Blogs from Meteora, Thessaly, Greece, Europe - page 4

The bus ride to the famous Meteora monastery region was relatively uneventful except for the sighting of cotton fields, which for us was a first. Fully aware that cotton grew on a shrub-like plant, picked and collected; it was still quite exciting to see it with our own eyes. Our arrival to the city of Trikala (the city we stayed overnight) was greeted with dark clouds and rain. Fortunately, our optimism would not be discouraged- we heard that the area of Meteora was a must-see from a fellow traveler we met in Florence, Italy and we were not leaving until we experienced the ‘cliff top’ monasteries. The six Orthodox monasteries are built on natural sandstone rock pillars so high that we were enthralled in learning that they had been built by baskets and rope, which together ... read more

Hello, Wow this place was amazing, and i didnt even know it existed! These pics are of the monasteries on cliff tops! A couple of brothers in the 11th century went up into the cliff tops to escape the conflict happening at the time and to be secluded. The views from this place are amazing! Had a fairly early night and went to bed. byee xxx... read more

I write this entry on the train from Bari to Rome, after more than a FULL DAY of travel involving 2 buses from Kalambka to Ioannina to Igoumenitsa, then a ferry to Bari and now this lovely train. Ergo why no entry yesterday, although most of this entry will concern yesterday  So I got up extra early to take a taxi up to the second-highest monastery (I saw the highest one yesterday) with the intention of walking back down before I had to leave at 3pm. Actually had the same guy who took me around yesterday (Nikos) take me to the bank to get cash (where he ended up helping me figure out how the lines work), then drive me up at 9:30am, where he only charged me 6euro. Great guy. The first monastery was ... read more

Continuing the journey through Greece, I have made it to Meteora! After the last night in Athens and leaving in three inches of snow, we arrived in Meteora a little before 6pm. Shortly after, the city or town was explored. I find it to be quite quaint and must be a hot tourist destination in the summer as there are many hotels, cafes, tavernas, and beautiful places to sit if there were flowers. Today, we went up to the monasteries in the sky. The first place we went to was Varlaam and the second of St. Stephen. The bus wound it's way up the valley to the rock pillars rising up out of what was once a lake bed but the sandstone was washed away leaving these great fixtures. Once we were at the top, we ... read more

22 Sept-4 O ctober 2007... read more