29 April - Meteora

We had dinner at the hotel on the night of 28th... who would have thought: mousaka, souvlaki, salad (oddly without olives!) and each table received a small jug of Ouzo.  I had a cold and thought I should have some Ouzo for purely medicinal reasons... Ouzo is NOT a cure for the common cold!

Monastery

Kalabaka is at the foot of the Meteora rock formations.  The strange formations were once 'islands' in an inland sea that covered much of Greece a few tens of thousands of years ago as opposed to the more recent 350 BC.  The history says that caves in the rock formations were first occupied by hermits, later monks and then the monks built the monastries circa 13-14th century.  Today there are only six active monasteries/nunneries.  We visited one monastery and one nunnery.

Whoa!! hold me back!!

Karen had to wear a skirt to enter both (monastery/nunnery)... they had some very stylish skirts that could be worn over jeans.  I, of course, have attached a photo Karen looking stunning!

The monastery we visited

The monastery only has six to ten monks living there.  The monastry has become a combination of museum and church... complete with touristy trinkets and religious icons!

Nunnery...Been there!

Next, we whipped around the top of the mountains and got to the nunnery. It was not as large as the monastry, or as old.  The church and gardens were beautifully kept!  The view from the monastery/nunnery was stunning... we looked across the Plains of Thessally!

Nuns doing century old traditional nun work

 There were no photos allowed inside either of the churches at the monastery or nunnery... the icons are painted in a very strict and controlled style... Byzantine/Greek Orthodox.

The food!

In the kitchen!

Then, we were down the hill for.... you guessed it food (lunch)!  We went to a restaurant in Kalabaka, its novelties were the food was from 'northern Greece' and everyone wandered through the kitchen where you were served!  There were a few different dishes (which was nice) and the seemingly ubiquitous... mousaka!

After lunch we visited a site that had been briefly established by the Commonwelth forces in 1941 but no action occurred.  There was some very nice bridges which appealed to the combat engineer in me!

Late in the afternoon was a visit with the local Mayor, but because I was feeling pretty crook (with a cold) we opted to have a little lie down.

The Plains of Thessally!

Dinner was a quiet affair as drugs and rest started to kick-in to combat my cold. An early night!