis of France
trying to take over the castle. Then my final exploration involved
walking through some of the secret tunnels built after the 1216
thing so that enemies could be surprised by attacks from the
ground. I have managed to get over a lot of my claustrophobia,
but this was my biggest test in a while. I wasn't that keen
on it, as it was quite dark and there were no other people about.
Then the worst part was when I got to the end, there was no
exit, and the only way out was the way I'd come in. Despite
being a bit short of breath by the time I got out, I survived.
I strolled back around the other side of the Castle back to
the road, and into town. By now most other attractions were
shut and the weather had packed it in, as had the yacht a bit
earlier so Gavin and Barclay came to pick me up and we were
back off to London. I'd always enjoyed History class at school,
but nothing beats the real experiences. You learn so much without
meaning to. I really loved it.
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