Meteora

Moving on from Athens, we travelled six hours by train to Meteora in central Greece.  Its name means in the sky, and is so named because of the 24 monasteries built on top of huge rock formations where they seem to be hanging.  They were built six centuries ago for the monks to escape persecution, and until only a few decades ago all supplies and monks were hauled up with ropes, pulleys and nets.  The ropes were only replaced when they snapped, since this was felt to be the way God intended, so some of the monks may not have made it all the way up.  The scenery is fantastic.  One monastery visible from the road was used in a James Bond movie.

That afternoon we visited the largest monastery, by road and then steep stairways to the buildings perched on top of a vertical rock.  Monks and nuns still live in these buildings.  They contain chapels, museums, beautiful paintings, carvings, weavings, etc.  Some of the paintings depicted the persecutions suffered by the monks, such as having their head burned and then having a stone wall built on top of them.  Kind of amazing the things people can think up to torture other human beings.

The next day we visited two more monasteries, then walked back to the town where we are staying.  Its buildings are all fairly new, since the town was destroyed in the second world war.  Along the way we took a steep trail, and a woman in our group fell and turned her ankle, which turned out to be a vertical break.  She is in a non-walking cast and will have to return home.  Ouch. 

This sleepy town has been livened up by the arrival of a Busabout tour, mostly 20 year old Australians.  That night a few of us went across the street for a drink, and were amused by three drunken Slovenians in togas (bed sheets).   Most places where you go for drinks will bring you plates full of food, like tiny grilled cheese sandwiches, nuts and chips, and will have a few tables of locals playing cards or backgammon.