Thursday - February 8, 2001

 

 

Short stop in Kalambaka for a bank run, and we get our first glimpse of the incredible rocks of Meteora.

Drive up, up, into the hills to the astounding rock-top monastaries. Along the way, Rena points out a small cave in one of the huge hills, where on festival days banners are hung in honor of St. George.

Visit the monastary of Grand Meteora and the nunnery of St. Stephen's--if I had flown to Greece just for this one day, I would have considered it entirely worth it. The monastaries hewn into the rock of the hills are overwhelming, as are the views of the countryside from the tops of the hills...originally the holy men simply camped out in the caves during the 10th century, then the monastaries began to be built in the 14th century. The monastaries grew in size and power, at one point numbering twenty-four--then began to dwindle and are now down to only five monastaries (two of which are occupied by nuns).

Out of respect, pictures are not allowed within the churches themselves (with the amazing layers of frescoes) or of the monks/nuns.

  
 
  
  In Kalambaka, looking up at the towering rocks.
 
  
 
  
 
  
 
  
 
  
 
  
  If you look above the top window, you see what looks like a rope bag. Before there were tourists/steps, the only way into the monastary was for them to lower the bag down to you, and haul you back up.
 
  
  Small shrine
 
  
 
  
 
  
 
  
  Small shrine in a cave, with offerings of coins
  
 
  
 
  
  Room of skulls
 
  
 
  
 
  
  Small courtyard area at the monastary
  
 
  
 
  
  It was like being on a completely different planet
 
  
 
  
  Lynette was feeding the cats wherever she could...the cats started to follow her around the monastary.
 
  
 
  
 
  
 
  
 
  
 
  
 
  
  Tunnel carved through solid rock
 
  
 
  
 
  
 
  
 
In the pictures to the left, you can see faint black lines on the left side of the picture, leading away from the buildings. These are actually cables strung from the tops of the rocks, across the chasms, to the other side. Lynette and I saw two monks, with black robes flapping, riding in a small open cable car and calmly coasting from the monastary to the road on the other side.
  
 
  
 
  
 
  
 
  
 

 

Drive past Larisa on the coastal highway. We stop to see Thermophylae, where in 480 B.C. Leonidas (King of Sparta) and 300 Spartans took a stand against Xerxes' massive Persian army (and, perhaps not surprisingly, died quite thoroughly). In present day, the major highway cuts through where the pass was, and all that's at the site is a recent statue of Leonidas (with the inscription "Come and Get It.." :-)).
  
 

 

We also drive through Thebes (with a glimpse of the roads where Oedipus was set) and Marathon, but no stops. Return back to Athens.

Lynette and I go exploring Athens at night again--we wander around and find the Plaka, where I hear more English being spoken than Greek. On the way to the Plaka, we walk past Hadrian's Gate outlined in moonlight (and surrounded by roads with swarming Athens traffic).

 

 

  Wednesday, 2.07.01

   
  
    

Friday, 2.09.01