That High Mountain (12/06/11)

Dellas Hotel here has the biggest breakfast spread we have seen so far - but unfortunately we had to only have a quick bite and cup of tea before we caught the only local bus up one of the mountains to the Great Meteora Monastery. Meteora is a huge area of rocks / mountains that sit up as lone pinnacles on the edge of the plain of Thessaly. The rocks are similar in everything but colour to Uluru / Katja Tjutja, just a lot narrower but higher. We spent the next 90 min looking around at the displays of how the monks lived in these buildings from the 1400's onwards; a folk museum displaying info from the wars that affected this area ; displays of religious icons dating back to the middle ages ; as well as the monastery buildings and the magnificent views. We then walked on a bit further to the Varlaam Monastery, which had some smaller displays but equally good views ; then we set off down the mount on a secret monks trail that took us on foot through the forest to the next monastery, the Monastery of St Nicholas Anapafsas. The walk was great, although the trail was quite rough in places but it was a trek that few people do. Unfortunately there was then a very steep climb on tired legs up to the Monastery for a quick look, then off down the mount again as the storm clouds gathered. Heavy rain saw us take shelter under trees for 15 minutes, but then it was clear enough for us to descend to ground level and the town of Kastraki. Walking through the town, the rain started again so we decided it was time for lunch, ducking into a local restaurant that had an open oven in the outside serving area where the meats were slowly cooked on skewers over a smoky low fire. We had a great meal of chicken, pork souvlaki and stuffed tomatoes washed down with an Alfa beer. With the rain pretty much gone, we walked on to Kalambaka where our hotel is, and enjoyed an afternoon siesta after all the walking. After a big lunch, dinner was subdued : Carmel settling for a potato salad and I had an eggplant salad with grilled swordfish. A jug of Rose helped quench out thirst ; then another thing I had been waiting to try on our trip - a local ouzo. Served with ice, it was very nice. Tomorrow is forecast back to 30 degrees, and we are planning a longer trek to one of the other monasteries in the rocks the other side of Kalambaka.