On Top of the World

It seems as though we never get to sleep in with all that we have planned, but at least we are enjoying everything!

We woke up around 7 and went out for breakfast.  On our way, we stopped in at a tour company, www.VisitMeteora.travel, and booked a Sunset Tour for the night, running from 5-9pm.  For breakfast we stopped at a small bakery just down the road from our hotel, Rooms Totti Sisters, and grabbed a couple Greek pastries and iced coffees.  Funny enough, at the bakery we went to, the lady who owns it demonstrated really good English, and when she asked where we were from we said Canada, and she said she lived there for 15 years, in British Columbia.  We told her we lived there too, in a small town called Prince George, and she was quite excited because she actually lived in PG for the 15 years she was there!  She lived right near Alward and 10th, so it was fun to chat with her.

We then went back to the hotel, packed up, and took the car up to Meteora and the first monastery.  There are 6 monasteries now, (there used to be 24) and all of them are active and in use.  They are beautifully situated on cliffs, with long stairwells carved into the mountains, although those were only recently added; until about 90 years ago you had to be pulled up by a pulley system, which is still in use to bring up supplies.

The hike to these monasteries was often a lot of steps, some of them as many as 300 steps, going down a valley, and up the other side, and of course these were very steep walks, and very tiring.  Also, as they are functioning monasteries, woman have to wear long skirts, and men long pants, so both Lindsay and I were cooling off in the AC'd car after each one, trying to prepare ourselves for the next.

We actually only made it to 4 of the monasteries - 1 of the six was closed, and 1 we ran out of time for.  We started the day a little later than we wanted to, and as we wanted to rest and write our blog before our sunset tour, we didn't make it to the last one.  Each one was beautiful in their own right, and there was some amazing history on display.  Along the road connecting the monasteries, (it is about 16km to hit all 6 of them) we stopped to grab a couple photos, showing how it looks and feels like the top of the world.

We are just about to head out on our sunset tour, so hopefully we will have a few more great photos later!

A Long Day

After we finished our Day 2 blog we went back to the hotel, had a nap, and got ready to head out for a later dinner.  We walked back to the Plaka and found a nice little restaurant and had some really good lamb and orzo dish...I can't remember the name, but it was good!  Of course dinner would not be complete without some ice cream, so I indulged :)  Lindsay and I have an agreement - she gets wine with dinner, and I get dessert...I guess one of us will put on a few more pounds than the other!

We then went for a short stroll to the base of the Acropolis and took a few pictures. They have large lights illuminating it from the base, so it is just beautiful.

The next day we woke up around 6:30 and rented our car, after lugging our suitcases back to around Hadrian's Arch (about 20 minutes from the hotel) and hit the road.  We took the winding road (the REALLY winding road!) to Delphi, and after settling our stomachs for a while, we enjoyed the museum and strolling the site, (we are VERY glad we weren't sitting on a tour bus for this drive).

Delphi was essentially dedicated to Apollo, so the main feature at the time, about 2500 year ago, would have been Apollo's temple.  There is not much remaining now, but you can see the view is amazing, as it overlooks a large valley filled with olive and Cyprus trees.

We also walked to the very top of the site and saw the stadium that was built for Pythian and Panhellenic Games, also around the same period.  You used to be able to walk out on the track and even place your feet in the ancient starting blocks, but those were roped off.  On the way down we stopped and grabbed a photo overlooking the entire site and the valley...very beautiful.

From Delphi we drove another 3 hours to Kalambaka, the city site of Meteora.  The drive was so gross with winding roads and going up and down hills that both of us had to take gravol.  Thankfully we arrived safely, and we were able to relax, go get some dinner, and head to bed early.