Part 77: Mountainous Monasteries May 23-26, 2013

After school MD, JF, and I loaded up our rented Toyota and started out for Greece.  We wound through the Bulgarian mountains listening to Dan Brown’s new book, “Inferno,” while trying to make sure we didn’t miss a turn. 

Our trip was going well.  The scenery was lovely.  Traffic was light.  There were no gas stations on the freeway.  Wait.  That last one nearly got us in trouble.  We kept seeing signs for gas stations that were 3 or more miles off the road and we kept thinking one had to be coming up closer to the road, but it never did.  We finally pulled off and started following the signs into a little Greek village with a gas station.  When we got to the gas station, it was fenced off with large barking dogs.  JF got out of the car and attempted to communicate with the owner.  The owner said the next town down the freeway had an open station.  We back tracked a few miles then got back on the freeway to the next town as the car's gas light came on.  Luckily we made it.  We were a little panicked, but it all turned out okay in the end.

It was now dark and we were beginning to wind our way into the mountains towards the town of Kalampaka on the edge of Meteora, our first destination for the weekend.  I was so carsick from the winding roads even though I was in the front seat.  Since it was dark and I couldn't see past the headlights, I had to really concentrate on not losing my road trip snacks.  

We finally pulled into the Hotel Famissi Eden after a few wrong turns in town and MD and I immediately ordered pizza.  Luckily the delivery guy was fast and after eating I felt much better.  We took a little stroll around the hotel’s grounds, which included a mini church carved into a rock, before going to sleep. 

The next morning, we woke up bright and early to an amazing view of some of the rocks of Meteora.  We picked up JF and began climbing up the mountains to see the famous monasteries.  The 6 remaining monasteries of Meteora are a UNESCO World Heritage Site, a natural wonder combined with human engineering.  The monasteries are all perched on giant rock formations so high off the ground and impenetrable that monks were originally raised and lowered in nets as there were no stairs. 

The Monasteries were built between the 14^th and 16^th centuries and quickly became one of the most important complexes of Eastern Orthodox Monasteries in the world.   Hermit monks moved into the rocks as early as the 9^th century and a few centuries after that, the Grand Meteoran Monastery was founded on top of the rocks.  More monasteries followed on the nearby cliffs because of the protection they offered from political upheaval and later, Turkish invasion.

Now only a few monks and nuns live at the monasteries and they are kept going mostly by tourist dollars, but they are still working monasteries.  So men: no shorts or short sleeves, and ladies:  no pants, shorts, or short sleeves.  It was hot, so I did not want to spend my day in long sleeves and a skirt below my knees so I packed a scarf to tie into a skirt and a long sleeved shirt that I just pulled out of my bag before entering the monasteries.  It was really a nice look with my hiking shoes. 

We started out at the one of the oldest, the Monastery of Agia Triados (Monastery of the Holy Trinity).  This monastery is perhaps most famous for its role in the James Bond film “For Your Eyes Only.”  Bond had to scale the cliffs to catch the bad guy.  The monastery sits over 1,000 feet in the air and until the 20^th century the only way up was via a basket hung on a rope that was only replaced when “the good Lord let it break.” 

Next up was Holy Monastery of St. Stephen.  This one is reached via a foot bridge from the parking lot instead of by countless stairs.  It dates from the 15^th century and is home to nuns rather than monks.  It is much larger that Agia Triados and boy can those nuns garden.  There were flowers everywhere.  It was very beautiful. 

There was a small museum showing documents, robes, and other relics, some of which were well over 700 years old.   The church had been repainted recently, so while not the original design, the colors were very bright and vivid.  MD and I each bought ourselves a copy of the paintings in the church and a magnet relic from the gift shop.  I got St. George because:  1.  I saw the original copy of the relic in the museum;  2.  He is an important saint in Bulgaria as well;  and 3.  I’d been joking for nearly two years about how I needed to get a relic because I’d seen so many since moving to Bulgaria.   

The other monasteries are more closely grouped together and in the opposite direction from the first two we visited.  We stopped to take some pictures from an impressive overlook before climbing up to Monastery Varlaam.  This monastery is the second largest, but we only got to see the outside since it was closed on the day we were there.  It still offered some impressive pictures. 

From there we worked our way over to the Grand Meteoran, the oldest and the biggest monastery in the complex.  You walk up a ton of stairs carved into the cliff and enter right at the ascension tower where you can still see the rope, crank, and net that were used to move people and supplies in and out of the tower for hundreds of years.    

This monastery houses many museums and acts as a frozen snapshot of what life was like for the monks that lived here hundreds of years ago.  You can see the blacksmith shop, carpentry tools, wine casks, kitchens, and the church (original paint).  There is also a room that contains the skulls of hundreds of monks lined up on shelves.  (I guess a grave yard on top of solid rock is not really practical.)  This  monastery also contained several museums.

The Holy Monastery of Rousanou, dedicated to St. Barbara, was our next destination.  It is also the only other monastery inhabited by nuns besides St. Stephens.  The part open to the public is very small, but the gardens are amazing.   The nuns here even keep bees. 

The last monastery we stopped at was also closed, so we decided not to climb the (many, many) stairs to this one.  Instead, we got back on the road to see if we could find the hermit caves.  We pulled into the village of Kastraki, found a place to park (after being yelled at in Greek by a store owner about our first parking place), and started hiking. 

JF had found instructions on how to get to the caves, but they were a little vague.  We found a trail, but soon it turned into less of a trail.  We pressed on however and were rewarded by seeing the ancient caves, many of which still had the remnants of old ladders emerging from them where the first monks of Meteora lived.   Ladders that, had they even been brand new, you couldn’t have paid me to climb. 

Built quite literally into the cliffs we also saw the Monastery Aghia Trias Asketirion of St. Nikolas (at least that’s what the sign prohibiting me from entering said).  It was one of the most intriguing structures I’d seen all day, and that’s saying something! 

We then went back to our hotel and hung out at the pool.  MD getting a tan.  Me sitting in sunscreen, a coverup, hat, and sunglasses, with a towel covering my pale legs.   I did swim a little bit once I got too hot, but overall, I tried to protect my sunburn-susceptible skin. 

That night we went into town for dinner and the restaurant owner even gave us free dessert!  We also walked around a bit and saw the Byzantine Church of the Assumption of the Virgin from the 9-11^th centuries.  It was late, so it was closed, but 9^th century?  That is old. 

The next morning we were off to Asprovalta, Greece.  MD wanted to go to the beach and this small town in northern Greece had one.  I’m not a huge beach goer (see previous paragraph about sunscreen and hats), but it was a beautiful place.  You can even see Mt. Athos (the most important Eastern Orthodox  monastery complex in the world) from the beach, which is as close as I’ll ever get since women are not allowed on the mountain. 

I spent most of the day sun screened and covered up under an umbrella, but I did brave the cold water for a swim.  I was then stung by a jelly fish on my arm and a couple of places on my legs.  I should just give up on salt water.  For someone who grew up land-locked and has only travelled to salt water locals about 5 times, I’ve been stung three times.  Once in the Black Sea, once in the Caribbean, and now once in the Strymonian Gulf (which is part of the Mediterranean Sea).  The Pacific has yet to get me.  Yet. 

That night we had great pizza along the beach, watched part of a soccer game on TV and went to sleep.  The next morning MD hit the beach again and I explored the town before we packed up for home.  Then we got a flat tire two blocks from the hotel.  We changed the tire (luckily we had a full-sized spare) and then we were on our way home with no further incident. 

Meteora is by far one of the most amazing and beautiful places I have ever been.  I would go back in a heartbeat just to hike around the beautiful cliffs.  It’s not the easiest place to get to, but it is worth the car sickness, believe me.