Meteora

Whatever I was looking for in Greece I definitly found it in Meteora! Lets just say I came for two nights and stayed 6 (but I do have a problem with leaving places...good thing I dont really plan ahead)... O.k so I will attempt to describe Meteora. It's in a region of Greece called Thessaly (mainland Greece about 5 hours North of Athens), and for whatever reason that geology cant really explain, it's home to massive monumental limestone rock towers that literally jut out of an otherwise normal looking valley. If you havent googled Meteora images do that now because I really cant describe them!!! They literally look like they were just randomly placed here by god or a tornado or some other catostrophic event. So basically what happend is in 60AD (approx)when Christians were being persecuted in Greece, the rocks caves became sort of a safe-haven, hiding spot for the criminal hermits. The caves themselves are a whole other story...the rocks are covered in them. They look like someone took a spoon and dug out little scoops everywhere. Eventually the Christians began building monartaries on top of the rock towers for protection and to be closer to god (of course). Now there are stairs (alot of stairs) that climb up to the towers but before if you wanted to enter you would climb inside a net and they would haul you up (for half an hour, spinning thousands of feet in the air). There was 21 monastaries at one time, but you can only visit 6 of them now...and those 6 are less like monastaries and more like monastary museums for tourists. But regarless beautiful and incredibly spiritual. On a side note...some of the monastaries weren't built ontop of rocks but inside them. You look at a flat rock face and there is a monastary in there just as flat as the rock surface. It looks like the rock is hugging it...but really its just been built inside a large cave opening. Crazy!!! The first thing you read when entering Meteora is "YOU ARE ENTERING A HOLY PLACE" and man does it feel like it. I would challenge anyone to sit there (it feels like on top of the world) and not feel at least the smallest tug of spirituality. Its impossible, the place is so alive with it.

On my first night here I met George, the hotel managers son. Turned out to be good luck for me because he has personally invested in being my personal tour guide over the past four days! I have seen the most amazing things. The sunset from the highest peak of Meteora, the tiny town of Kalistraki, eaten grandmas home made spinach and berry pies. Yesterday his grandma gave me a cooking lesson: on the menu was greek stuffed peppers. She explained everything to me in Greek...I tried to write down what she was doing (and help) and the end result was the most amazing stuffed peppers I have ever tried. I will attempt to make them again in Canada but no garantees that they will be nearly so tasty! Yesterday I also went to a Mountain region, a two hour car ride away from Kalampaka (the town Im staying in). It actually kind of looked like Canada...it was incredibly isolated, in the mountains (the temperature dropped 20 degrees) with the most beautiful beautiful torquoise lakes. It was so far from anything else...you could yell into the mountains and hear your voice echo for 6 seconds after. Also there were animals everywhere! fox, wild pigs, turtles, horses, sheep and goats...man I love the goats! I was standing on a hill, when up comes about 30 goats all bahhing their little hearts out AND being followed by a little old man goat herder. He had the walking stick and bell and all. It was incredible. So needless to say this place also stole my heart a little bit. On the way home I had the best meal of my life. The restaurant was just picnic tables on a wooden platform built over a river in the middle of no where. When you ordered your fish (and you had to order fish because thats all they serve) they go down to the river and literally FISH out your lunch. Then they gut it, grill it up for you and serve it whole, eyeballs and everything, with olive oil and oregano. It was quite the experience....I named my fish Ted.

The other thing I really have to comment on is Greek culture...it is my big fat Greek wedding X 10000000000. I was talking to a local the other night about Greek weddings and he asked if I'd seen the movie, I said yes...and he replied with "take that movie times it by 100 and your still no where close to how crazy Greek weddings are". He had been to one the night before...800 people and a party that went until 11:00 am the next day! The people here are in no rush to do anything...the men sit outside their stores all day, coffee in one had and cigarette in the other, The women wear long skirts and cross themselves everytime they see me wearing short shorts. They ALL cross themselves when they find out that I'm travelling on my own. haha its hilarious. Its just not somethig thats done in Greek society...first of all people dont take off for 5 months to begin with and furthermore young women should never travel on their own. The result of this? A huge group of men and women who feel its their personal responsibility to take care of me! My hotel manager actually asked me to come check in at night so he knows I'm home safe. Moreso its nice to have people here to talk with. If I feel like conversation I can wonder down to the kabob place to have a chat with the old man there, to my favorite restaurant where I know the two owners and their two-year old twins, or the hotel where I play backgammon with George or his dad (yes I have learned how to play backgammon). The conversation is great too...I feel like I know the entire course of Greek history, mostly focused on the bad blood between Turkey. The Greeks really get into a rage when I say thats where I'm going next! But most of the time I like just being on my own. I've done a lot of mountain climbing (todays hike was exhausting...two hours of straight up), reading, writing, singing alone on mountain tops, sitting in caves during thunderstorms and taking an obscene amount of pictures. Its really lovely and I cant seem to make myself leave!!!

Well this is probably long-winded enough for one day...sorry...I'm actually amazed that anyone other then my mom bothers to read them :)