Somewhere between heaven and earth

While it was not in our original plan, a short video sent by my brother Chris once again had us changing our itinerary for the upteenth time.

There’s a saying that goes- “it feels like you’re walking in the clouds”. Well Greece took that very literally. Meteora, (translated into English means “middle of the sky”, ‘suspended in the air’ or ‘in the heavens above’)- is one of the largest and most important complexes of Greek Orthodox monasteries in Greece and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. And from the pictures I had seen, I was pretty excited about this place.

If from afar everything looked like a gathering of oddly shaped sandstone pillars, from where we were standing it looked like a magical world from a fairytale, complete with cute little miniature castles. Despite our beautiful clear blue skies, I could imagine with mist or cloud cover it really would feel like you were suspended somewhere between heaven and earth.

According to our tour guide, these huge rock pillars were formed by deposits of stone, sand and mud combined with the power of water, wind and earthquakes over millions of years (or something like that- I’m not very scientific).

Fascinating it is an understatement. Meteora is beyond fascination. Not only that spectacular view and raw natural beauty which takes your breath away, nor the spiritual experience some may have being there, but the feeling that there is more than meets the eye and that you’ve entered a totally different world.

Centuries back the only way to reach the top was through a system of ladders or ropes but in more recent years, stairs were carved into the rock making the monasteries more accessible- but no less amazing. Crossing the little bridges that now connect them to the surrounding area was like stepping through a gate between worlds.

Although nowadays there are only 6 functional monasteries due to dwindling numbers of people wanting to dedicate their lives in this way, nuns and monks do still live and work here in these architectural marvels perched atop the stone pillars.

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As we were on our only ‘organised’ tour with a stop in Delphi. Sorry history buffs, but this one was a bit of a yawn for me…I just can’t get excited about museums and ruins.

But the spectacular scenery more than made up for it.

We stopped in the mountain village of Arachova nestled picturesquely at the foot of the mountains in southern Greece. Sometimes referred to as the ‘winter Mykonos’, it was hard to imagine on our hot dry autumn day that this place is apparently the most cosmopolitan winter destination in Greece…a favourite for passionate ski lovers (and I thought Greece was all turquoise waters, bougainvillea and whitewashed buildings). What a surprisingly perfect place it was, to relax in a dreamy mountainous setting taking a leisurely walk through its narrow cobblestone streets and breathing in the refreshing mountain air.

We stopped in the most perfect little taverna with a gorgeous flower laden balcony that could only just fit the three of us. Overlooking the bell tower of the historical church of the Virgin Mary, we ate a simple but memorable lunch of the most garlicky Tzatziki ever made, fried local Formaela cheese, Greek salad and wine. Yamas!