Exploring Meteora

Sunday, September 25, 2011
Kastriki, Central Greece, Greece
Saturday 9/24 and Sunday 9/25


The "destination Committee" chose to head in the direction of the Meteora monasteries. So the GPS is set for the small village of Kalambaka. This time our road (very steep) seemed to go straight up the mountain from Arachova. We passed through some modern ski areas with a lot of unfinished properties and proceeded over the mountains. The land going into Trikala was flat and teeming with agriculture activity. Watermelons, tobacco, cotton, corn and several other crops were spotted.  


We drove into Kalambaka where many tourists stay for their visit to Meteora. We shopped a couple of hotels that didn't meet our developing rule set, had lunch and decided to try Kastrika which was only 5 kilometers away at at the trailhead for Meteora. We drove completely through the village, using our guidebooks when possible to spot hotel opportunities and came upon one of our accommodation jewels. The Doupiani Inn, very recently constructed. outstanding construction material and quality and Thanassas the very interesting innkeeper. At 65 Euro a night, we exceeded our target of 50 but it was nice isolated luxury.  


With little of the day left, we visited one of the monasteries. The Meteora area is recognizable with beautiful sandstone formations caused by ancient seas eroding the softer sandstone around remaining monolithic structures. The significant religious history of the area dates back to around 985 AD when the first religious hermit (seeking a way to cleanse his soul through solitude) occupied one of the shallow caves in the rock formations. Apparently a hermit community (is that an oxymoron) of cave dwellers began to build and and in business parlance, the hermits merged and the first monastery evolved. The Megalo Meteoro was built in 1335 on top of a 1750 foot pinnacle. Subsequently 23 other monasteries were built and today 13 remain.


Meteora is described as "rocks in the air" and is an extraordinary place of beauty and wonder as to how the monks built these magnificent structures, clinging to the top of these pinnacles. We visited 4 of the monasteries before we encountered monastery fatigue. Well worth the time and highly recommended for any future travelers to Greece.


Recognizing we were getting a little road tired, we decided to extend our stay an additional night at the Doupiani Inn. Quite, great breakfast, interesting people, AC not needed but working and great showers. On Saturday we met Jo from Hong Kong. She was a former police officer and is currently a yoga instructor, traveling alone. Plus we met a delightful couple, Johathan and Rebecca from the Washington, DC area who were planning to climb the big cliff sides around Meteora. Jonathan is a naval officer serving as a liaison with the House of Representatives and Rebecca is a dentist in Virginia Beach. High school sweethearts from Martinsburg, WV (an area where some of my kinfolk left to move to KY in 1799), they were a delightful young couple. We enjoyed dinner with our three new friends at a local taverna. Great conversation and a few glasses of wine.


All in, Meteora is a place to see.
Other Entries

Comments

brjeffries
2011-10-04

What an amazing place!

Mark Malcolm
2011-10-04

Great to here the various committees are meeting all challenges!

2025-02-11

Comment code: Ask author if the code is blank