July 16th - Day 36

Great Meteoron

This morning was a morning of monasteries as we traveled to Meteora (means "suspended in the air"), which is a group of 6 monasteries located on top of high cliffs. The cliffs that these monasteries were located on were breathtaking. The whole area had a very sacred feel to it. Four of the monasteries are still active religious communities and because of that we had to adhere to a dress code when we visited. It was nothing to crazy - woman had to wear skirts and have their shoulders covered, men had to wear pants. We only visited two of the six monasteries - Great Meteoron and Varlaam. Each one involved a hike up winding staircases, which were built right into the cliffs. The monks used to use rope ladders attached to pulleys to get up and down the cliffs. I'm glad that they added the stairs, because there is no way I was getting into a net attached to a rope and being hoisted up a cliff!

Cliffs around Meteora

Our next stop was at Aiani, which was a Macedonian city. Unfortunately the site was closed, so we only got to go to the museum. Aiani is known for a unique style of pottery which we got to see in the museum. Most of the artifacts have not been published, so while we were allowed to take photographs, we were asked not to post any of the pictures on the internet.

After Aiani it was back on the bus for a long bus ride to Thessaloniki were we will be staying for the next 3 nights. Because we got back so late, we opted to push our walking tour from tonight to tomorrow and spent the rest of the afternoon resting and relaxing before dinner. The hotel we are staying at sucks and is my least favorite so far. The rooms are really small and smell of cigarette smoke. The bathroom is small and the shower had mold in it. It's the type of place that you bring your mistress or a prostitute, and we are staying here for 3 nights :(

The restaurant we went to for dinner was really good. It was located only a few blocks from our hotel and it had freshly made rolls that were to die for. I ordered a Greek salad and chicken soulvaki and it was delicious. I topped that off with a Mythos (a Greek beer) and I was a happy camper!