Day:197-198 Location: Kastraki, Thessaly, Greece Weather: a bit rainy but ok!
June 17-18, 2018
When I started planning the Greece trip, I asked friends for recommendations. Most came back with the obvious: the islands. However, on two separate occasions, various friends recommended a destination in Greece I had never heard of: Meteora. I was told this mysterious attraction was one of their top travel memories. Intrigued, I looked it up. The first Google image result had me sold!
Meteora is in fact not a city, but rock formations located in central mainland Greece. What makes this natural formation intriguing is not the geology of the rick itself but instead what sits atop: monasteries! Meteora is home to six monasteries built on immense natural pillars near the town of Kalambaka. At the very first glimpse, its easy to understand why this magical place is included on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
The Great Meteoron , also known as the Holy Monastery of the Metamorfossis (Transfiguration of Christ), is a male monastery and is the oldest and largest of all the monasteries of Meteora.
Getting there, however, was far from magical. While we had reserved our accommodations in advance, we had left our transportation method unplanned. The day before we were due to leave Athens and arrive in Meteora, we finally settled on renting a car. Being the self described travel expert, I offered to make the arrangements. A few clicks and a credit card number later and the reservation was completed. Upon reviewing the confirmation page, I happened upon an unexpected caveat: all foreign drivers who rented a car in Greece were required to present their international driver’s license prior to receiving the keys. Hmm. Interesting. I was not in the possession of said driver’s license and neither was my friend. Surely, this wasn’t a deal breaker, was it? We’re in Europe after all! After a restless night’s sleep, we headed to the airport to pick up our car. While the 1.5hr metro ride to get there was indeed painful, we figured it was the easiest way to avoid driving through busy Athens.
Well, lo and behold, as soon as we finally figured out where the car rental place was (and one shuttle ride later), we also sadly discovered that, yes, you did in fact need an international driver’s license to rent a car in Greece (this was a new rule since February that year). I was devastate and profusely apologetic. I couldn’t believe I had made such a rookie mistake! Note to self: always read the fine print. Luckily, my travel buddy is the most kind and forgiving soul and shrugged it off. 30 min of huddling around our phones and we had arranged for alternate transportation: a shuttle ride back to the airport, an hour metro ride into town, a several hours long wait at the train station and then a 5hr train ride and we had finally arrived, exhausted, in Kastraki. Luckily, our hotel was lovely and we were able to stroll the quaint little town, nestled in the base of the rocks, as the sun started to set. We stopped by a small grocery store to stock up on supplies for our Meteora outing the next day and met the most lovely yaya. Speaking no English and we no Greek, we all formed an instant bond! She was so taken with us, she gifted us with local postcards to commemorate our stay.
We had a lovely meal – one of the best of the entire trip- at a lovely restaurant, with bistro tables snuggly set up in a little alley. The food was amazing, the service was impeccable and the staff extremely friendly. It was a supper of firsts: our first taste of fresh Greek olives and more importantly, our first ouzo, provided on the house (with a slice of cake) from our awesome server!
Bright and early the next day, our tour van whisked us off to visit 4 out of the 6 remaining monasteries of Meteora. At their peak in the sixteenth century there were 24 monasteries at Meteora. Access to the monasteries was originally (and deliberately) difficult, requiring either long ladders lashed together or large nets used to haul up both goods and people. This required quite a leap of faith – the ropes were replaced, so the story goes, only “when the Lord let them break”. Today, they are now accessible by staircases and pathways cut into the rock formations.
The Great Meteoron: 270 steep and winding steps take you to the top of the plateau
There’s a strict dress code in Meteora, especially for women: no shorts or short skirt and especially, no pants! Yes, even long pants are banned. Luckily, the monks and nuns are well prepared for naive tourists: they provide these super fashionable wrap skirts for the visit.
The grounds are beautiful and impeccably maintained
Meteora was once a thriving hub of the Eastern Orthodox faith, however today, only around 60 monks and nuns remain. Apparently, one of the most difficult to access monastery, The St. Nicholas Anapausas Monastery currently only has 1 monk in residence. Of the original 24, only 6 monasteries remain. In order to survive, the monks and nuns have opened their doors to tourist, charging a small admission price and selling unique souvenirs to raise funds. I came away with “magic monk miracle balm”, a natural beeswax based balm for sore muscles. It worked wonders on my achilles tendonitis, allowing me to trek up steep paths for the remainder of the trip.
Meteora literally means “middle of the sky“, “suspended in the air” or “in the heavens above”. It’s no wonder then that there is no shortage of breathtaking views in; every turn and bend in the road opens up the view to jaw dropping vistas.
Holy Monastery of Varlaam
While our visit to Meteora was quick, it was definitely one of the most memorable moments of the trip – as my very wise friends had all promised. Now, it was off to catch a bus to our next destination!