Medieval – Maldo Travels

1066 Battle of Hastings

Jean Maldonado — Sun, 05 May 2019 21:35:00 +0000

Near the shores of Hastings, this historic battlefield can be visited on a short day trip from London. Only a one and a half-hour train ride from Charing Cross or about 1 hour 45 minutes by car. Entry to the site costs 13.60 GBP¹ or free with an English Heritage membership. There’s an audio guide included with the ticket to listen to the history as you walk throughout the site. There’s a visitor center a short walk from the entrance which you should start with. There’s lots of info here providing background on William the Conqueror of Normandy and the Anglo-Saxon King Harold of England.

Following the visitor center, you can head to the trail of the battleground. There are two options; a trail which goes on a circuit down to the battleground and then up to the Abbey, or the trail which goes straight across to the Abbey with a panoramic view of the battleground. There are several numbered information panels on the trail which you can input into the audio guides which narrate the events of the battle. It took us about 30 minutes to walk throughout the battlefield and up to the Abbey. We then walked around the Abbey learning about its history from the information panels there. We then visited the garden next to the Abbey before heading back to the entrance. At the entrance, you can head up the tower where there is a small museum with some artifacts. You can also climb to the top of the tower which has views of the town. We completed our visit in about an hour before heading for some lunch and back home.

Verona – The City of Romeo and Juliet

Jean Maldonado — Sun, 21 Apr 2019 23:03:00 +0000

We took the 9.45 AM train from Milano Centrale to Verona Porta Nuova which took about 1 hour 50 minutes reaching Verona at 11.35 AM. The journey is quite scenic with vast crop fields and the alps in the distance. The Verona train station is on the outskirts of the city and it’s about a 20-minute walk from the train station to the city center. Once at the main plaza Piazza Bra, the area is filled with people walking around. There are several restaurants/cafes with outdoor seating around the plaza and along the side roads. There is a castle – Castelvecchio – a short 10-minute walk away towards the river. The entrance is free to explore the open areas of the castle and tickets can be purchased for entry to the museum. There is a bridge connected to the castle that crosses the river and is great for pictures.

By the time we were done walking around the castle, it was coming up to 1 PM so we went for lunch around the Verona Arena. After lunch, we continued walking towards the historic city center which is on the peninsula of the river. We found that there are many more restaurant options here. As we walked deeper into the city center, we came across Juliet’s Balcony. There is a very long queue here so we just walked by and continued to Piazza delle Erbe. At this plaza, there were many stalls selling all kinds of products and souvenirs. The surrounding buildings are very historic and there are also several restaurants and cafes. In the center of the plaza, there is a pillar with a chain hoop that people take pics with.

Going further in, there is another plaza Piazza dei Signori and there are several museums in the area. One of the museums is of the catacombs of previous Verona rulers. It was now coming up to 5 PM and our train back to Milan was at 5.45 PM, so we started heading back. On the way back we stopped at the Verona Arena for some pictures. This Roman Amphitheater is huge and still being used for concerts and events. After a quick rest stop here we walked back to the station and got our train back to Milano Centrale, arriving at around 8 PM. Overall, Verona is a beautiful city for a day trip with old architecture and Roman ruins.

Walmer and Deal – Coastline Castles

Jean Maldonado — Sun, 27 Jan 2019 21:23:00 +0000

It is possible to take a train to these castles but the train times aren’t that frequent, so we rented a car for these visits. From London, it’s about a 2-hour drive here and only 15 minutes from Dover. We first drove to Walmer Castle and there is parking available at the site. Tickets cost 12.60 GBP¹ or free with an English Heritage membership. An audio guide is included with the ticket which gives you access to the castle and the gardens. There are several information panels with numbers that you input into the audio guide. This castle was part of a chain of artillery castles that King Henry VIII had built to fortify the coastline. He feared attacks from a new alliance between France, Spain, and the Pope after he broke away from the Catholic Church to create the Protestant church. Since then, the castle has been converted into a stately-home. You can see how the furnished rooms have been transformed to create a more comfortable residence. Several Lord Wardens have added improvements over time and it was once used by Duke Wellington. There’s a room with some of his history and also the room he died in has been kept the way it was on the day. You can also step outside to explore the gardens. We went in winter so the garden wasn’t as pretty as it must be in summer. It took us about two hours to complete our tour of Walmer Castle and we were done around 1 PM.

To get to Deal Castle, it’s a short 5-minute drive up the coast and there is also parking available next to the site. Tickets cost 7.90 GBP or free with an English Heritage membership. This is another artillery castle by King Henry VII but this one has been transformed into a museum. The entire castle is open for you to explore on a self-guided tour with the audio guide included with the ticket. At this castle you can learn a lot more about the 16th-century defense system. An interesting part of the castle is wandering through underground perimeter passageways below the castle. There are wellies available for you to put on as it can get muddy. You can complete the visit in about an hour so we were done at around 2.30 PM.

Dover Castle – Coastal Defense

Jean Maldonado — Sat, 26 Jan 2019 20:37:00 +0000

This is one of my favorite day trips from London so whenever family or friends visit, I take them to this castle. It’s possible to visit via public transport from London by taking a train to Dover Priory station. From St Pancras International, it takes about 1 hour 15 minutes. You can then walk for 30 minutes or take a bus which leaves you at the bottom of the castle hill. By car, it’s about a 1-hour 45-minute drive and there’s parking available at the site. Tickets then cost 21.30 GBP¹ or it’s free with an English Heritage membership. The ticket includes guided tours of the war tunnels which for me, are the highlights of the visit.

The car park is located inside the site next to the ticket office. From the ticket office, it’s a short walk down to the WW2 war tunnels which you should make your first stop. Tours leave every 15 minutes and last about 50 minutes. There are 2 tours, one is of the underground hospital which is an immersive experience. You follow the story of a rescued shot-down pilot who has been brought in for an operation. The layout of the tunnel, sounds, and even smells have been re-created to how they would have been during the war. This is one of my favorite tours of any museum/site I’ve visited. The other tour is of the war tunnels used for WW2 Operation Dynamo. In this tour, you’re taken through the military evacuation operation of allied soldiers from the beaches of Dunkirk. Projections of real film footage and dramatizations with special effects bring this event to life. This tour ends in the restaurant/gift shop and there is a small museum area with artifacts above. Also, you can step outside to a balcony-like area that has panoramic views of the seaside.

Following this, you can walk along the castle walls towards the Great Tower. On the way, you can take a small detour to the Medieval tunnels which were used to defend the castle. There’s not a tour for these tunnels but there are several information panels to guide you through the route. Once you come back up from the tunnels, you can then walk across to the tower gate to get to the Great Tower. This medieval palace built by King Henry II has several artifacts throughout with information panels. You can ascend all the way to the roof which has great views of the city. In the surrounding buildings, there are also some self-guided tours of the royal courts. Following this, you can then walk down to the ruins of the Roman lighthouse and the working church of Anglo-Saxon origin. For me, this is usually where I end the day and head back. There are however a couple of other sites such as PWRR Museum which has some history of the regiments. There is also the WW1 Fire Command Post with the only working British 3 inch gun which was used to shoot down warplanes. Overall, Dover Castle is well organized and has produced great tours to experience history.

Farleigh Hungerford – Medieval History

Jean Maldonado — Sun, 02 Dec 2018 18:53:39 +0000

Since we’d just become English Heritage members when visiting Stonehenge the day before, we decided to check out this castle on another day trip. From Bristol, it’s only a 45-minute drive to reach the castle, and keep your eyes peeled as the entrance is easy to miss. There’s plenty of car parking available at the site. With the English Heritage membership, we get free entry but you can check prices here. At the entrance, you’re given an audio guide and the staff member points you towards the start of the self-guided tour. There are several detailed panels with numbers that you enter into the audio guide for more information. It begins by taking you throughout the open areas of the site where the castle’s rooms would have been.

Today, there are just the remains of the towers and some of the foundations; but the audio guide and the panels do a good job of describing how the castle would have been. Several stories include an imprisoned wife, a wife killing her husband, and medieval visitors eating human remains in the tombs. Towards the end of the tour, we visit the chapel which has painted walls from medieval times. These were discovered underneath the top layer of paint so they are quite faint. Inside the chapel, there are family tombs of the Hungerford family who owned the castle. These tombs have been carved with the human shape of the family member buried there. Following the chapel, you can brave descending into the dark chilly crypt. There are several human-shaped lead coffins here where medieval visitors used to poke to eat the human remains. This is the final stop of the self-guided tour after which we returned the audio guides and headed back to Bristol.