Meteora

Our hotel included breakfast and it was busy and delicious. Each of us were explained the buffet as we came down separately and learned most, if not all, was homemade. The local soup tasted like congee, and the homemade yogurt was out of this world. Definitely getting my fill of Greek yogurt! I also got to try Bougatsa, a breakfast pastry with cream, which was sold out at Mono in Thessaloniki.

For our visit to Meteora, I booked a small tour group that handled pickup / drop off and visited three of the monasteries. I’m so glad I did because parking and logistics would have been a pain. The van had WiFi and they provided an app in different languages including Korean, so it was very comfortable. 

Meteora is apparently the second most visited site after the Acropolis in Greece. Meteora is a rock formation with monasteries built throughout and is viewed spiritually second in importance to Mount Athos (near Thessaloniki). From our tour website:

The 24 monasteries emerged on the countless summits of the rocks from the 14th until the 16th century, 6 of them remaining to be explored and admired by all. These monasteries became the centers of the Orthodox creed in the Byzantine era, having produced some of the best pieces of religious art and craft and still possessing a collection of precious manuscripts.

We were the last pickup and there were Americans, Canadians, and a German on our tour. First, we stopped on the side of the road to view Agios Nikolaos Anapaphsas or The Holy Monastery of Saint Nicholas of Anapafsas:





Other views from the road:





You can see three monasteries from this vantage point:



Our guide explained the monks lived in Hermit Caves and people used to bring them water using ropes and buckets. Here’s what they call the Prison Cave:



Over time, the monks would convene to eat once a week and then slowly developed communities led by abbots and started building the monasteries brick by brick.

The construction took 8 to 9 decades, typically two generations of monks, and used donkeys to carry the supplies piecemeal. They also used primitive elevators to bring up supplies and trusting people.

A requirement for women entering any of the monasteries is to wear skirts. Using a scarf around the waist was also acceptable. Women were allowed to enter after village women formed a line passing water to save a monastery from total destruction from a fire. As such, the monks finally relented and were grateful for the women’s help. The other rule we abided by was no photos or videos inside the holy sanctuaries.

Our first visit was to Varlaam Monastery or The Holy Monastery of Varlaam which is the second biggest monastery:













We learned initially the monks used vinegar to erode mountains to create wells in the stone. Before plumbing was installed, they also used large barrels to collect rainwater:



An example of their primitive elevator:



Some photos from the terrace:







There were a ton of people, but our guide said the summers are unbearable with thousands and over 100 degree weather. Mama Kim got excited to see so many priests who were visiting from all over the world and several Korean tour groups. She even helped take a few photos:



Here’s a view of Varlaam while descending from the next monastery. I told my mom we’re going on trips like this now, because I don’t want to climb steps like these at her age! She was a trooper and could not miss out considering her FOMO tendencies:





The next one was The Great Meteoron Monastery which is the biggest and oldest. There are 5 monks living here today:



In total, there are 376 steps that you descend and then ascend like a valley:







Here’s the terrace:



Worse than the crowded and hot summer visits, our guide said is when it’s foggy. We had a little fog, but he said the other day you couldn’t see a thing which disappointed his guests. It’s actually how the area got its name as the stone boulders looked like meteors popping through the fog. Today, I think we benefitted from the light rain yesterday as everything looked lush and green:

A photo of the food storage:



After our visit and while waiting for our van, some photos:





We piled into the bus and took a few “Greek stops” as our guide said you just stop on the road. He called this view, the balcony:





Then we stopped for views of the Holy Trinity Monastery which is the most difficult to reach, the most iconic, and was in the James Bond movie “For Your Eyes Only” with Roger Moore:





Our guide insisted and took a zillion individual photos of each of us:







On our drive, the villages were explained and Kalabaka appeared like magic…



Then we stopped up the road from Agios Stefanos or St. Stephen’s which is the most accessible monastery. There are no steps, but a simple bridge which used to be a drawbridge. It’s opened the latest, as some folks in our group visited yesterday on a Sunset Tour and is now a nunnery:





Then we walked on a large boulder for some panoramic views. Mama Kim stayed behind on the first mound…





We took a selfie near the edge and other snaps before returning to the van:









The final stop was Roussanou Monastery. It’s the smallest and became a convent. We descended through a forest and entered:









Here’s the view from a small balcony:



And the lovely garden:



Our tour was great and we returned to our hotel to begin our 3-hour drive to Delphi. Halfway, we stopped at The Memorial in Thermopylae which is a statue of King Leonidas and its corresponding information center. I decided it would be our rest stop and we enjoyed hot drinks and apricot and praline-filled croissants as a snack.

Then for 3€ each, we watched a 12-minute 3D film about the legendary battle where King Leonides died along with 300 other Spartan soldiers against tens of thousands Persians in 480 BC. The monument below which I believe was funded by Greek-Americans:

Around the monument, there were dozens of Roman Catholic Priests praying, meditating, and reading the Bible. We had seen them earlier at Varlaam and we learned they were missionary priests traveling around Greece. Their trip next year is to Korea and the leader told my mom he would say mass for my mother tonight which thrilled her.

After navigating hairpin turns climbing Mount Parnassus, we arrived in Delphi. The drive was nothing compared to our past trips driving along the Amalfi Coast, through the Pyrenees, or up Japan’s Mount Koya.

Our Delphi accommodations is an apartment hotel called Komody Hotel. It has two bedrooms and one bathroom and a small balcony that looks out to the hotel terrace:



For dinner, our hotel recommended To Patriko Mas which was down the street:



The restaurant had a nice view of the Gulf of Itea which is in the Gulf of Corinth:



For dinner, we ordered Mythos beer, a salad, stuffed cabbage with cream sauce, chicken, veal steak, and pork souvlaki. They also served a complimentary flan dessert:

Coincidentally, we ran into the Korean Catholics we saw at Varlaam and for whom my mom had taken photos. She had also done so for some Korean Protestants. We’ll probably see them tomorrow as we sightsee!