One thing that you may not know about me, is that I am a huge history buff. Learning about human endeavors from a time gone by just fascinates me. I wanted to be an archeologist when I was a kid and I love nothing more than seeking out historical sites when we travel. History and architecture: they're my two big things. It's partly why I'm a total city girl. I love exploring beautiful natural sites, but it's the mark that humans from eras past have left on this world that truly fascinates me. Historical buildings, ruins, sites where important events happened... these are the things that really inspire me when we travel.
Of course, as an Australian much of my life has been spent living in places where there is a wealth of oral history, but not much in the way of physical history. No historical structures, no temples to ancient gods, no long lost ruins... There are the occasional rock paintings and canoe trees, but Australia is a big country and these permanent historical reminders tend to be far and few between. Plus they tend to be located in rather remote places. When it comes to buildings, anything built in the1800s is considered old back home. Living in California and now Colorado it's pretty much the same. While I do find those Victorian or gold rush era buildings interesting, it's earlier history that really gets me. It's one of the reasons I loved living in Europe so much. I didn't have to look far to find medieval buildings, Roman ruins or prehistoric temples. It was a dream come true!
With international travel off the table for the foreseeable future I had figured that visiting historical sites would be limited to watching documentaries for now. But then I learned about a historical site right here in Colorado that I couldn't wait to visit.
Have you heard of the Manitou Cliff Dwellings? Located just near Colorado Springs these reconstructed ancient dwellings built into a red sandstone cliff face were home to the Anasazi over 700 years ago. Much like the more famous cliff dwellings in Mesa Verde National Park, these ancient homes serve as a reminder of the long human history in the South West.
The kids and I visited Manitou Cliff Dwellings over Spring break back in late March and I'm so excited to share our visit with you here on Little Hiccups.