Day 24 Visit to the Meteora Monasteries then travel to Athens

This morning started early with a pick up from my B&B by the Visit Meteora Travel company.  Small group.  We learnt that the monastery’s were all but one built in the 13th centuary and the last one built in the 14th.

So, the question is, how on earth did they build them up on top of these rocks all those many years ago and how were these rocks formed?   Jim, our enthusiastic and good looking tour guide, explained that the rocks were formed through the interaction of water washing stones and rock down from the mountains mixing with lime stone and hey presto cement.  These monoliths are actually huge blocks of cement that sat on two tectonic plates which over time have moved and erupted causing them to look how they do now.  The monastery’s were built on them so that the monks could get away from the Ottoman invaders, with their Muslim ways,  and live with their Christian Orthodox traditions rather than be forced to convert to Muslim.  So they asked the locals of the area to help them by climbing the rocks and build the monastery’s.  Starting with a tower with a pulley system to pull up all the building materials.  Today you access the monastery’s by climbing loads of steps - be prepared, there are many!

At one time there were over 40 monastery’s but only a few now remain, 3 of which since the 1960’s are occupied by nuns.  Women were until 1930 never allowed in the monastery’s, it was totally a men only domain, even for visitors.  However, ther monks were out working and one of the monastery’s caught fire, the only people close enough were women - so the choice was either to allow women to help put out the fire or let the monastery burn down - since then women have been allowed to visit the monastery’s.

Only a handful of monks live in the Monastery’s now and in the Monastery of St Nicholas, only one monk.

After the tour,  I had a bit of lunch and waited at the B&B for my taxi to the station at 5.  The journey itself was uneventful until I was waiting for a taxi at the Athens end.  There I was awaiting my turn at the rank and a taxi (yellow cab with taxi sign so looked like a proper taxi) pulls up behind the rank and the guy got out and comes up to me (I’m second in line at this point) and offers to take me.  I point to the family in front of me and say it’s their turn, the guys says no he will take me, I say no you won’t  it’s their turn not mine and why aren’t you in the right place.  He shouts something and goes off without any passengers - very odd!!!!!!

I have an apartment booked near the Acropolis so quite central for the sights.  I arrived there at 11.30 pm - the poor agent had been waiting for an hour and a half for me.