Monasteries of Meteora

Not content with the previous day's torture, we tackled another 12km walk today. Our aim was to walk to all six of the monasteries at Meteora (well technically 2 were convents with nuns). Our apartment was only 350m away from the start of the trail but it was uphill all the way. Muscles, ligaments and joints already destroyed by Mount Olympus felt every single step. The seemingly never ending uphill trek fortunately came to a stop at the first monastery, Holy Trinity. From here the gradient changes were manageable and most of the walk was on the road which made it much much easier. Our main adversary today was heat. We started at 0745 but by 0900 it was already hot. 

We won't bore you with all the details of our walk...but we did make it! As much as an achievement as it was, we probably would have hired e-bikes if we had to do it again. Only the hike up to the first monastery and the hike down from the last was not on roads. It would have been easier to coast on bicycles...

0745 start

Looking back at Kalambaka

Yes we needed a rest after 15 minutes because the ascent was so steep!

We made it! One!

Holy Trinity, the iconic one in pictures of the monastery perched on a tall hunk of rock

Two!

St Stephen one of 2 convents

Three! Roussanou, the second convent

Four!

Varlaam the second highest

Five! Great Meteoron, the highest and the biggest

Last but not least...six! St Nicholas Anapausas

Lunchtime!

Tomato and capsicum stuffed with rice and other goodies

There were many resources on the hikes and monasteries. The one that we thought was the most useful and the we used was this one which included a map, photos and a handy description of the path. The other useful site was one which described photo locations. Beware if you want good sunset photos, you would have to get to your spot early if you don't want people in your shots...

Lunch was at Gardenia, another recommendation by one of our guides, at Kastraki. The food was tasty and cheap. We had the best stuffed tomatoes ever. The rest of the afternoon was the boring necessity of laundry, showers and rest! We finished off the day at Restaurant Meteora, another winner recommendation!

Still smiling

Something about adding dried fruit and pomegranate to a salad that makes it tasty

Eggplant saganaki. So good

Grandma's meatballs. Amazing! The potatoes were the yummiest

To appreciate how high we climbed...on the left most rock (right on the very right edge) was Holy Trinity. On the right most rock (right on the left edge) was St Stephen. Our apartment was the white building to the right of the pole