Antoniades Hotel Kalambaka

... an incredibly rugged valley until we reached Kalambaka.<br><br>The rocky outcrops that the Metéora Monasteries are built on look completely different then the surrounding countryside. It was cool to see them get closer and closer as we approached. We flew over the region and then landed in Kalambaka where a driver and guide met us.<br><br>We went to Great Metéoroan first, which is the largest and the tallest ...

... it was the Ossuary which housed all the dead monks over the centurys bones and skulls this was the most interesting bit. After looking round for an hour it was time to go as not much more to see although the views from the top are pretty spectacular. I should really give you a bit of history but I dont know the exact dates I just know that the Greek monks built them and kept the Greek language alive up there when the turks had taken over the country even ...

... 7 euro which is really 7 whole english pounds I dont think I am ever going to get over it but was in that much shock just paid and off we went. Must also say that everyone here so far has been very grumpy not sure whats in the water and hope it gets better this evening. We are planning on something nice to eat but now 7 euro short so will be just main couses and water I think. We are finding that Greece has gone really expensive in parts so ...

<br><br>Stunning setting: Meteora is an area with fantabulous outcrops of rock, smooth, sculpted almost, on top of which have been built these extraordinary monasteries. Access was only by dangling ropes, way back - for security purposes. How they hauled up the building materials staggers the imagination! Thankfully, the road goes all the way up them all, now. We scoot around them, preferring to view from ...

... ranges.<br><br><br><br>Despite what other English-speaking tourists &amp; ourselves agreed seemed a disorganised start to the day, the Greeks remained fairly laid-back about proceedings, and we relaxed into what we guessed was the norm for them!<br><br><br><br><br>Once we arrived at the ruins of Delphi, amid some wonderful scenery up &amp; down mountainous roadways, with huge valleys appearing at every turn, we were once again blown away by the ...

... you going now? he asked. because it was getting dark and cold. Just drop us off at the freeway we are going to hitch up to the pretty mainland beaches we said we found out he was driving all the way back to trikala where his parents are from so we went with him because that gets us out of the small town and to a bigger city where we can find rides. When we got there he said, look if you want me to buy a hotel thats okay. Yeah right I thought, why would ...

... eventually some of these were turned to convents) were gorgeous... beautiful paintings, etc. These were the first montheistic sanctuaries in the region, so they have particular social importance as well as just being amazingly beautiful (and precarious!). <br><br>Oh, did I mention it is over 130 steps up to get to the friggin place? (Unfortunately for you and fortunately for me they installed visitor-friendly stairs around 1900, so no death-basket for me!). We had to hike through a ...

... at the top fading in and out of view with passing fog. This introduction was appropriate for the beautiful murals and ikons of the monastery itself. It was a wonderful place - a man-made holy site on top of a natural one. Our plan had been to try to see as many of the six active monasteries as possible in one day, and have a picnic lunch along the way. I had carted along some wine, cheese ...

... prime, with gleaming life-size and oversize bronze and marble offerings standing within the sacred precinct, sculpted friezes, columns and other architectural elements and painted buildings. The ancients tended to paint their buildings inside and out as well as their statues. The white purity moderns tend to associate with this time period is a result of the paint having faded or washed away. This place was once as bright, beautiful and ...

... I regret not turning around to visit this famous site, scene of the last stand of the 300 Spartans under King Leonidas. We leave the motorway, which carries on to the Turkish border. The road is now standard two-way and we follow relatively flat fertile land to the town of Trikala. Fernando is the navigator, but we are both disoriented for a while in the residential streets of this town until we reencounter ...