August
29
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| view of Meteora from our room |
We
boarded a train from the northern city of Thessaloniki to Kalambaka in
central Greece. The train passed Mount Olympus, but it was impossible
to discern which peak is Olympus from the train window. After
arriving at Kalambaka Station we walked across the tracks to our
hotel—Monasteri Guesthouse. Unfortunately we were a little uneasy
with the hotel choice. The room was nice enough, spacious with a wonderful
view of the odd mountain formations of Meteora. The hotel owner
seemed friendly, but there was a tenseness, an air of distracted anxiety about her. Little
remarks that she let drop gave us the impression that the hotel was
not doing well and was in financial trouble. Maybe it was on the wrong side of the tracks?
 |
| Mount Olympus is there somewhere |
Meteora
is a rock formation in central Greece hosting one of the largest and
most precipitously built complexes of Eastern Orthodox monasteries . .
. The six remaining monasteries are built on immense natural pillars
and hill-like rounded boulders that dominate the local area . . .
near the town of Kalambaka at the northwestern edge of the Plain of Thessaly. [Wikipedia]
 |
| Kalambaka and the the Plain of Thessaly |
FIRST DAY
 |
Monastery of Great Meteoron
(three monks in residence) |
We
booked a tour for our first visit to three of the monasteries that
are perched on the rocky mesa-like tops that included climbing
hundreds of steps. The tour was a good choice for getting oriented
with the site. After a
 |
| garden inside Great Meteoron |
thunderstorm the night before, it was still
cloudy and cool most of the morning. That made it more comfortable
and less tiring for the ups and downs of the steps to the monasteries
of Great Meteoron, Varlaam and Saint Nickolas. St. Nick's was the
most tiring due to the long up-slope approach before the steps and it
was getting hotter as the sun emerged and beat down.
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| Monastery of Varlaam (seven monks in residence) |
 |
in the old days supplies and people were
hoisted up with a winch and ropes or ladders |
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| Eastern Orthodox nuns visiting Varlaam |
 |
| rest and photo-op stop |
 |
Monastery of St. Nicholas
(one monk in residence) |
 |
| an Eastern Orthodox monk |
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| good spot for a photo-op - Monastery of the Holy Trinity and Kalambaka |
SECOND DAY
 |
our go-to restaurant in Kalambaka with the
famous Syrtaki dance scene from the film
Zorba the Greek |
Once
acquainted with the route around Meteora we decided to strike out on
our own the following day by taking a local bus to visit one of the
remaining monasteries—the nunnery of St. Stephanos. It turned out to
be a minor disaster. I swallowed some vitamins
that didn't go down properly and I had violent coughing spasms to try
and clear some of the acrid powder that got into my lungs. This went on
for an hour or two even as we boarded and rode the bus to St.
Stephanos. By the time we arrived I was an exhausted wreck and didn't
enjoy the outing—too distracted and coughing even to take many
pictures. Took the bus back to town and walked back to our go to
restaurant Syrtaki, which is the name of the dance in the film Zorba
the Greek. The coughing spasms
had subsided by then and I was well enough to eat. Back at the hotel I took
some anti-inflammation drugs and a long sleep.
 |
Monastery of St. Stephanos
(28 nuns in residence) |
THIRD DAY
 |
Monastery of the Holy Trinity
(four monks in residence) |
 |
Monastery of Rousanou - not visited
(13 nuns in residence) |
I
felt fine the next morning and ready to try Meteora again. The plan
was to go by bus again to the Monastery of the Holy Trinity (famous as the location for a
scene in the James Bond movie For Your Eyes Only and trek back
DOWN to town on a foot trail. We did just that with no problems of
mobility or endurance or coughing fits. We met a few hardy (and
younger) trekkers walking UP the slope. We had an early dinner at
Syrtaki after getting back to town and I hit the hotel pool for a
few laps and some lying in the sun.
 |
view from Holy Trinity
Great Meteoron, Varlaam and Rousanou |
 |
| on the trail |
 |
| going down . . . |
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| Monasteri Guesthouse pool |
Next stop Russia: Moscow and St. Petersburg.
After finally getting our tickets to St. Petersburg we boarded the subway
back to our own neighborhood and discovered
some new streets with a larger variety of restaurants and bars and a convenient little market to buy our can't-do-without in-room
pre-breakfast wake up coffee and snack. Stopped off in a bar and had
a couple of cocktails to cap off a very busy and productive day of
orientation.
