We made it on the train and it was packed! Our first experience with the Eurail pass went well though. No reservation fee, and we got on the train in a jiffy! It was pretty comfortable too as well. Harmon made friends with a Greek girl who started teaching him English.
When we arrived in Meteora, we weren't met by "restaurant wranglers" on the street, but rather, by "room wranglers." However we were able to get a cheap room right under the cliffs for a killer price!
METEORA: 25 million years of Mother Nature combined with the religious fervor of 14th century Eastern Orthodox monks. Cliffs sculpted and weathered by time rise up over 1800 feet high and these monks thought, "What better place to build some monasteries??" The results are truly breathtaking, as these edifices hang on the edges of the rock faces. There are 24 monasteries in all, with 6 remaining today.
Our experiences are as follows:
14:15 Arrive in Meteora
15:20 Discover we missed the last bus (€1.40) up to the monasteries for the day
15:30 Decide to hike up ourselves
15:45 Stop for our 87th water break
15:55 Hear a rustle in the bushes, only to spot a speedy friend
16:30 Arrive at Monastery 1 (locally known as Agia Trias)
17:00 Hike to Monastery 2 (Agios Stefanos)
17:45 Decide we might as well hike to the other monasteries 3km away. Like a boss. This time using the road. Harmon actually tried hitchhiking and was denied...
18:30 Soak in the view...
We hiked back down, passing through Kastriki before arriving once again in Kalambaka, the city under Heaven.
20:30 Ate pork souvlaki and Greek salad, making friends with a traveling couple from Australia!
Followed up by homemade Ferrero Rocher from the corner pastry shop...Mmmmm
Don't be afraid to go with a "room wrangler" and check out his room. You can always say no.
If you aren't up for a 5+ mile hike, then take the bus or cab. If you are, you will NOT regret the spectacular views available at every turn!
Camelbacks, or similar products, are amazingly useful, especially when walking around for hours each day!! And the Greeks are amazed by it! Or humored...we've seen both reactions.
So, Harmon, I did some more looking around on the "BYU Translate" app I told you about. It also has a feature where once you make the translation, you can click on a button and a voice on your iPad will say the translated phrase aloud in the foreign language. It is pretty impressive! Just think, you can use it to get directions, ask about local attractions, or in restaurants. I looked up one phrase you can use right away right there in Greece:
ReplyDeleteΈχετε μπισκότα και σάλτσα σουβλάκι
Use this at one of your next restaurant trips. It means: "Do you have any biscuits and gravy souvlaki?" It will work great! Try BYU Translate!
--CN in Bonners Ferry
You guys are awesome! We totally would have hiked too!
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