Meteora (July 19)

Meteora (July 19)

Once I actually got out of bed around 7:15 this morning, the pressing matter was to find a skirt or dress that covered my knees for the monasteries. I had only brought pants, but tried pulling everything down as low as possible to reach my knees. I ended up successful in a bright blue Gap dress, and Thank God, because the skirts they had at the entrance were awful! They were like dark, faded, plaid aprons. Ew.

Meteora is an amazing formation of rocks that developed under water. They are just massive rock mountains that used to be inhabited by hermits until 1336, when monks took over and built monasteries right into the top of the foundations. It is pretty incredible, as they are built right into the side of the rocks. Everything else around is very mountainous terrain, overlooking the towns below.

It was another gorgeous day; sunny as usual, but extremely hot – probably around 105 degrees. We did lots of walking and even more stair-climbing to get up to the monasteries, so sweated tons. It was just dripping down my back, face, legs … you name it. More brutal was the fact that I had to throw a sweater over my shoulders to be allowed inside. Both churches were very small and the walls covered with meticulously detailed frescoes. There was a strict “no photos” rule in effect, so I can only speak of what I saw. In the second monastery, all 24 of us crammed into a very small side room and I got so hot and claustrophobic that my professor suggested, in front of the whole group, that I step out.

We stopped in the village below Meteora for an hour-and-forty-five-minutes to walk around and have a big group lunch, since Niki and Demetra were leaving right after. We picked a taverna only because it was the most convenient and it ended up being a great choice! They said we would go into the kitchen to look at the food and then pick out what we wanted to eat. So we all piled in and this little, old Greek woman (who reminded me so much of my great-grandmother) came out to tell us about all of the dishes. The smell brought back such memories; it was like being in the kitchen during the Easter holiday when I was a kid. I settled on a vegetable ratatouille with rice and potatoes – the orange kind. It was delicious, and the little woman came around to all of our tables to make sure we were enjoying it! Such an authentic experience.

Then we had the rest of the day free so spent some quality time out by the pool. I stayed out less then two hours because it was just so hot. No matter how much I jumped in the pool, I just sat there baking in the sun. Eventually I came inside, showered, and just started working on my photo project. The theme I’ve finally decided on is: … arches. They are a big part of the architecture here, mainly because of the Roman and Byzantine influences. But I just think they’re really pretty and fun to photograph, so I’m going to do a sort of “History through the Arches” type thing – a look at all of the sites and towns through arches.

Dinner was at 8 PM as usual and this was our last buffet! I think we all ate like it was our execution meal because many stomachs were distended after dessert. Katula had a brief 30-minute meeting in the piano lounge to fill us in on the details over the next two weeks since we are officially at the halfway point. It sounds absolutely amazing … I am so excited for every day until we go home. Thessaloniki is up by Macedonia, so I am looking forward to learning more about the history between the two countries. Crete is going to be so cool – it is the southern most point of Europe, only 115 kilometers from AFRICA! And Santorini … need I say more?

I’m just lying in bed now. Last night I drank a lot of wine and only got six hours of sleep so I think I’m just hanging in on my own for the time being. I kind of have a sore throat too, so I’m going to pack up, maybe watch some TV and get to bed. Gotta rest up for the crazy Thessaloniki night life!

We leave tomorrow morning at 8:30 AM and have a four-and-a-half-hour bus ride. We will have wireless internet again so I cannot wait to post all of these blogs!

14 days down, 15 to go!