Day 8 - Kalambaka to Athens

Today is the first day we have had cool weather, it is also quite windy.  We visited the Monasteries of Meteora which are incredibly perched on top of very tall rock formations. The drive up to the monasteries is enchanting looking at the forest of huge rocks. The views from the road on the way up and from the top are mesmerising. We first visited the monastery of Varlaam which is dedicated to all Saints just in case they missed one. The monastery is built on a lofty rock 373m. The first monk Varlaam in 1350 built some cells and a church dedicated to the Three Hierarchs. The central church is the most impressive, cruciform, domed, four columned composite that is the Katolika of the monasteries on Mt Athos. It has a narthex, nave and sanctuary.

Second we visited the monastery of St Stephen. This is the monastery that over looks Kalambaka and  you can see from the town and our hotel. It has stood there for centuries and was built originally in 1192. The place was first inhabited before 1200 with a hermitage  of Jeremiah. In the 14th century it was coeobitic. In 1350 the church of St Stephen was built. In 1961 it was converted into a nunnery having been restored and is now in flourishing condition. We met the young Australian nun who originally comes from Perth. The katholikon is dedicated to St Charalambos with a cruciform domed church with three apes, four columns, narthex, credence table an sacristy.

We then began the five hour drive back to Athens stopping for lunch were we all had a fairly ordinary cheese pie, at least we can say we have had one. I watched a movie on the iPad along the way as the scenery isn't that exciting. On our land based part of our trip we have covered 1400km.

We are staying at the same hotel as we did in Athens when we arrived before our 9am start to board our cruise ship Louis Olympia. Tonight will consist of washing and blogging. The weather is warmer in Athens but it is still overcast, hopefully the sun is back tomorrow.

We may not have Wi-Fi on the cruise so cheers until probably Santorini on the 27th J&N