Meteora day three

Varlaam from Great Meteoron


 So today was our last full day here at Meteora.

We're now into holiday mode as we go to bed early and in Joan's case sleep 13 hours solid.  (Kevin only slept 12 hours.)  This is why we love self-catering - no breakfast or dinner times.

On the way up we bought some tacky souvenirs and Joan was delighted to replace her broken prescription sun glasses with an authentic pair of Chanel sunglasses for just12 Euros ;-)

So after a leisurely breakfast our plan was to visit two monasteries, including the highest and biggest, Meteoron - sometimes referred to as Metamorphosis or the Monastery of the Transfiguration.

We took outside photos yesterday but it's location is still stunning on our return.

The approach was down one flight of steps across a valley bottom and then a climb up to the kiosk.  It was busy but as it is bigger than all the other monasteries, it didn't seem quite so hectic.

There was the obligatory winch and basket to see and then - unexpectedly - a door wtih a window in it where there were skulls and bones piled up - an ossuary.  There were no interpretation signs but we guessed these were former monks.

The Katholikon was much larger.  Its antechamber again decorated with the torture of saints in many inventive ways.  We even managed to spot St Apolllonia having her teeth pulled out. There were also some relics on display - a random jawbone and maybe an arm bone.

The main chapel was ornate and had some Islaamic patternry in it -showing the influences from both continents.

Old buildings such as the hospital displayed old manuscripts and some new paintings of the "neo-martyrs" who were also exposed to inventive deaths during the Ottoman occupation.   We came to the conclusion that getting a sainthood is not the pleasantess experience.  (We'd researched Saint Serfina the night before - not killed but still not nice.)

There were places to plead for favours and a monastery cat with two kittens.  There was also the original copper plate engraving that Joan had seen the day before - scratched out in 1782 by Parthenios - but nowhere to buy it.



In a corridor there was a display about Greek resistance and their battle with the Nazis in WW2.

By four o'clock, we decided we were "monastried out" and headed back to our villa to watch evening unfurl and eat dinner.  Nonetheless, every day Meteora has amazed us and we are so glad we came.












Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th January 2025 - - Whaley to Salta

Image
We dropped off Fuchsia at 4 Paws and the Meezers at Mrs Harris' on Friday.  Our friens, Anne and Nick are looking after Clementine. Having packed, we left home at noon.   The roads were icy and the fields were still covered in snow. The journey to Heathrow was uneventful, except a 30 stoppage near Luton. We are leaving our csr at the Sheraton Skyline.  Built in 1971, it was one of the first hotels to cater for mass tourism by plane. In its heart is what was called El Caribe Paiio, a whimsical fake tropical garden, replete with bamboo shack and pool.  It features in the Status Quo video for Marguerita Nights. The area was closed for cleaning, but Joan got a few snaps. We booked an Uber to Terminal 3 for £15 via a machine in the hotel lobby.   It was several hours before our hysical chevk- in opened but there were machines in the terminal where you could print off your own baggage labels. We cleared securit...
Read more

Tuesday 13th January 2026: Up to Cotopaxi

Image
A faint rainbow where a volcano should be! We're sad to leave Quito as there is so much more we could have done.  However our whistlestop tour won't let us linger for long. Today we are moving on to Cotopaxi which is one of the highest active volcanoes in the world.  We're staying in a lodge in Chasqui which is reknowned for its views of the mountain.   Chasqui isn't really a town and our hotel is 500m off the Pan-Americana, so the thought of catching a bus and then having to walk with big suitcases to the lodge did not appeal.  So we messaged the hotel and they arranged a lift for us. Cotopaxi is in an area called the Avenida de los volcanes, a name given by Alexander von Humboldt.  It runs for 200 km and has several active volcanoes en route.  Situated in Ecuadorian altiplano, Joan imagined a bare and desolate landscape, with barren snow capped volcanoes, like those in the north of Chile and Bolivia.  It was nothing like it. Our driv...
Read more

Saturday 10th January 2026: Ecuador - finally

Image
A few days ago a Facebook memory came up from January 2020.  We,d just got back from a three week holiday in St Kitts and Joan had already bought guidebooks for Ecuador, planning our Christmas 2020 adventure. Well, what a year that was, and little did we know world travel for us would be put on hold for four years. Since then, Ecuador has destabilised due to narcotic gangs and some areas are no longer safe to go to, but the lure of the smoking Andean volcanoes and the magical Galapagos Islands was still there. So, in June, we took the plunge and bought flights to Quito.  In between there have been some petrol blockades, four controversial referenda and night time curfews to muddy the waters, but our resolve was steadfast. For the record the four votes were: - to allow foreign countries (read the USA)  to have permanent military bases in Ecuador, including the Galapagos - ending state funding for political parties, which would disadvantage parties from poorer communitiess,...
Read more