Finishing Greece with nature

Weekly Update

I write this sitting at our freshly steamed desk in our Athens hotel room, we just spent 6 days experiencing the beauty of Meteora before arriving back to the city last night after taking the 5 hour train ride back to town. Meteora is a place is full of sacredness via the monasteries and breathtaking nature, it was also quite relieving to be away from the dourness of the past few weeks in Athens. All in all I am quite ready to leave Greece in a few short hours and take this adventure to the beaches and jungles of Sri Lanka.

*Update actually finishing this in a beachside room in Sri Lanka - since the travel days became too busy leaving Athens.

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Meteora Adventure

We started this past week leaving the Athens apartment with the lingering fear of new bed bug bites and obsessive cleaning and checking for any evidence of them (which there was). After a frantic walk to catch our train we boarded with a cloud of ick as the city slowly dissolved behind us. The train ride took us as far as it could before we had to transition to a bus to reach our final destination, the city of Kalambaka - or the more well known geographical term, Meteora. Surrounding this town are incredible rock formations which the famous monasteries sit upon.

Day 1 included exploring the town for sunset and getting a traditional Greek meal for dinner plus grocers for the week. Our apartment was new seeming, clean, and spacious, with views of the monasteries straight from our balcony so we felt a little more at ease from the last accommodation but fully taking the proper precautions due to new evidence of bugs before leaving. That precaution included Emily getting more information from a pest control specialist at home, and buying a handheld steamer to deep clean our unwashable belongings (backpacks, suitcases, shoes, etc). Also a thorough check of all surfaces before doing anything in the apartment and us keeping all our belongings in plastic garbage bags on the balcony (for the whole week).

Our first morning waking up from this new space was less dower than any morning we have had so far so the excitement was quite alive as we laced up our hiking shoes and hit the road before the sun fully crested. We set off through town with the aim to get to the largest and oldest of the monasteries, the Great Meteoran. As we hit the forest paths, climbing up nearly 1100 feet we found the history we were seeking, only once we arrived to the gate outside we found out this monetary was under construction and closed to the public for the rest of February. Low season it seems is the perfect time for them to work on the buildings and do maintenance. We still got amazing photos of the outside as the sun crested higher and set off to the next closest, and possibly most stunning monastery, Varlaam.

I should mention that all of the monasteries require modest dress attire, men need long pants and at least a t-shirt on covering the shoulders, woman need items covering their knees, not including pants, so you need a dress or skirt over the top of your pants or shorts. Each monastery does provide you with a free cover, which is quite nice. Also covering your shoulders as well.

The Varlaam monastery has an in-depth museum and stunning art, on top of its architectural design. Situated on small individual steep peaks these monasteries are work of wonders. The innermost chapel area has the most intricate and detailed paintings and artwork, completely jaw dropping. Being the most holy areas, and to deter tourist, you are unable to take photographs inside this area and all I can say my eyes were quite in disbelief at the designs and craftsmanship. Especially with how ancient these monasteries are and the remoteness.

The sun was shining and we decided to take the last energy we had to hike over and visit the nunnery known as St. Barbara Roussanou. We found incredible rose flavored Turkish delight and artwork all hand made by the nuns. The Turkish delights we savored all week long, they were beyond delicious and I don't know any better candy I have had. At the nunnery we also delighted in their unique paintings and views from the square. Finishing out our trail we scoped out some panoramic views for sunrise photographs and found the Holy trinity monastery closed for the day, so we planned to see that tomorrow along with two more to finish out us visiting all six open to the public.

We took this day easier by setting off in the afternoon and checking out the Holy Trinity and St. Stephen monasteries both of which offered stunning views of the town, surrounding rocks, and had many active nuns working on the premises. St. Stephen had he largest church we could enter with the most incredible chandelier and paintings. Catching sunset on our way back to town we wandered through the square and other places that we had not been before and continued our nightly food grab from a local fast food Gyro place, delicious and cheap before calling it a night.

On our 4th Metora day was a venture back to nature on some further afield trails as a hike to the smallest and least opened monastery (due to construction) St. Nicholas and with a stunning glimpse outside of the Ypaninis monastery which was not opened to the public, but had monks actively living there and seemed to be floating due to its construction on the side of a rock face. We got awe inspiring views from the natural landscapes and caught an amazing sunset.

The following morning was an early sunrise adventure, setting off at 5:45 am, making the steep trek to an amazing panoramic view I spotted after visiting the Roussanou nunnery. Today's weather was forecasted to be sunny without clouds, so I wanted to make the most of that with an epic sunrise photoshoot. I spotted a fox during the hike and we got a brush of some quite chilly temperatures during the dark hike upwards. We also made friends with a cold kitty that followed us to the sunrise point and hung around our feet until the sun fully rose. Taking in our last moments from this peak with gratitude - the feeling of peace and relief of the time spent here was quite wonderful as we journeyed back to the apartment to prepare for our journey back to Athens. The understanding that both Emily and I are not city people and that our hearts crave natural landscapes helped with the momentum of extreme ups and downs that Greece provided throughout our time there.

Final Thoughts

After a travel day to Athens, packing, delayed flights and now experiencing the city of Colombo, in Sri Lanka, I have thought about Greece and what it means to be leaving the country and moving forward. I know the bed bug situation set a negative precedence towards my forever view of the country, also the amount of time we booked in Athens after coming from the dreamy city of Lisbon. I think my travel desire to learn more history isn't as strong as it used to be, compared to my desire to be lost in nature. That could also be due to the fact that I have just come from an amazing summer in Washington State where I natured hard. The sightseeing and learning about a new place are still an integral part of me, just less. I would be more content to do a quicker tourist trip for those things, see all that could be seen, versus a longer experience in a place. Unless I can nature a lot.

Sri Lanka the plan is beach and some sightseeing - but it might just be beach because after today we are so appreciative to have been able to swim in the ocean and understand that it is a unique thing to be able to do. So we might take some of our hiking and jungle sightseeing off the table to enjoy a couple more days on the coast. It also would save a bit, since the small trails are all obligatory to have a guide and getting up to the northern side of the island where we could just end closer to Colombo for our flight out. Things to think about over the next few days but overall I am feeling good with this shift from Greece and getting stoked for how close it is to get back to Bali!

Thanks for all your support, following along, reading and taking part in this journey. Hopefully I can get some more thing streamlined and life sorted out a bit to pick this up again and share great travels and life stories. Appreciate everything!

-Sheridan

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Sheridan C. Chasing horizons and capturing untamed beauty. Let's embark on rugged journeys together!

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