Descending
and ascending all the steps into Great Meteora Monastery is no small chore.
Walking down the blacktop highway 400 meters to Varlaam Monastery, in full sun, is guaranteed to take its toll. The last few hundred stairs and steps
into/through/and back out of that monastery put us all in a mood to find two
things: five ice cream bars and a taxi back to Kalambaka for lunch! (In that
order—sometimes you need to eat dessert first!)
As we
purchased the ice cream bars, we noticed a vacant taxi nearby. Not knowing who
the driver was, we inquired with the ice cream vendor, who understood enough
English to help find the driver. It is not easy to find taxis up on the cliffs.
Although plentiful in the valley, most drivers do not linger in hopes of
finding a fare back down. The few drivers who park and remain outside the
monasteries, do so because they have clients inside who have paid a steep
premium for the taxi to wait for them, and take them either to the next
monastery or back down the mountain.
We
suspected that the driver who came forward to offer us a trip down had other
clients inside, because he watched attentively as we finished our ice cream
bars, and he was ready-to-go as soon as we were! He clearly needed to get us all
the way down and return back up to Varlaam before his unsuspecting clients
exited the monastery and wondered where their driver went. I say ‘clearly’
because he sprinted out of the parking lot with breath-taking acceleration.
As hot
and tired as we were, and, as good as the wind coming through the windows felt,
we nonetheless all wondered silently if we had made a mistake. The curves and
bends in the road down the mountain are quite dramatic, as was his negotiation
of them. As we swerved around one hairpin turn, there was a big, lumbering
2-story bus just inching along. Hallelujah!
we thought as we were forced to creep at a much more calm and reasonable pace through
several switchbacks in the road.
But, this calm was not to last. Claiming
a brief straightaway of no more than one additional bus length, our driver saw
his opportunity to reclaim his Grand Prix finesse. By now—no doubt—he was feeling
obligated to make up the time lost, not only to the precious moments while we
finished ice cream atop the cliff, but also for the time during which we were
stuck behind the slow bus!
We did arrive safely in Kalambaka, and watched as our
driver sped back up the road to Varlaam (probably with time to spare)!
Today,
we planned a different itinerary with the hours available to us in Kalambaka
before our train departure for Athens at 5:30 p.m. Having visited four of the six
monasteries, we decided to walk some of the trails around portions of the
cliffs, and search for some of the caves along the way.
We
caught a taxi to Kastraki, a small village about half way up the cliffs. From
there, we found a trail through what appeared to be an abandoned field. At the
far edge of the field, along a line of trees, and approaching within 50 meters
of the towering cliff, the temperature dropped by 10 degrees in a matter of one
or two steps. It was like walking from the sunny parking lot straight into the
dairy/frozen section of a grocery store! Under these conditions we felt like we
could hike for miles!
A
little further along, we could look up and see a cave filled with prayer flags.
Apparently, some of the villagers in Kastraki ascend the cliff once a year to
change out the flags with fresh ones. It obviously requires both equipment and
nerves that our family lacks, so we made a few token steps up the cliff face
for a photo to make the point!
A
little further along was a small chapel. It was locked, but there was a nice,
shaded patio and so we circled up and said Morning Prayer together, using the
lessons for Trinity Sunday.
From
this point, the most conspicuous trail seemed aimed toward the Monastery of St.
Nicholas. Even though it appeared to be a fairly short distance away, it did seem like a
mile up! Not having another trail
choice, we accepted the challenge and began our ascent.
This is
the smallest of the monasteries we have visited. It has a small chapel, literally carved out of the rock below the entrance. And the layout is much
more of a nook and cranny, vertical experience than a sort of plateau
architecture across the top of a cliff. I believe a stone near the door
indicated its founding was in 1520.
Given
the small size and steep climb, this was not a popular monastery with the tour
buses. In fact, there was really no place for those super-size buses to park
here. We had a peaceful visit, and lingered on the pinnacle of the rock until
we heard the thunder of an approaching storm, and took stock of our proximity to
the flag poles next to the bell tower!
We
hiked back down to Kastraki, and found a traditional Greek tavern with covered
outdoor seating just as the first rain drops fell. We enjoyed a delicious meal,
and then called a local taxi (not from the Varlaam parking lot) to get us back
to Kalambaka.
After
resting in the lobby of our guest house for a couple of hours, the rain stopped, and we trekked to the nearby train station. We had about 25 minutes before
departure, and so Katherine and I ran up the hill (literally) to the main café
and restaurant area of town to look for some sandwiches for our five hour train
ride. We found some Greek fast food, made the purchase, and ran back downhill
to the train station with 10 minutes to spare!
Everyone
else had loaded all the backpacks onto the train (probably getting just as much
of a cardio work out as we did) and we settled into our small ‘Harry
Potter-like’ compartment for the ride to Athens. This was a delight for the
girls, who are enjoying their very first passenger train ride today!
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