Meteora Greece

Last year in Croatia, Anton and Marija told me about Meteora.. after seeing their photos I knew I must go.  So from Ohrid Macedonia this will be my next stop, but first.... ANOTHER border crossing!  To date, all of my border crossings have been a breeze..  the only one that kept me extra long on a cold rainy day was Estonia of all places!  They are forgiven though, as I ended up loving that country...

Two things that really stood out to me while riding the northern roads of Greece are:  1) the tall rocky snowy mountains.. and 2) the amount of power plants.

I have seen too many advertisements for Greece and they all seem to show me ocean, sailboats and white churches.. never even imagine these snowy mountains .. surprise!

And for the power plants, I see them everywhere and often!  I don't know much about power plants, but I didn't realize they needed quite that many of them in a small area. It's hard to see in this photo below, but behind this obvious plant is another one in the distance just at the base of the mountain.. that's how close they are...

 

I also had no idea that I needed to keep an eye out for bears?!  Totally normal I'm sure, just wasn't something I thought about..  and I love these sign posts together as it makes even more sense the deer on the run and the bear on the hunt... ;-)  Turn around Mr. Bear.. he's going the other way!!

Aha, I think that the rock formations ahead must be Kalambaka (Meteora) coming up...

And what a beautiful day to be riding a motorcycle in Greece!!  Sometimes I wake up while I am riding, and I'm like.. "Hey!!  I'm in Greece, how cool is that!!??"  Still amazes me to be in a new country, even though I've been doing this for a while now.. 

Pretty dramatic landscape as I ride into Kalambaka (the main town for the area of Meteora).

I always love if I can find a place to stay outside of town.. as I love to experience country life more than the touristy center.. so I will first search this place out before I explore.

On the way, I spot my first Monastery on top of the rock in the photo below.  Meteora is a fascinating place and I learned most about it from this website.. which I used quite regularly for several places I visited in Greece.. Good job Matt Barrett! http://www.greecetravel.com/meteora/monasteries.html 

But in a quick nutshell, the monasteries were built high out of reach during the Turkish occupation of Greece and here the Monks were able to keep the Hellenic culture and traditions alive.. I also learned that although some of the monasteries still have a few practicing Monks, the majority have moved on due to the tourism disrupting their peace and study.  (guilt... gulp...)  Originally there were 20 monasteries, and only 6 remain today.

And another one!

















While I was parked taking photos, this very large man on a tiny little scooter that was puffing out serious amounts of purple smoke pulls up next to me.. I'm like, "Oh, no.."  He asks "You need a room?"  I smile and say I already have one.. He says, "You have reservation?", I say yes.. He says, "Pension Arsenis?"  I'm like, geez, this guy is psychic!  But I didn't want to answer him with a yes, but then told me he was expecting a lady on a motorcycle, and that would be me!!  You don't see many around here, so I expect I'm the one! ;-))

His name is Kostas, and his uncle says his nickname in English is "Bubba".. classic!  Kostas is as nice and helpful as you could imagine and it was amazing he finds me as I was looking for their place.. and had me follow him to the pension.. couldn't ask for better service than that!! I have grave concerns for that little scooter though.. it was not happy..  and I had the thought that after following so many men on this trip who have big BMW's, this is just a humorous change of scenery...

Lovely Kostas got me to my beautiful room in the country overlooking the mountains and to Kalambaka in the valley below.. his Mom made me a big meal and I settled in for the night.

Good to know they love motorcycle visitors here...

Next day I just rode around and enjoyed this amazing and most unique place I have ever seen on this planet..and without much explanation, here are the photos of the day..

I was just wondering how they get the grass on top of this one so nicely groomed.. ??

Spring in Meteora.. just divine.... literally!

Varlaam Monastery

These roads are sooo fun..!

It's amazing how they built these structures and I was curious how they attached to the rock.. keep in mind that every stone, brick, wooden beam, roof tile, AND PERSON was hoisted up by somebody in a bucket.

Rousseau Monastery

Okay, I hope you've enjoyed a little tour around Meteora.. it gets top marks for one of my favorite places I seen so far..

Next stop, Delphi (Delphos) Greece!