Famissi Eden Kalambaka

We flew to Metéora today to see the Monasteries. The flight didn't take very long at all, less than an hour. We essentially followed a highway, the E 90 all the way there. It was an amazingly beautiful flight. We flew over Lake Ioannina and through a mountain pass where we followed a river and the highway to another narrow pass near a valley with Lake Aoos at the north end of it. From here we just followed the river ...

... it was forbidden to speak Greek. There are about 6 at various places down the rock formations. <br><br>Now the bus was not due for another 3 hours and I asked Ian what we were going to do until then and he thought that it would be nice to walk down the hill to the next monastry I did not think that was a good idea as it was sheer cliff face and buses where hurtling up the road taking it all up and I was scared I was going to get knocked off the edge ...

... room for 35 euros right in the centre of town. The woman on the counter barked orders at us Ian thought she was the headmistress and off we went to our room. We have just been having a look around and buying some supplies as we have no deodrant or cigarettes and we are buying the usual postcards to send. Its sunday and could not find a supermarket or mini market open so ended up in a pharmacy and saw some deodrant imagine my face when she ...

... outside rather than enter. Know we are missing some rare religious artefacts, but this is reckoned to be one of the most visited sites in all Greece, and there is certainly no let-up in coach traffic!<br>Lazy day in the camping afterwards. Brit couple in their 60's pass by with all the gear for climbing dangling from their belts: very impressive.<br>Weather shuts in somewhat... so, noses in books time.

This morning we were picked up by our bus at the hotel, and taken to a central city redistribution point, where the various half-day, full-day &amp; 2 &amp; 3-day tours commenced from. Once on the right bus for our 2-day trip to see Delphi ruins, &amp; Meteora monasteries, we made our way out of the sprawling Athens &amp; into the countryside littered with cotton fields (7th largest producer in the world!) and olive plantations, amidst large &amp; seemingly ...

... the day we also got to see the cool cable system/cart thing that they use to transport important people and goods across the huge gorge). We stood to take pictures, taking our time, then headed to the next monastery, but we got sidetracked taking pictures (again) on cliffs and rocks. <br><br>We finally made it to the second monastery and got to go inside this one. It was very cool inside. We got to see monks (they were ordering around the construction workers ...

... rose in front of our eyes. The scenery along the winding stretch of road leading to the monasteries is a prelude to the breathtaking view that is to be revealed. Unfortunately, there are not many spots where you can stop to admire the landscape and make photos, like this one Soon we reached a junction where one way lead to Agia Triada and St.Stephan, and another - to the other 4 ...

... of things to keep the visitors occupied: 600 year old churches, wine cellars, a carpenter's work shop, and even an ancient kitchen.  Something we didn't expect was the effort they have made to embrace tourism.  They have wonderfully rich museums on site as well as gift shops to ensure each tourist has the opportunity to take home something to remember.  The amount of tourism did seem a little odd ...