White Cliffs of Dover

The view of the castle from the bus.
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Wednesdays we have field trips and get to go to different places. This week we took a trip out to Dover. Unfortunately through this program nothing was planned very well, and we only had about 2 hours there, tops, which is NOT enough time if you ever want to go see the city. We pulled up to the castle which was amazing! It was described to us as being "A real Man's castle. Very masculine." And it's true. It's nickname is the Key to England because it's the closest point to Europe and the defenses were impenetrable. So, the castle's defenses. What makes it so great? Well, It's a castle, for one, so you've got the high, thick stone walls, on top of which are cannons and artillery. Then put that next to the sea, making it easy to see if any enemy are coming, then raise the entire thing say, 300 feet and put it on top of some wicked awesome cliffs and you have got yourself one mean-looking piece of defense. Walking up to the castle you get a little winded, but you can go straight up to the roof (on most days, if it's not too icy) and you get the most spectacular view of the harbor and the sea 300 feet below spread out in front of you like a never-ending abyss. Talk about breath-taking!

The drawbridge.
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The castle itself is pretty much just like any other castle on the inside, with some attempt to put in "realistic historical pieces." "This is where the king slept." "this is where the King prayed." I find myself castled-out as far as being interested in seeing more. Which is really sad, to become so desensitized only a month in, but it seems like when you've seen one castle, you've seen 'em all. We only got to see the castle, but I would imagine you can go down the city where there's a beach and of course, the sea. The benefit of going down to the sea is that you actually get to see the white cliffs of Dover. When you're at the castle your on top of them, and we didn't actually get to see anything. So if you go, make sure to go down and look up at them because I'm sure they're just amazing!!

Wicked-awesome piece of defense.