Northern Greece, Albania & Macedonia: Ancient Lands of Alexander the Great Day 6

Day 06 - Sunday, October 15, 2017 - Rock Formations of Meteora; Icon-Painting Workshop; Dinner with Greek Music

The temperature was 46 degrees and there was not a cloud in the sky this morning. We met Dina, our local guide for our tour at 8:30. The morning activity was to visit the monasteries of Meteora dating back from the Middle Ages.

Tasoss drove our big bus skillfully up and around the steep narrow road as far as he could get to the Convent of St. Stephen. Dina gave us the history of the monks who had discovered these uninviting and isolated rocks and built their worship centers early in the 1300’s.

The monks came here to fulfill their vows of poverty, celibacy, and silence. All of the building materials had to be carried up to the top of the rock formations by hand as part of their manual labor.

In our two hours with Dina we visited two of the remaining six monasteries. At one time there were more than 26 individual units. We first went to the Convent of St. Stephen and all of the women visitors were given wrap around skirts to cover our slacks. Men were OK with shorts or slacks.

Dina explained that there were 32 nuns living at St. Stephens, the oldest was 92 and the youngest was 25. Their day was regimented by 8 hours of working, 8 hours of praying, and 8 hours of sleeping.

After visiting St. Stephen’s we got back on the bus for a short drive to a higher peak and a climb to the Monastery of Varlaam. This was the second largest of the monasteries and housed one of the original nets used to raise and lower the monks to their scared center. There was also a gigantic well-preserved oak barrel used for water storage.

We said goodbye and thanked Dina and met Alex and Nikos our two guides for our trek on the Monk’s Trail. The trail was only one mile, but it was steep, with large stones that delineated the path that the monks used to go back and forth to the base of the rock formations.

The two guides reminded us that the word meteora means suspended in the air, a true description of the monasteries we could see at every turn on the trail. Nikos led the group and made frequent stops to give us even more information about the sandstone and conglomerate formations compressed from an ancient sea.

The local guides told us that this was the first time every one of the 16 in an OAT group went on the hike and Anna confirmed that indeed, we were the most active group she has had during the year of this new tour.

We finished our hike at 1:00 and found that Tasoss was waiting for us at the bottom of the rocks. When we said goodbye to Alex and Nikos, it was 22 (72) degrees under a hot sun. We congratulated ourselves for a hike well taken and then drove to the village of Kalambaka for lunch.

Anna told us that because it was Sunday, there might not be as many choices for a meal, but we found a gyro café a few blocks from the main street. The shop’s name translated to All Things Pita.

We shared a “to die for” roasted pork gyro with the usual fixings of Greek yogurt sauce, tomatoes, lettuce, onions, and French fries. There was a nearby ice cream shop for our dessert – outstanding and all for 9 €!!!

Tasoss picked us up at 2:00 for a short drive south of Kalambaka where we visited a workshop of Byzantine icon painting. Our guide and son of the owner, Themis, walked us through the wood working shop and showed us the process of painting the icons.

The 15 other employees had the day off because it was Sunday, but we could imagine the delicate labor of producing these works of art.

We drove back to Meteora and were at our hotel at 3:30. Anna gave us our schedule for the evening for dinner and our departure in the morning. There was time for us to work on the journal and sort the photos that we took today.

Our evening meal was at Taverna Xarama, a family owned establishment with plentiful plates of fantastic food and a very welcoming staff. After the dinner the owner and his son played guitar and bouzouki and sang for us.

What a wonderful day with a combination of humanity and nature. We will sleep well tonight!

More about the country of Hellenic Republic:

Greece is the southernmost country in the Balkan Peninsula. About a fifth of the area is composed of more than 1,400 islands in the Ionian and Aegean seas. About four-fifths of Greece is mountainous, including most of the islands.

http://www.greeka.com/greece-geography/

Accommodations: DOUPIANI HOUSE - - - Meal: B & D