Meteora- Mysticism, Monks, and a little 007

There's an expression in Greek- όνομα και πράμα- it means the name and the thing are one. Meteora means "suspended." Geologically and spiritually, it hovers somewhere between heaven and earth- the perfect place for a Monastery. Or twelve. We are on a tour with Meteora Thrones of all the monasteries that remain- six- two of which are convents. The landscape is otherworldly. You need time to take it in and happily we did that with a hiking tour. That started at the first and largest of the Monasteries- Grand Meteora. A monk from Mt. Athos founded the Monastery in the 14th C (carried by an Eagle, legend has it), and others followed. If you had time to visit just one Monastery, this might be the one to see- it is the least contemplative but there is the most to see- two things that go hand in hand. But if you want to feel the (eternal) past, this is the place. The Church is magnificent but no more so than the others. The Monastery has a lot to see- the things of life- kitchens vessels and tools for making wine,

vinegars, yogurt, 

bread 

Things of death- an ossuary filled with skulls in tidy rows. 

And things of eternity- a beautiful church- rebuilt lavishly in the 16th C. All the churches we see share the same distinctive mood- unlike any other churches I have visited. They have an unusually narrow and high dome, and entirely covered surfaces in rich and dark iconography. Martyrdoms- sometimes graphic, are often depicted in the forechamber, and in the central sanctuary is the life of Christ in beautiful easy to follow narrative detail, a graphic novel of the sacred.

Photography inside the Church is not permitted, 

This discrete slice is taken through a window.

There is also a museum of things of the secular world- Meteora was not untouched by the second world war- 

Painting from the Museum at Grand Meteora

And the Nazis were not untouched by Meteora. 

From the terraces, we can see Varlaam:

famous for its twelve-ton water tank

and dizzying height of its tower- a winch and net bag hoisted supplies, building materials and even the monks themselves.

We have already visited one of the two convents- St. Stephen- on our sunset tour. Now we visit Roussanou, perhaps the most fairy-tale like of the Monasteries. 

The access is simple but thrilling- a path and stairs lead to a short but dizzingly high bridge

The nuns are sweeter than the monks- literally- they keep bees, and the honey (chestnut!) they sell is delicious. They also have children's books in their gift shop and paint tiny rocks as a memento/talisman. 

Grand Meteora is the most prominent monastery, but it is Agia Triada (Holy Trinity)- the most free-standing of all the monasteries and the most difficult to reach- is the most famous (007 defies death from its cliffs in the film For Your Eyes Only- see the clip here). Art sometimes imitates life, and sometimes doesn't even come close. Taking the conventional path up to Agia Triada- basically a narrow walkway etched into the cliff face- is all kinds of drama.

The tunnels and stairs lead to an enclosed area- you enter Agia Triada and then it opens up again to the broadest vistas we have seen our whole trip-

That wall on the lower right? It's to contain soil for the tree, not to contain us.

This is the largest and most wild of open areas, much of it uncontained 

I discover I have no particular fear of heights

We visit the church, and see all the things we are supposed to see, but we spend most of our visit outside, suspended, somewhere between heaven and earth, enjoying the meaning of the word Meteora.

More on Meteora-

Living Meteora- a hiking tour

The Best Sunset in Greece 

Travel Bloggers Greece have Meteora Thrones Tours to thank for this fabulous experience. All opinions are my own. It was wonderful.

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The Best Sunset in Greece

It's a risky claim. And actually, we were there on a semi cloudy day. But Meteora is a unique geological event, with a unique sunset, in contrast to the classic apricot sun sinking into the Aegean postcard sunsets. Perfect as they are, we've got these all over the place- they're like sweet tomatoes in July. So the Best Sunset in Greece is in majestic Meteora, a phenomenal place to be at any time of the day.

A group of friends and I (Travel Bloggers Greece) have been invited to write about the beauties of the region. Our hosts- Meteora Thrones Tours- have a sunset tour. This makes sense- our guide grew up here and knows how the light plays over every facet of the rocks throughout the day. It turn out that stone mountains that have stood here tens of millions of years are as changeable and dynamic as the seas.

The views on the way up are fantastic- much of Meteora is best seen from the road and the walls of our bus are entirely of glass. We come to a meadow and walk to the cliff face. A flock of crows fills the sky and then we come to them- straight up are the most rudimentary of shelters- for nearly a thousand years, and until relatively recently (just 200 years ago), these were the cave dwellings of hermits.

They would live decades on the sparest of diets, an unchanging view, and without ever seeing a human face, crows such as fly overhead now their only company. In the ever sweetening light of late afternoon, we visit the convent of St. Stephen. 

Women were not permitted in Meteora until the 1950's. Then a monastery caught fire, all the men were faraway in the fields, and the women of the village saved it from burning. Women are welcome since then, and a few years after that, nuns were granted St. Stephen (Of the 12 monasteries thriving in the beginning of the Ottoman empire, several had been abandoned over the years). With so many nuns (42- one of the monasteries has but a single monk), this is one of the most vibrant of the monasteries we visit. The nuns are multi-lingual, articulate, gracious- and we leave there well-informed thanks to their openness. We had the opportunity to muse on the expressions of spirituality- the severe isolation of the hermits, the convivial serenity of the nuns. The sunset unexpectedly followed these same thoughts.

The shadows are lengthening in the valley below, and we have the shortest of drives to the top of a cliff, terrifyingly high, but a ground rough and secure under our feet, large enough to spread out and enjoy a sense of solitude and contemplation. We do, briefly, but then get caught up in taking pictures of the view to share, and of each other,

and of each other taking pictures of the view (after all, we are travel bloggers, not hermits). 

The beauty of it all brings us together; this is a sunset you want to ooh and ah over- you want to have friends to share it with. On the shelf of the cliff below, students have come with a picnic and beers to watch the gold and purple deepening, the green valley dizzyingly far below, the Pindos mountains white with snow in the distance. 

This is a sunset that's not so much about the sun as about the planet- earth has never looked more exotic than it does from up here. And it also ends up being more about community than it does about solitude.

We dined very happily at Taverna Gardenia that night- classic food, nice wine, and an enormous mulberry tree outside. We talked about Meteora- history, nature, and, of course, the sunset.

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Living Meteora- Hiking through a Geological Wonder

I'm at the intersection of arrow straight roads in a flat and orderly town. We're sitting outside at a chic cafe- soft lighting, Miles Davis at a discrete volume- chatting with our amiable hosts. Across from us is total chaos- the calm flat plain ends abruptly in a series of sharp cliffs, tall enough that I take the lone light of a convent atop one of them for a star. Tens of millions of years ago- much before the dinosaurs- this whole area was a lake. Then, the bottom of the lake with its aeons' worth of sedimentary layers- fossils embedded in them- was thrust hundreds of meters into the sky. How long did this take? "A space of hours, if not minutes."-  Dimitris, our guide, grew up right here. He still seems at least as awed as the rest of us.

By the subtle lighting of night, we can only make out their scale. My room at the Hotel Famissi faces them, and in the dramatic dawn light they take shape- very YvesTanguy. Winds rougher than any on the planet today sculpted them into wondrous shapes. 

Meteora is second only to the Parthenon in popularity. People come not just for the unique geological event but for the Monasteries- improbably set on the tops of the rocks since the 14th C. I'm here with a group of friends- Travel Bloggers Greece- and we've been kindly invited by Meteora Thrones Tours to experience the region in all its variety and splendor. I have been to Meteora once before, on a day trip. I remembered being impressed, but it is a general impression. Now I know why- Meteora is vast, intense, frankly bizarre, and it is difficult to take in at a glance, or even an afternoon. You need time simply to live it, let the majesty of it in all its aspects sink in. Many visitors to Greece come on the morning train from Athens, with tickets booked on the last train back in order to spend the afternoon. They always exclaim they had no idea how impressive it would be, and that they ought to have planned to stay the night. Our hosts have arranged an itinerary to let the majesty of it unfold over two days.

There is a great advantage of having a guide who grew up next to Meteora. Dimitri has  a keen sense of the life of the place- the shifting moods of light and weather, the times of day each place is seen to its advantage, how to embrace the drama of the changing moods of weather and nature. Out first of three planned tours is the Meteora hike, ideal for quite literally grounding us in the vastness of the landscape. 

We start at the aptly named Great Meteora- the largest of the Monasteries with by far the most to see- in addition to the Chapel there are exhibitions of tools for the making of wine and vinegar, the old kitchens, a war museum, and an ossuary. Ossuary not withstanding, what it lacks in a contemplative atmosphere it makes up for in interest- it is easy to imagine the daily lives of the monks over the centuries. Our mountaineering guides, Vanna and Christos, keep us company, and when we have seen all, we begin our hike. Great Meterora is reachable by a long path of more than 300 deep stairs of wood and earth. 

Varlam from Great Meteora

We start our hike descending the same path the monks used for centuries into a lush valley,

pausing at a vast plane tree (this is a small portion of it- a woman with arms turned branches like Daphne there in the middle), the tree illustrating musings on faith, its common roots, and the branches diverging from one another. There is a scared mood in every leaf of the place, more here than in the displays of the monastery.

Varlam from the valley below

From here we climb back up a path just rocky and uneven enough to make it feel like a hike rather than a walk, and steep enough that we arrive at Varlam monastery with heightened color. We get an espresso from a cart, some souvenirs from stalls, and carry on, this time all the way down the mountain. We take in the vistas-

The vista from a meadow. That's Jelena of Serbian Girl in Greece

and the geology-

A crevice cut by centuries of rain water.
The black moss covering the rocks turned green the next day
after a light morning rain.

The shapes, textures, and colors of the composite limestone

the wildlife that keeps us company-

and we eat flower petals, 

Elena of Passion for Greece tries the petal of a flowering quince tree.

velvety tangy green almonds, wild mint, and drink from a stream so clear you would only know it's there from the blossoms floating on it-

The hiking tour is a great way to experience the vastness, to know what it is to be here. After living the landscape, we are ready to engage with new levels of a complex experience. About four hours later are back in a comfortable bus with enormous windows- glowing from the exercise, excited about everything we have seen, and very hungry. To go with one of the best views I have seen in my life, I have one of the best dishes (seriously, the best thing I have eaten so far in 2016)-

a melting, rich, delicate eggplant saganaki, the house specialty made by Kiria Palmyra of Meteora Restaurant, who treated us to a lunch of homestyle chic regional classics. You don't expect a charming restaurant with a great view in the center of a town built around tourism to have fabulous food, but sometimes, everything is absolutely perfect.

Our hosts- the Meterora Thrones Team.

Travel Bloggers Greece were hosted by Meteora Thrones Tours and the Famissi Hotel (there is also a Famissi Eden- 4 stars, nice pool). Opinions my own (incredible tours, and I would pay to stay at the Famissi- courteous, comfortable bed, great view, and the best shower of any hotel I have been at in a long time.)

You can find Meteora Thrones Tours on fb too-

https://www.facebook.com/meteoratourontime

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