Meteora (really Kalabaka)
Monday, August 24, 2026
I'm awake really early (wondering if I'll survive the day) and Jan is too. She does her yoga on the balcony and comes to tell me I need to come watch the sky lightening. She's right. I stretch out there, too and it is pretty spiritual. We go to breakfast a bit before eight and the buffet is quite large with multiple serving tables and a magic coffee machine (again, no decaf!) We are fueling up for the climbs to the various monasteries. The one which doesn't have steps in closed on Mondays, wouldn't ya know! There are two with 140 steps, one with 350 steps, and then I quite paying attention! Also we've learned that pants won't do for the ladies. We knew we had to cover our shoulders and knees but didn't know about the skirt requirement. Luckily I've brought a ligh shawl that I can wrap around my waist and have it fall below my knees. Sometimes it's okay to be short!
We meet another charming guide out front! His name is Vasili (Bill or William) and we mount up. He has found the easiest ways for us to see what we want to see. (I love him!! I've been envisioning sitting on a step and waiting for everyone to come back!) He's taking us to see Varlaam Monastery first. We will climb 140 steps which sounds really intimidating but turns out to be much easier than I thought. For one thing, they are real steps and not carved out of the rock face, as I feared! It is the second largest monastery and was first inhabited in the 14th century. Vasili leads us up the stairs and gets our tickets, then turns us over the the licensed guide for this monastery. She is so animated and deeply involved in the story of the monastery and in the Christian Orthodox religion! She tells us that the paintings all over the walls were used as a way to educate people about the religion (much like the caves in Capadocia that we visited in Turkey). These have not been retouched, but they have been cleaned and they are brilliantly colored! She shows us many of the stories and notes that there are a few characters from the Old Testament but that her religion only uses the New Testament and, in fact, children are never given names from the Old Testament!
The narthax, or first room, is for people who have not studied the religion. She then leads us into the actual church, with the altar hidden behind a cloth to separate the people from the holy of holies. She teaches us that the person we call the Virgin Mary, they call The Mother of the Lord and they do not celebrate the Ascension but rather the Dormition of Mary. She noted that the split between the Catholics and the Christian Orthodox took place in 1054, and was known as The Great Schism.
We see the huge barrel that was used to hold water and, sometimes, wine! And the mechanism by which materials were hoisted up the side of the mountain. Vasili had told us on the bus that the first monks spent all their lives just bringing up the building materials for the monasteries and never saw them completed!
There is a museum but some of us missed it. The cool part about that is that we got to chat with Vasili! He's been a guide for eight years and says it is a dream job! He lives close to work and meets people from all over the world. They are usually happy and relaxed because they are on vacation and they are usually experienced travelers, so they know that sometimes thing happen. He says he loves the Americans best!
Vasili never encourages his tourists to visit the oldesst, largest, and highest of the monasteries, The Holy Monastery of the Great Meteoren. It has 350 steps and he has to climb it with them to buy their tickets!!
He says his favorite story is about the old Greek couple (kind of an Every Man story). The old lady takes one look at the monastery and grows wings! She flies to the top! The old man looks at the monastery. Looks at the ground. Looks at the monastery. Turns his back. He looks around to stop another Greek man to talk politics and sports with until the wife comes down. Later, when someone asks him if he's seen the monastery, he says, "Yes. Twice!"
He also tells us that Madonna was here eight days ago! She and her entourage arrived by helicopter when the monastery was closed and she had the same guide that we did! He also told us that Gordon Ramsey did an episode in one of the two the monasteries where nuns live instead of monks. They make all sorts of food products to sell. (I will buy cherry liqueur and a minuscule jar of cherry jam.)
Art has finally finished reading every card in the museum and we are on our way! Vasili knows all the best photo spots and makes sure that everyone not only get their photos but that they star in some, too! There's one that is particularly unsettling to get to and when it's time to climb down he lends me his arm. Boy does that make a difference! I hardly notice the scary parts!
We see the tallest rock and we see the only monastery that doesn't have stairs, just a bridge to cross. Yep, that's the one that's closed today. They have a rotating schedule.
We are going to visit another monastery and there are stairs. But not the way you'd expect! Vasili leads us DOWN stairs that take us through a shady forest and it's delightful! We let faster groups pass us so that we can go slow and steady and not grow wings like the old Greek lady! There are about thirty steps going up to the monastery when we arrive but that's nothing now! This is a smaller site and we explore it on our own. But there is a gift shop (see above!) And there are more steps - but they, too, go down and take us right to our bus!
Our last stop is kind of a Greek Stop, where you just stop the car in the middle of the road! Really, that’s was Vasili called it! We have already stopped to get photos of some the many caves on the mountain sides; but now we are able to see some of the caves that were inhabited by the original hermits before they started building the monasteries. They built “balconies” to allow them to get some sunlight (I guessed that one right) as well as fresh air and water. There are ladders between each cave but the one to the ground is a rope ladder so that it can be pulled up for safety.
Across the way we can see more that have been walled off. During WWII the Germans blasted it.
Vasili also describes the geology of the area, with two major converging to provide lots of material for the sandstone and conglomerate. He also tells us the story of the Muslim couple who came to the area long ago. The husband took sick and the local Christians told the wife to pray to their god and she did, and he survived! She made an offering of a scarf and ever since, one day a year, a group of experienced climbers bring some ladies scarves up the side of the mountain in remembrance. They bring last year’s back down to the people.
The name, Meteora, comes from the first sighting of these mountains. There was a mist that caused them to look like islands in the sky and the word ‘meteor” means suspended above the earth! The name is applied to the whole area and there are several small towns which are now almost completely devoted to tourism. We are staying in Kalabaka. A James Bond film was shot in and around one of the monasteries but the producers lied to the monks, saying they were making a documentary about the ascetic lifestyle! Later they did make a large donation to them.
Vasili has made some suggestions for our lunch and we choose Meteora since we have already eaten at Ambrosia which was his first suggestion. He says Meteora is actually better and has more authentic greek food. Before dropping us off at the restaurant, the bus driver (such a sweetie) and Vasili confer on our plans for sunset this evening!
As has become our habit, we order lots of things and just pass them all around the table. Vasili’s prime suggestion, though, is the eggplant saganaki and it is superb!! We also order the meteora salad, an assortment of appetizers, some vegetarian options (we have two veggies with us) and one beef dish.
There is barely a scrap left on any plate when we’re finished. Oh, and there is a carafe of white wine for Kathy, Jan, and me.
Ginger is still looking for a serving bowl and one of our dishes would be perfect, so she asks the waiter if she can buy it (you never know) or at least where it came from. Well, she can’t have this one, but she does get the information about the supplier.
Home for a nap, or swim, or blog, or some combination thereof!
Our bus picks us up at 7:20 and we’re glad we’re early for sunset because there are a lot of people at most spots and there is no parking available. Our ever so accommodating driver drops us off and says to call him when we’re ready to go home; he’ll be there in five minutes! We all carefully pick our way over the rocks and choose areas to sit and shoot. There is bride and groom doing a webbing shoot! That long gown and train over the dirt and rocks!! I hope she can get it cleaned for the wedding! It is so cute to watch the groom carry her down the most difficult parts!
The sun puts on quite a show and there is much editing and discarding to do! Our driver lets us off in the middle of town for gelato (cherry and chocolate for me) and then we meander down Main Street. Jan, Ginger, Art, and I stop into the shop (jumble??) where Jan found her magnificent silver necklace and prowl around. Everyone finds something!! Ginger even gets a teapot and a bowl!
Somehow we get separated and when Jan and I pass the jumble shop, the proprietor says he wishes he could take her home to his village about twenty minutes away and show her his farm! And then another guy who is sitting along our route starts to flirt with her! as well
Home and to bed. We have to be on the bus in the morning at 9:00 for the drive back to Athens.
What a magnificent day!! I absolutely love your photos, too. ♥️ Your hair and blue shirt are marvelous. You look incredible. 😁Too bad you missed Madonna. ☹️
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