Holiday diary - summer 2014

I wrote a list of some of the history things I want to see around the UK and we did some of them this summer.

We also went to Holland on holiday.

Romans

We watched Roman gladiator fighting at Dover Castle for Cosmic's birthday and we got a chance to battle a gladiator ourselves too!

We also went to York for the August Bank Holiday and visited the Treasurer's House in the middle of the City. Under the house it is a Roman road and we learnt about the ghost army people have seen in the basement.

Vikings

We also learnt about the Vikings in York when we visited the Jorvik Centre. Unlike the Vikings you would expect, most of them didn't have swords or any weapons. only the richest had them. The Vikings that came to England were from Denmark and the Vikings that went to Scotland were from Norway. This is why the English and Scottish look and sound different.

1066

We went to Battle to see where the Battle of Hastings took place. I have already written a blog post about my visit if you want to read more. It was an awesome day.

We also saw Clifford's Tower in York which was built by William the Conqueror to stop rebellions from people in the North. It has been rebuilt due to fires and if you go you can even see the red marks on the stones where the fire was.

Medieval England

Bramber Castle is near where we live so we went to see it. The castle is now ruins but is was founded by William de Braose. It is owned by English Heritage now. They say the castle was 'a defensive and administrative centre for Bramber, one of the six administrative regions – each of which was controlled by a castle – into which Sussex was divided following the Norman Conquest. It was held almost continually by de Braose and his descendants from its foundation by 1073 until 1450'.

We had a picnic there but had to leave early because Cosmic was fighting with us. We are going to go again soon.

We also saw Dover Castle and the tower which King Henry II built. He was King of England from 1154 . It is the only castle to have actually recreated the look of the castle from the time. It has sourced the real colours and reconstructed furniture based on scriptures from the time and the few remaining pieces still existing.

19th century

Vincent Van Gogh was a painter in the nineteenth century. He was one of two children and his brother was called Theo.

We went to see his pictures in a gallery in Amsterdam where Mum cut in a three hour queue. Whilst we were there we got the audio guide. We all started off with the children's guide because it was cheaper. but then Zillyan and I found a way for Mum and Dad to put it on the adult description.

My favourite bit was seeing the sunflowers picture. I found out he painted lots of sunflower pictures that were slightly different colours and they are in different museums across the world.

World War Two

At Dover Castle I went into underground tunnels to see a World War Two hospital. Everything was real so they covered it in fungi spray to protect it. We were told if we touched it and ate it we would be poisoned.

We heard a story about a pilot who was severely injured and he got bought there because it was the closest hospital. After the doctors brought him into the theatre and done all they could to help him they moved him to a safer hospital.

In Amsterdam we also visited Anne Frank's house. Anne Frank was a Jewish girl in World War Two and she got forced into hiding with her family so she didn't get gassed. Unfortunately right at the end of the war they found her family because somebody betrayed them. All of them were killed apart from the Dad because he was sent to Poland whilst the others were sent to Germany. Prisoners were let out in Poland before they we're let out in Germany.

The rooms they stayed in were really small and they closed in. They had to be very quiet all day and all night because otherwise peel would hear them. I am very pleased that I saw the house but the story had a very horrible ending.

The rest of my holiday ...

We did lots of other stuff in the holidays in England and Holland. 

I played with all my cousins and saw my youngest cousin, Alfie, lots.

 I saw my friends and played in the Delancy School Terrafinal challengers cup

I was one draw away from getting 35 pounds but I won a book. Yay! (I am being sarcastic).

I also read some books for the school challenge and did football training with my new club Roffey Robins.