Meteora, Greece – Μετέωρα, Ελλάδα

It was time to get back in the saddle and put yesterday behind me. A trip to the monasteries of Meteora proved to be a good remedy. It was nice to get out of the city and into nature. Nature surrounded by hordes of people, but nature nonetheless.

The bus trip to the monasteries was scenic and filled with random pieces of history scattered about. Although I live in Japan, another country with a long history, not much from the past survives here. Between natural disasters and the choice of building materials, ancient structures don’t hold up for thousands of years. But in Europe, the ancient past is visible everywhere.

Varlaam Monastery

Another bonus of the bus ride is we drove right past Mt Olympus. I now understand why the ancient Greeks revered the mountain. It is an awe-inspiring mountain. I can imagine when it is covered with snow or hidden by mist or clouds it is even more mysterious and mystical. An appropriate location for gods, indeed.

As for Meteora and the monasteries, what a gorgeous part of the world. The monasteries are seemingly floating in the air, appropriate as the Greek word meteora means suspended in the air. The towering mountains create a dramatic background for the monasteries and the rocks they are perched on.

Holy Monastery of Rousanou

This is yet another location where I could easily spend a week taking pictures of the area. I would love to get deeper into the mountains and photograph the fauna and the flora. A few hours is just not enough. However, unlike other tours, this one was actually well organized and we were given time to explore on our own and not feel too rushed. The guide was excellent as well. She was able to tell us a lot about the monasteries, their history, and their role in Greek history, but her knowledge about the entire region was impressive. There are some good tours out there, but I need to be more independent in the future.

After a great day spent hiking around the hills, once I got back into the city, the clouds descended again. Funny how one negative experience can you really dislike a place. I thought about walking around the city a bit more but decided against it. I was still pretty bitter. I had to catch a bus early in the morning for Sofia, so maybe an early night was for the best. I grabbed a couple of beers and went home to watch 007 in For Your Eyes Only. The climax of the movie takes place at the Holy Monastery of the Holy Trinity, the monastery that dates back to 1458 and is the most dramatic of all.

Even though there were a lot of ups and downs over the last 36 hours, my day at Meteora left me with positive feelings as I left Greece for Bulgaria. I will return to Greece one day, but Thessaloniki, you are going to be on my shit list for some time to come. Don’t take it personally, that’s just the way it goes sometimes.