Melo Villareal
Its our third day “free day” in Toronto and with our resident Heritage Warrior “Ivan“, everyone agreed to visit the City of Kingston in Ontario Canada.
Royal Military College of Canada
To maximize the time and minimize the cost Jojo rented a car for our whole day activity. It was raining from the time we left the hotel and while we are on our way to Kinston, we had a short stop in one of the recreation areas along the highway and had a cup of our favorite French Vanilla at Tim Hortons.
Although its raining hard when we arrived, we still managed to roam around the historic site but we were not able to go inside the museum and buildings. Canada has a rich military history just waiting to be explored. The Royal Military College of Canada (RMC) Museum is housed inside Fort Frederick Martello Tower at the RMC campus in Kingston, Ontario. The fort and the museum narrate the story of the oldest military college of Canada and the Kingston Naval Dockyard.
Royal Military College of Canada
Fort Frederick Martello Tower is an awe-inspiring structure in itself and I was not surprised to know that it is listed as a World Heritage Site as well as a National Historic Site. The museum is currently operated by the college and has regular visiting hours starting from last weekend in June till Labor Day.
A walk through the Museum’s history
The Fort is designed with a military outlook. It projects a very functional design as well as excellent craftsmanship blending well with the landscape. The Fort Frederick Martello Tower is actually one of four Martello Towers and is a fortification built in 1790 made of earthworks and stonemasonry.
Fort Frederick, named after Frederick, Prince of Wales, was built along with the other Martello Towers by the Corps of Royal Engineers from 1846 to 1848 to bolster the defenses in Kingston. The present form of the Museum was established in 1962 in order to collect, research, display and conserve historical artifacts relating to the college’s history, its cadets as well as the site it is located upon.
Royal Military College of Canada
Walking through the college corridors transported me back centuries, the way the buildings was structured and designed tells you how significant and old it is. The strong and looming walls imparted an aura which was intimidating, at the same time, strangely soothing.
Visiting Royal Military College of Canada and Fort Frederick in Kingston requires the perusal of the art collection of the college. The Royal Military College of Canada Museum looks after the art collection belonging to the college which might have been presented to the college by ex-cadets or graduating classes. According to Lonely Planet, The display of the art is spread throughout the college. There are over 1000 works of art in various forms such as paintings, prints, sculptures, drawings, stained glass etc.
After having a short walk around the area, we noticed that its really getting colder and colder so we decided to go back to the car and find something to eat nearby. About less than 1 kilometer drive from the historic site, we found ourselves seating inside an A&W Restaurant. Hmmm yeah another nostalgic place haha, It used to be my favorite Burger joint in Manila until their branch becomes fewer and fewer. In fact, I dont really know if they still exist in Manila… Oh Well at least I was able to try their famous Root Beer float again….
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