Castle Acre Priory and Castle Acre Castle

We had a great time when my Mom visited a few weeks ago. We took a day trip into Norfolk and visited 3 different historic sites. The first was a Neolithic flint mine called Grimes Graves. It was in operation around 3000B.C. We donned hard hats (all except Eliot, as he was too small) and climbed down into one of the many shafts they've found and saw the pre-historic tunnels where flint was mined using the antlers of red deer as pick axes. This place was in the middle of nowhere and a bit creepy, I thought. Colin was pretty sure he spotted some Neolithic men loitering about some run down cars just off the road before we entered.

Next was the Norman town of Castle Acre with a Cluniac Priory established in the 11oos. The ruins were impressive and Eliot and Olivia found lots of places to run and hide in. After lunch and a visit to the local church (which had a door big enough for a knight in full armor to ride through on horseback to receive a blessing before battle) we moved on to Castle Acre Castle also constructed in the 1100s. Very little of the castle is left there, but the earth work defenses are quite dramatic. Eliot and Olivia continued their running around while we 3 dashed after them hoping they wouldn't fall into the huge moat or ditch or off a ruined wall.

We stopped off on the way home and picked up groceries (taking advantage of actually having a trunk to carry our groceries home in instead of on our bikes) and made a quick visit to Olivia's school, so she could show it to Grandma. After a quick dinner of frozen pizza we hustled the now very tired kids off to bed. Eliot thanked God for ruins in his bedtime prayer. We continue to be so happy here.

How We Really Kept Olivia and Eliot Happy in Spain

The secret of our success in coaxing our offspring from one cultural moment to the next - rip off rides, playgrounds, ice cream, and let us not forget the old "play with a rotten orange in a public fountain" trick.

Grazalema

A few photos from Grazalema. This seemed to be one of the more prosperous "White Villages" we visited. At least it seemed in a slightly better state of upkeep and it was the one mountain town we found other tourists in. All of us sat around in the plaza and waited out the day's siesta.

Walking the Roman Road

We were hoping to visit Ocuri, the site of a Roman town, but when we got there we found our way blocked by a huge gate, tall chain link fences and barbed wire. The combination of insufficient funding and vandalism had closed it down. We settled instead for a walk down a Roman road between Benaocaz and Ubrique. We wanted to do something specifically Roman since Olivia had studied the Romans this past term in her history class. Eliot found a good walking stick which entertained him, and both of them enjoyed scrambling among the rocks in the pasture on either side of the road--probably more than walking this historical road itself. The pasture was much easier on the feet than the actual Roman road, which is cobbled and tricky footing now. Still, I think it's the oldest road I've ever been on.

The White Villages of Andalucia

My favorite part of our stay in Andalucia were the days we drove east towards the mountains and visited various 'pueblos blancos'. Most of these towns were founded by the Moors, some built on Roman foundations. Most of the buildings are painted white in order to deflect the summer heat. The towns are striking from a distance because you spot them as you round the corner of a mountain road or dip down into a valley and they show up looking like foaming water cascading down the mountain sides.

Our general approach was to park on the outside of the town we were visiting, thus avoiding the narrow, steep streets and unexpected one-way signs, and walk into the towns. After wandering around for a bit soaking up the sun and that town's particular atmosphere, we would rest in the main plaza, bribe our children with ice cream before going on to the next town. We spent time in 5 different towns over the course of 2 days - El Bosque, Grazalema, Zahara, Ubrique, and Benaocaz. The 2 pictures above are from Zahara and the Moorish tower there that we climbed up the hill and peeked into.