We were to meet on the ship at 8 am, leave by 8:30. We arrived at 7:45 and were almost the last ones there! It was a group of 52, divided into 2 large buses so a lot of extra seats. We did not need to crowd in, that made it very comfortable. We started out immediately leaving the port town of Piraeus and past Athens. We started going through mountains and once over the coastal ones could see many covered in snow. Greece is the third most mountainous country in Europe after Norway and Albania. Who knew? The countryside was beautiful. We made several rest stops before arriving at our destination of Meteora. We first went to a restaurant for a nice Greek lunch. The tall spikes of stones were outide the windows. It was on top of these formations that they built monasteries hundreds of years ago. The rocks were filled with caves where hermits had lived for years, it was a beautiful place. At one time there were dozens of monasteries but now only 8 remained. Several had been turned into nunneries as they ran out of monks.
Our first stop was the difficult monastery, called this because of the 100+ steps to reach it. As I had pulled something in my back that morning on the ship I was dubious about making it to the top but the steps were even and I used Mel's walking stick to help me. At the very top there was a short bridge connecting the stairs to the rock where the monastery was perched. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take pictues. Part of the structure was less than 100 years old but the tiny sanctuary was hundreds of years old. It was covered with beautiful frescoes. Wish we could have taken pictures.
From there we went up higher into the mountains to the "easy" monastery. There was a bridge directly from the parking lot to the building. This one was much larger with living quarters and 2 churches. One was only for the nuns. The one that was open was again covered with beautiful frescoes. The view from the top was beautiful.
We headed back down the mountains to the small village of Kalambaka at the base of the rocks. We checked into our hotel then headed out to look around. There were a lot of restaurants and tourist shops, that was about it. We did some shopping then stopped for a small dinner. We had eaten lunch at 2:30 so were not very hungry. Mel had fried calamari, the best ever according to him. I had shrimp in a tomato sauce with peppers, onions and feta cheese. It was very good also. We went back to the hotel to use the Internet. We were excited to finally have some that we were not paying for by the minute. Unfortunately their internet was slower than the ship, very disappointing.
Some from our group, including Mel, met in the lobby at 8 to attend the Procession of the Assention. Greeks take their Easter seriously, celebrating for days. It was amazing that we were in Jeruselem for Easter then again for the Greek Orthodox Easter in Greece. The entire town seemed to have shown up for the procession. The old bishop was there along with other clergy. Mel said it was a great experience. I was happy to be resting my back but disappointed that I couldn't spend the time online.
Wake up calls were at 6:30, way too early for me. But we had gotten to sleep at a decent hour so it wasn't too bad. We had breakfast and were on the bus going to our next destination of Delfi by 8. We backtracked toward Athens then took a right onto a mountain pass road. The road was quite new. Our guide said the old road was a real challenge for buses. As it was, there were many hairpin turns. One turn did a loop with a bridge going over the same road. It was a beautiful drive with small villages and many olive trees along the way. Because of Easter it was a challenge for our guide to be sure we got to see everything. The monasteries had not opened until 3 the previous day. Delfi ( or Delphi in English) was to close at 2:30 so we needed to get there ASAP as there was a lot to see. Lunch would be after our visit.
We drove thru the town of Delfi where we would be spending the night, on to the museum and ruins. The museum was very nice with a lot of the sculptures found in the ruins of Delfi. There were very large ones which had once graced the tops of buildings down to tiny ones made of metal. There was also a lot of gold, most of it adornments for women. Our guide walked us thru giving commentary in each room. It was very interesting. After the museum we headed to the ruins themselves. This site was where a woman was put into a trance by fumes, becoming able to tell fortunes. They built a huge temple to The Oracle there with smaller buildings put up by various other cities. It was all on a hillside so all uphill to visit. Our guide took us as far as the large amplitheater then we were on our own if we wanted to continue up to the stadium. I think most of our group did that. The stadium had seats along one side with pedestals of some sort at one end. It was full of grass. Along the sides were covered with wild flowers, a good time to be visiting.
We met at the bus at 2:30 to continue on the mountain road to a Greek tavern for lunch. We passed thru a ski resort town which was interesting. It was packed with people and cars for the holiday. The bus had to stop a number of times to let cars pass. The road was very narrow. The restaurant was on the side of a hill so had a very good view. We were served about 5 different appetizers then a hamburger. It was an interesting meal. From there we went back thru the ski village and past the ruins to the town of Delfi where we spent the night.
The town was on a hill with 2 major one way streets, one up a lot higher than the other. Our hotel was at yet another street higher than the main ones. To get into town we had to walk down about 100 steps. Going back up would not be as easy. The Main Street had a lot of nice stores with ceramics and other souvenirs, nicer quality than those we visited in Kalambaka. At the far end of town we sat for a few minutes on a plaza overlooking the valley. It was beautiful. We could see a small portion of the sea from there as well as hundreds of olive trees in rows running the length of the valley. Also at the end of the village was a shop with the most beautiful ceramics we had seen in Greece. The shop keeper said they were made by an artist next door. They were copies of Greek pottery found in museums all over the world. Next door was the artist's store, his wife helped us. It was full, top to bottom with that beautiful pottery. What a talented man.
We headed back thru town then up the stairs. We could see the church down the street so walked in that direction rather than back to the hotel. There were a bunch of teenage boys tossing firecrackers over the rail to a plaza below. Guess teens are the same everywhere. The church was not open but it was pretty from the outside. We walked back to the hotel to use the Internet. It still was not very good but at least it worked in the lobby. We sat and used it for a bit then went to bed. We had another 6:30 wake up call in the morning. The Easter service here was at midnight so we missed it. Some in our group heard it so were out on their balconies to watch. They had firecrackers as well as fireworks. Amazing that we both slept thru it.
We were back in the bus and headed to Olympia before 8 the next day. It was a 4 hour ride. The ruins in Olympia were closed for Easter. Fortunately we had been the last time we were there. We went directly to a large restaurant where they were roasting lambs over coals. We had passed by a number of homes and businesses doing the same on our ride. They sacrifice the lamb for Easter. They had Greek dancers performing and a lot of food. They also had Internet so I spent almost the entire time online. It was a loud but nice lunch. We were back at the ship before 3 pm.
We dropped off our luggage in our cabin and immediately went out again to see the town of Katakolo. There wasn't much there but one street 2 blocks long. There were shops on each side. It was where ships come in to visit Olympia, not to see the town. We went back to the ship by 4, early for us. All aboard wasn't until 5:30! Greece is a beautiful country full of interesting places to visit. I am so glad that we gave it a second chance.
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