thegreatbigtriptogreece

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Friday 12th October - National Archaeological Museum and a long flight home

The final day of our trip we had earmarked for the National Archaeological Museum. The treasure trove of all the archaeological finds from across Greece. We entered at 8.30am and left at 2pm. Our heads were spinning. We’d seen some absolutely amazing things.

The museum was arranged in a chronological order with finds from 3000BC through the new stuff in the early ADs. It was the perfect end to our 3 week trip. We saw originals artifacts from all the sites we had visited.

Greece had delivered everything we hoped and more. The hardest part to come. The bloody long flight home.

[thegreatbigtriptogreece]

Thursday 11th October - not Corinth

We both slept in as there was no great hurry with our plans cancelled. We left the apartment at 10am. Our first stop to the National Archaeological Museum just to make sure that the strike was only 24 hour and we could still visit on Friday. Parked outside was a paddy wagon and armed riot police! We started to wonder if there might be some protests.

The new plan for the day to make the 2.5km walk up Mt Lycabettus. Trout thought she was done with walking and hills but I’d managed to squeeze one more in.

We wandered through the suburbs and started the climb via stairs and then a gentle path. When we got to the top the view was worth it. We revived with a frappe at the hilltop cafe and after half an hour we started back down and headed for Neoclassiko where I finally ate a gyros. However, Mum caved and had a salad. No double carbs for her!

We skirted Syntagma Square but we didn’t see any protesters and the locals seemed pretty unworried. We did a spot more shopping and bought some genuine “handmade” in Greece sandals and presents for the girls.

The final stop a store called Lukumades which seemed like a modern take on the greek bakery where we got the Greek donuts filled with a bougatsa custard and drenched in syrup. The end of the golden weather was coming but for the next 48 hours we could still justify eating the incredibly sweet deserts.

[thegreatbigtriptogreece]

Wednesday 10th October - lunch and dinner and a show

We left Stournari 36 just before 9am to make the 20 minute walk to our Market tour and cooking class. After a couple of wrong turns we finally got the map to behave. A brisk walk and we arrived just on time.

Vasia was to be our guide through the Athens Central Market and then our teacher for the cooking class. Luckily, there were only going to be three participants, myself, Mum and tiny Mika from Denmark. Talk about a bunch of hobbits, it’s not often I’m the tallest in a room.

Across the road we hit the market. First, a cheese shop with big wooden vats of yoghurt and a large range of feta. Next the meat section with entire beasts and all their interesting bits for sale. Big wooden butcher blocks and cleavers flying. Then the seafood section with a lot of small sardine style fish and of course the octopus. Then the fruit and veg and deli section replete with beautiful examples of tomatoes, capsicums and olives. In each area we picked a little something up for our class.  There was a lot of banter in Greek between Vasia and the stall owners. The final stop was a stall where the granny made her own filo pastry.

We carried the bags through the traffic and back to the classroom. We all participated in making fava bean purée, spinach pies with an excellent dough, carrot salad, moussaka stuffed tomatoes and orange cake. I annoyed the class with lots of questions about food that I’d been collecting over the three weeks. When it was ready we all sat down to the table and ate our way through the multi course meal. Nostimos!

After lunch we wandered through Psiri, an up and coming neighbourhood. Then back through Monastiraki and Plaka. We came across the amazing little Church of Kapnikarea from the Byzantine era right in the middle of the bustling square

We were starting to feel a little weary so we sat for an hour or so at one of the squares in Plaka under the vines at a bar called Kydathinaion. It felt like a very local thing to do.

Revived we did a little more shopping. Suddenly it was time for our dinner reservation at Balcony Restaurant. The food was really good and even though we’d eaten a four course lunch we squeezed some more in.

The final surprise of the trip was to watch the Yuri Grigorovich Ballet with Bolshoi ballet soloists perform Spartacus at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus under the Acropolis. The theatre was completed in 161 AD. The setting and the ballet were amazing. It was real goosebumps stuff especially when the choir which had filled the stairway during intermission starting singing. The final flourish when 92 year old Yuri himself came onto the stage to receive a standing ovation.

We came home on a real high but then I checked my emails and found a message from the Corinth Taxi Tour folk that informed us of the Greece wide strike at both the government owned Museums and archaeological sites. We decided on the basis of that not to make our trip to Corinth by train the next day as 90% of what we were going to see would be closed. We would have to come up with an alternative plan, on the fly!!!

[thegreatbigtriptogreece]

Tuesday 9th October - the final ferry

We woke up slowly and sat on the patio enjoying the sun and the view. Our time in Santorini had come to an end. At 10.45 Lefteris came to carry our bags back to Post Office Square.

The shuttle arrived and off we went. A couple of hundred metres along the road we picked up an American couple who were hoping to catch the 11.30am ferry to Paros. Both Mum and I knew the trip to the port wasn’t going to be fast based on our trip the other day. Was there a business class check in? they asked. They hadn’t caught a ferry before. No not really we said. It would probably be late we said as we took a very slow drive to the port. When we got to the port at 11.25am their boat was docked and they ran off to exchange their online booking and get on board we didn’t see them again and minutes later when the boat pulled out we hoped they’d got on.

It was a repeat of our experience waiting for the ferry in Mykonos with a lot of people confused about where to stand and what time the boat would turn up. Our ticket had changed from the online booking from 12.30 to 12.45. We were chill. It was Greece. It all seemed to happen in the end.

When the boat docked finally at 1.15pm the usual stampede ensued. We got on with Trout hanging onto my backpack so we didn’t get split up and crushed by other passengers with enormous rolling suitcases . We settled into our seats for the 5 hour return to Athens.

We had looked at flying home from Santorini but Mum knew she could swim but was pretty convinced she didn’t know how to fly.  Maybe another time flying might have been the better option.

The boat lost time on the way into Athens and we finally docked at 6.45 it was another hour to drive to the apartment. Luckily, it was a speedy check in. We whizzed around the corner to buy groceries at the AB supermarket before it closed at nine and got back to the apartment at about 8:45 PM made dinner and unpacked and revelled in the new generic apartment. We were back in Athens for the final three days of our tour.

It should be noted in a late postscript that Trout on the 16th April 2019 again reminded me that we left behind the loukomi and figs at the apartment in Santorini during our packing up.

[thegreatbigtriptogreece]

Monday 8th October - it’s a long way from Fira to Oia

Our plan for the day to visit the Museum of Prehistoric Fira and then make the spectacular walk from Fira to Oia. We planned to catch the local bus from Oia to Fira and return by foot. We had a schedule we’d downloaded from online that said the local bus left Oia at 8.40am not early but most people visiting Santorini were not there for the Museums.

We left the Cave house at 8.20am thinking it would take a few minutes to climb the stairs and negotiate the alleyways to the bus station. When we got to the station the schedule was different to the online one with the bus arriving at 8.50am. We were very early but we stood in the right spot and waited. We watched about 7 big tour buses turn up one after another and time ticked on. At 9.10 the bus turned up maybe it was late or maybe it was early.

We hopped on and began the journey to Fira. The streets mostly one way with cars parked in the way or tourists wandering around. Finally, we made it to Fira. We used our Akrotiri multipass to tour the museum that housed some of the finds and some of the frescoes from the Akrotiri site. It wasn’t very big so within half an hour we were ready to begin our 11 kilometre walk back to Oia.

As we left Fira we explored the shops and photographed the churches jostling with the other tourists. Fira blended into the township of Firostefani and there were more tourists and more churches. Then a bit of a gap in the buildings before the town of Imerovigli which was the perfect pastel tumble of houses and blue dome churches. We chose Aegeon Restaurant for lunch. The food was lovely, crispy fried calamari for me and fish and potato salad for Mum. However, the staff were tired and irritable. Obviously, sick of all us tourists and counting down the days until the end of October when apparently the whole place shuts down for winter.

We left lunch and walked on. As we left the village the crowds stopped and the path became less paved. We walked past the cliff top luxury hotels with infinity pools and tanned folks sipping drinks. The last hotel on the cliff was the last bus stop for an easy return to Oia. At this point we headed along the caldera edge and the road split off to the other side of the hill. We were going to have to commit to walking. We’d completed about 6kms and had about 5 to go. Trout was sure she could do it so we set off as the path became loose gravel and started to climb the hill.

At the peak was the Church of Profit Illias with the beautiful blue domes. We took the pictures. As we stood there admiring it we were approached by an old boy in a worn cap, flannel shirt and jeans and he took me by the arm and insisted we come inside. Once inside he was pretty insistent that we understand that this was his family’s church, that it had been here a bloody long time and that many tourists took the pictures but we needed to know about the importance of Profit Illias. We nodded along, hopefully in the right places and we were finally released when a young gal walking on her own walked into the vicinity. He focused on her and insisted she come inside the church. While he was distracted we walked on.

We took what had turned into a goat track back down the hill and then back up another to the pretty little Panagia Church. From this point even though it was a couple more kms it was all downhill and we could see Oia before us.

We arrived in the edge of the town and there were the crowds again. People posing for photos and crowding the alleyways. We both felt a sense of accomplishment and I felt like we’d experienced something a bit out of the way. It had taken us about 5 hours and we were feeling a bit weary and thirsty. We drank a couple of litres of water and freshened up a bit before we headed to dinner at Elinikon Restaurant.

We had booked a position on the roof terrace and we ate some yummy food as the sun dropped into the sea behind the windmills. Another day in “paradise”.

[thegreatbigtriptogreece]

Sunday 7th October - Akrotiri and the local bus, just another day in paradise

You could have been mistaken for thinking Santorini was all about the perfect image and good times. However, at one end of the island a Bronze Age town had been completely buried in volcanic ash in the 16th Century BC. In an eruption documented as being seen in China the town was hermetically sealed and preserved. The site first discovered during the hunt for materials to build the Suez canal. In 1967 proper excavations began under a specifically built roof. Each of the sites we have visited in Greece have been different. This one all about the scale and the size.

You got to walk through one of the main streets. The highlight standing in a triangle shaped courtyard surrounded by three level houses. We arrived just before 9 and spent over two hours.

After the site we walked 20 minutes down the road to visit Red beach. The volcanic activity had given Santorini red, white and black cliffs the perfect backdrops for a photo shoot. We didn’t go all the way to the beach put off by the young kiddies posing for photos and the sign which warned of falling rocks.

Instead we settled for lunch on a pier over the water. I had a seafood salad and Trout prawns Akrotiri with tomato sauce and feta cheese. The place was very picturesque with boats, blue sky and the turquoise sea.

To get back to Oia we thought we would take a taxi but it was only 10 minutes until the local bus came. So we waited for the bus and it was actually pretty straightforward to catch. Thankfully, you got on and then they came and collected your fare. The first bus took us to Fira. The driver was hilarious he got very agitated and yelled and tooted at just about every other moving object. We thought he was going to pop a valve. In between yelling he would sing loudly, slightly manic really. In Fira we hopped off and identified the next bus that went to Oia. The next driver by contrast was completely different and extremely calm.

On the way back from the bus station we called in to get some water from the mini market and I couldn’t pass up a cute boutique brewery beer called Crazy Donkey. We came home and sat on the patio. We had a lot of laughs watching the various photo shoots out the front of our place. We had about 10 couples come and pose. We took a few notes and worked on our own glamour shots.

We had salad for dinner on the patio to offset the huge lunch. We watched the sun go down. The sky absolutely beautiful. At 7.30 pm I had arranged a surprise, Kasia, the Polish Amazon, from Santorini Santo Massages arrived with her portable massage table to give us a massage. The perfect end to the day.

[thegreatbigtriptogreece]

Saturday 6th October - Santorini Bound

The wind was high again, approximately 25 knots. We had received an email that our ferry had changed departure from the old port to the new port and we were hopeful the boat would be bigger. We arrived early, no surprise, but the boat was running late. The schedule had changed from a 9.50am departure to 10.30 departure.

We had already picked up our tickets from the Sea Jets office in town. We thought it was a smart move but as a result we had no idea where the boat would leave from out of the 5 ramps. We asked around and we were not alone as it seemed nobody else knew either. There were two boat companies heading for Santorini within 5 minutes of each other and a massive group of confused travellers.

When the boat finally arrived 100s of people pushed forward and the staff were yelling to hurry up and get on. Talk about panic the sheep. We nearly got squashed in the stampede.

Sea Jets business class wasn’t as lux as Blue Star. We had kept our bags with us to avoid the scrum at Santorini and even with our short legs it was a bit of a tight squeeze.

The trip seemed far longer than the two hours it actually was. Perhaps we were getting a little travel weary. A champagne problem I know.

At the port of Athinios we were met by our driver. It took about 20 minutes to drive up the 1km from the port to the main road. All the passengers from 2 boats trying to transfer out at the same time. Thank goodness it was off season. Apparently, according to our driver in the peak it could take twice as long. Once out of the port area it was relatively quick to travel to the village of Oia via a diversion road. At Oia we were dropped at Post Office Square where Lefteris from Genesis Cave Houses met us. He carried our bags thankfully and lead us through the maze of streets and down narrow cobbled stairs to our accommodation. It was a truely amazing place in a whitewashed cave with blue door and shutters. A lovely hot tub with a view down the cliff to the water.

After our intro from Lefteris we explored the Oia Main Street. It contained a multitude of art gallerys, jewellery stores, boutiques and more tasteful souvenir shops. We stopped at Melenio cafe to eat giant pieces of cake with a view. Again we amused ourselves watching Instagram models posing for the perfect shot. Santorini a tumble of Churches, blue skies, whitewashed houses and cats.

We made the usual trip back home via the supermarket. The confusing little paths had me befuddled and I could not find the house for a minute or two. Finally, after a couple of wrong turns where we ended up on someone else’s patio we unloaded our groceries and had a drink on the deck. More Instagram models arrived outside to be photographed in front of the church bell opposite us as the afternoon light hit it. We tried to imitate the poses but failed miserably.

Off to dinner we walked to sunset point and then down the 280 steps to Ammoudi Bay. The stairs covered with donkey poop and then a collection of the poor tired creatures themselves.

We had booked at the Ammoudi Fish Tavern and we experienced the first pushy service in our trip to Greece. The food was just OK and we had been seated with just an OK view and the prices were about three times the usual.

The waiter told us to come and choose our fish and we did. No he said that’s not the fish you want I’ll get you one from out the back. We were unsure why we were playing the game. We had another waiter to serve us the fish we’d “chosen” who gave us an explanation of how tipping worked. All in all not a lot fun and at total contrast to the warmth and generosity we’d experienced everywhere else. Sick of the game we didn’t get them to arrange us a taxi so we walked back up the 280 steps in the dark.

Poor old Trout thought I was trying to kill her. However we had a nice hot spa to cure our troubles.

[thegreatbigtriptogreece]

Friday 5th October - Delos Delights

We had two major reasons for including Mykonos in our itinerary. Firstly, it was a good stepping stone between Syros and Santorini. Secondly, it was the best place to take a day trip to the nearby island of Delos.

We were booked on the 9am ferry to Delos and due to a late cancellation of the 3pm return ferry coming home at 1.30pm. The ferry took 30 minutes and we arrived with about 70 others. Sixty of which were a Canadian high school group.

For the first time as we arrived we received a map. We decided to cover the blue and green lines which were estimated to take about three hours. The site was massive and due to its abandonment some time around 36BC still relatively intact. Purely because no later civilisations had built over it.

Delos had evidence of inhabitants from 3000BC on Mt Kithnos. At its peak around 400BC it numbered 30,000 people.

Legend had it that when Zeus got Leto pregnant his wife Hera made him banish her to Delos. It was there she gave birth to twins, Apollo and Artemis. As a result in the first instance Delos was a sacred place filled with Temples and treasury’s. It then became a centre for trade with many different cultures from Asia,North Africa etc. visiting.

Of course the big civic buildings were amazing - the temple of Apollo, agoras, row of naxian lions and a number of palaestras. The best bits though were the households of everyday Delians. Some complete with decorated plaster left on the walls and mosaic floors.

Again the Museum had lots of big pieces but also lots of everyday stuff which was so interesting to see. We could have stayed a lot longer but unfortunately there was only the 1.30pm boat to take home.

Since our arrival 2 more boats had docked with a lot more people. They all had to get home so they herded us all onto the ferry. Issuing plastic chairs so people could sit in the aisles. Trout was a bit worried about overcrowding. She could see the headlines - “New Zealanders caught in Greek ferry disaster”. The wind of course had increased and we had a few hairy spots on the way home with wind versus tide. Staff were handing out sick bags but Mum had taken sea legs and was wearing her motion sickness bands. We made it back safely to land without any kind of incident.

Once back on dry land we used Google maps to find the butchers. We bought some chicken for dinner which we hadn’t eaten since our arrival.

We wandered in and out of shops. There were some ok momentos but neither of us took the plunge. Finally, we walked up the hill and made some grilled chicken and veggies. We topped the evening off with another spa.

[thegreatbigtriptogreece]

Thursday 4th October -Mykonos smykonos

We woke up and had breakfast and enjoyed the peace of the little place on the sea. We packed ready to roll back down through town to the Blue Star ferry terminal, our next stop Mykonos. We exchanged our online booking at the travel agents for tickets and got a frappe. We sat waiting in the little marble lined area. The ferry arrived a little late but it would seem that isn’t too unusual.

We had booked “business class” on the ferry so had a very comfortable seat in a lounge with a good view. It was just over an hour ride between the islands.

Apostolos our host met us at Mykonos and transported us from the new port area to our Airbnb behind old Mykonos town. The view was wonderful and the accomodation very nice with a patio complete with hot tub.

We freshened up and walked down into the town. We visited Gioras Woodfired Bakery which had been in business since 1420. We bought cheese pies, biscuits and loukaumades (donuts soaked in cinnamon syrup) for tomorrow’s picnic lunch.

We walked on and photographed the windmills and little Venice. It was very informative to watch the young kids taking their photos for social media - back arch, lip pout, scarfs blowing in the wind. Further on we photographed the old port and little churches.

There were a lot of name brand shops and people everywhere. The pavements were pretty dirty though, plenty of rubbish including broken glass. Mykonos was very photogenic but perhaps didn’t have the same charm as Syros. She was definitely a party girl and most definitely a tourist town.

We had made a reservation for dinner at Kastro’s in time for the sunset. We were a little dubious that fine dining in Greece would be worth the extra money. In fact we nearly cancelled our reservation. However, the food was exceptional and we enjoyed the sun setting on the water.

We walked home in the dark up the steep road dodging motorbikes and cars and once there had a nice hot spa for our troubles.

[thegreatbigtriptogreece]

Wednesday 3rd October - Ano Syros and a swim

We were on the islands and we had adopted island time. We had breakfast watching a fishing boat pull it’s net in outside our apartment.

We took our time getting ready. The mission today walking the short distance of a couple of kilometres to Ano Syros, the medieval citadel behind Ermoupolis. A piece of bougatsa we thought but what we hadn’t reckoned on was the heat and the fact it really was stairs the whole way. After Meteora we thought we were good at stairs but the walk just about did us in.

Luckily, the views kept us motivated. The citadel had been first established in 1200 but had peaked in 1600s when the Venetians had established a Catholic Church and monastery which is very uncommon in Greece. We looked in on both at the pinnacle. We wandered without a plan looking at and photographing the white washed buildings, doors, bougainvillea and cats.

We walked home and arrived around 1pm for a swim and lunch on the balcony. It was a very relaxing day enjoying the Greek island experience.

The only other achievement of the day was cooking dinner which consisted of local sausages with bits of pork and fennel and grilled vegetables. I adopted another stray cat who enjoyed my leftover sausage.

[thegreatbigtriptogreece]

Tuesday 2nd October - The Mama Mia moment

Up bright and sparky at 5.15am. We both took a quick shower and packed the bags. At 6am we were at the breakfast buffet. It was a great spread and we ate and drank coffee until the call for the shuttle bus at 6.30am. It was still dark outside. We zipped along for the 5 minute ride to the ferry terminal.

We got to gate 7 of the massive port and the driver assured us it was our ferry. Did it go to Syros? No, no but weren’t we going to Paros. No we were confusingly on the Blue Star Paros boat but going to Syros. He huffed that reception had stuffed up. Back in the bus he said. Just as we were about to pull off one of the other guests came running up. Stop I’ve got the wrong bag. It was Mum’s bag!

All under control we got to the right boat and with the right bags. The boat was enormous, as big as the Interislander Ferry and Trout relaxed. The wind had dropped to 5 knots and the sun was coming up on what looked to be a beautiful day. The trip a very smooth approximately 4 hours ride to Ermoupolis the capital of the Cyclades Island group on Syros.

The sea stayed calm the whole way and we slid between other islands until we rounded the corner and there was Ermoupolis in front of us. The boat docked and a massive stream of people poured forth. We rolled the bags the 500m to our AirBnB over the impressive marble paved streets. Past elegant houses from the late 1800s in a variety of states of repair.

Our host, Eleni , was going to met us outside the St Nicholas Church. We rang and she came to lead us the last little bit of the way. Through a locked door into a courtyard and down 4 flights of stairs past another apartment on every level. Until we reached our little slice of paradise. The apartment was very quaint and homely with a view of the sea and private access to the water.

We were early and Eleni was still cleaning so we stashed the bags. We wandered back down through town. We looked in at the Apollon Theatre, a mini replica of the La Scala theatre in Milan. Through the gracious Miaouli Square and onto Chiou Street which was lined with delis, bakeries, butcher, fish mongers and fruit and veg shops. I had a lot of fun buying provisions for our breakfasts and for tomorrow nights dinner.

We walked back up the hill and the apartment was ready for us. We changed into our togs and had a swim in the Aegean Sea. The water incredibly clear, the view of the gorgeous pastel coloured houses balanced on the cliff idyllic.

We sat on the balcony after our swim and had a drink and some cheese. The weather finally absolutely perfect.

For dinner we had a reservation at a restaurant under the bougainvilleas. We joined the locals who were shopping or enjoying a coffee. The shops that closed at 3pm had reopened for the evening. We tried to order better by sharing a main but everything was still enormous and at the end of the meal we were presented yet again with a dessert on the house. In all the meals we had eaten out only one failed to give us free dessert. Ermoupolis was our kind of town!

[thegreatbigtriptogreece]

Monday 1st October - just one more monastery and then I’ll quit I promise

We started the day at 8am with another round of Greek coffee and bougatsa. On a sugar high we took a walk through the town and then the forest which popped us out on the road underneath St Nicholas Anapfasas Monastery. The path to this one had been described as difficult but it wasn’t that bad. We climbed the 140 steps and when we got to the top we found a lovely little church, a monks cell, a lookout with bell tower and of course a gift shop. The mist was lifting from the valley and the sky was blue it was going to be a lovely day in Meteora.

We walked back to the hotel via the town and past the school. We arranged a cab to take us into Kalabaka where we were going to catch the bus through to Athens. At 11.15 our taxi driver from the previous day arrived to drive us to the bus stop. Today’s fare for a longer trip only €5 versus the €10 to get us to the monasteries. Of course there was no meter and all trips paid in cash.

We boarded the bus and had a little argument with a local who was trying to bewilder us into giving up our front row seats. I stood my ground and disgusted she stomped off. It was all just a game as we had numbered seats and we were in the right place.

The return trip to Athens took just over 5 hours with a mixture of scheduled and unscheduled stops. We hit Athens right on rush hour and the last 7 kilometres took about 30 minutes to travel. We had booked a driver to pick us up at the station and he was waiting when we arrived. We traveled at break neck speed from the bus station to our hotel at Piraeus port. The staff and the hotel were great. The lady who meet us very welcoming and arranged our complimentary shuttle for 6.30am the following morning to transfer us to our ferry.

We walked down to the waterfront marina which was once the ancient port of Piraeus. Past a glassed in area with a ship yard dating from 473 BC. The weather considerably better than the last 4 days. We ate dinner outside by the water at Ta Katsarolakia. We ordered fish roe dip and fresh grilled sardines. It was all delicious but again absolutely massive servings so we shared them with the restaurants’ two cats.

We finished the evening with a trip to the supermarket where we bought a bottle of Metaxa and some honey soaked pastries for our dessert.

We had an early night knowing we would be up early for our boat.

[thegreatbigtriptogreece]

[thegreatbigtriptogreece]

Sunday 30th September - a pilgrimage to Meteora

We went down at 8am to try our new breakfast buffet. We were offered a coffee choice and ordered Greek coffee. Oopah, it was hot and strong! The buffet had the range of usual suspects but it had something new, bougatsa, Greek custard square or otherwise known as the best thing you ever ate.

We organised a taxi to the Mega Meteoron Monastery built in mid 14th century. So relatively new stuff compared to most attractions we had seen so far. We arrived at 8:45am for a 9am opening but that didn’t put us in front of the buses. They were there in the droves from Asia, Eastern Europe, Italy, France, Germany, Canada, Australia and a couple of old ducks from New Zealand.

The weather was overcast and drizzling as we started to climb up the 140 steps to the top of the rock. The only problem that we nearly got pushed off by a group of elderly bikies doing a motorcycle tour.

Mum had been a bit worried about the stairs and the walking but it all seemed shorter in distance and the stairs less strenuous.

At the top we bought our ticket and covered ourselves with our sarongs. The first stop the church. Every inch covered with frescoes filled with iconography. The church was extremely dark with an overpowering smell of incense.

Next the original kitchen and the ossuary with previous residents skulls stacked up. We tried to get more photos without too many people in them. In truth it was a bit of a scrum. There were some genuine spiritual pilgrims crossing themselves and kissing the relics which were encased bones of the monastery founders. However, for the most part we were the tourist pilgrims ticking the box on a visit to the second most popular spot in Greece.

It had been explained the previous evening on the tour that the monks and nuns that remained at Meteora could no longer obviously lead a monastic life due to the interaction with thousands of tourists every day. They had in fact sold out and by taking the cash from the tourists they were propping up the Orthodox Church in other places. It certainly didn’t have a very spiritual feel but the views and the structures were still very picturesque.

After 1.5 hours we made the 15 minute walk to Varlaam. The rain growing steadier. We walked through the rock and up the 160 odd stairs. Again, a beautiful 14th Century Byzantine church, the second biggest and oldest of the monasteries. It also had a Museum with manuscripts, embroidered robes, highly decorated crosses and artifacts. We saw the old pulley system for supplies and transport of monks. Also, a giant barrel for self sufficient wine production.

We had planned on eating on the patio at the top if allowed. It was raining so hard it would have been miserable. Instead, we found a little cave in the base of the rock and had our sandwiches. We were joined by a group of French kids and a dog. At first because it had a collar with tags we thought the dog was theirs but upon discussion it seemed it had joined them on the hiking path and had followed them a couple of kilometres to the Monastery. It was actually a very sweet little dog and it ate our sandwich scraps.

After lunch we walked the further one kilometre to the Monastery of Saint Barbara established in 1388 AD. The rain was steadily getting heavier. We stopped regularly to take more photos. St Barbara had more stairs approximately 200. At the top we found a lovely little church run by nuns decorated with beautiful frescoes. Apparently, the monastery had been plundered by the Nazis during WW2 so was quite reconstructed. There were a lot less people at top and that made it feel a bit more special.

We descended the stairs and met an American tourist who was feeding the same dog we had met at lunch some cheese. She explained it had followed her from Varlaam to Saint Barbara. We filled her in on the fact that he had already tried that number with the French kids and us. It would seem the clever little dog took a daily pilgrimage to the monasteries for food!

We decided because it was still raining heavily and we were getting cold that we would call our taxi driver from the morning. Fortunately, he had insisted we take his business card. In my stunted grenglish I managed to order the cab to pick us up in 10 minutes. It saved us the 40 minute walk back to the accommodation and we were pretty happy to see him.

When we got to the room everything was damp and I mean everything. We stripped off clothes and used the expanding clothes line to drape things around the room. We cranked up the air con to try and dry our stuff out.

We decided to return to Taverna Gardenia for a second night because the food was so good. We ordered another serving of meatballs and they were the best I’ve ever eaten. We tried to get the recipe from the young lad waiting tables. It turned out that the recipe was a family secret with his grandma coming in every morning to roll the hundred or so required for service.

We left feeling pretty pleased with ourselves and full of meatballs!

[thegreatbigtriptogreece]

Saturday 29th September - Delphi to Meteora

We went down to breakfast and tried to restrain ourselves with some more sensible people choices. However, we discovered the delicious little cinnamon biscuits. It was a shame that the cappuccino machine didn’t make the coffee strong enough to do the biscuits justice. After breakfast we went back to the room and packed the bags for the next stop. At checkout we asked the nice ladies behind the desk what the biscuits were and how to make them. They were voutimata and we got a rundown of the recipe. Sometimes butter, sometimes olive oil or a mixture (shoulder shrug).

We waited in reception and the driver from the private transfer turned up. He directed us to a lovely little Audi for the three hour drive through to Kastraki. Mum scored the front seat so that she didn’t suffer from motion sickness. However, the driver was excellent and took the road slowly. We travelled through little townships and over the greatest plain in Greece, the plain of Thessaly. We saw more cotton plants and the Greek equivalent of Huntly, Lamia. Best to drive through and not to stop.

We got to Pyrgos Adrachti hotel around 1:20 PM. It was very cute, like a mountain chalet nestled right under the massive rocks of Meteora. Surrounded by quaint little houses and a tiny Byzantine church. We toddled into town and went to the bakery with a lovely little old Greek woman who was about 3 foot tall. She thought we were German but luckily she only spoke as much German as we do. Sehr Gut! We bought some buns and cheese pies. We also called in to the local corner store and tormented the shop owner buying provisions for our sandwiches for tomorrow.

At 3 o’clock the minibus from Visit Meteora picked us up. There were 20 of us on board a mix of ages and nationalities. We drove the road past the rock of Doupiani where pilgrims climb up every year to dedicate a scarf to St George. They climb without safety ropes because they put their faith in the saint to protect them.

We then drove on stopping to take pictures of Varlaam and Grand Meteoro monastery. Past the monastery of the Holy Trinity where in 1981 they filmed the James Bond movie For Your Eyes Only. Apparently, the monasteries don’t allow filming and recently they denied Game of Thrones from shooting but the production of James Bond told them they were making a documentary about monastic life!

On to Saint Stephens monastery where we had 40 minutes to do a self guided tour. The pictures do not do the Monastery and the view justice. From the monastery we drove on to the town of Kalabaka to the Byzantine church of Agios Athanasios.

Our guide gave us a run through of church architecture and the practice of Greek Orthodox worshippers.

The church built over an ancient temple, dedicated to God Apollon. In the construction of the church there are ancient carvings and columns still visible.

We drove further and took a walk in the forest to the hermitages and sketes where we learned more about the way the rocks were formed and the beginnings of the monastic life in the region. Originally a monk would turn up and climb up to a cave in the rock and cut himself off from the outside world. We could see what remained of the wooden houses, balconies and ladders.

Finally, we were driven to the lookout to get the photos of the sun setting over the rocks and monasteries. However, just like in Athens we had managed to pick the right weather for clouds rather than sunset. It was still spectacular. The sunset had been described to us by our driver earlier in the day as the icing on the cake. The actual cake itself was pretty special and didn’t need any icing.

The tour dropped us off in at the Central Square in Kastraki. We had dinner at the Taverna Gardenia and enjoyed probably the best food of the trip so far. Mum’s meatballs were an almost spiritual experience. We tried the local mountain greens which were also awesome. Trout tried a local spirit Metaxa which apparently was very strong and like Brandy. We called it a night and climbed the hill to our hotel.

[thegreatbigtriptogreece]

Friday 28th September - We’re off to see the oracle

The room was dark and quiet and the weather outside was pretty gloomy. We decided to start the day a bit later and eat the buffet breakfast that was offered by the hotel. It was an awesome and eclectic spread as breakfast buffets in Europe often are. You could have had a Greek salad or cake and biscuits or bacon and scrambled egg. We had a bit of a crack at everything.

After breakfast we packed the backpack and walked the 1.3 kms back down the road to the archaeological site. We weren’t there as the doors opened but the site was still relatively empty.

Unfortunately, due to some sort of weather conditions or ambivalence the stadium at the top of the site was closed. I suspect nobody will ever really know why. We were directed by the ever so helpful gate ladies to the right. After a bit of map turning we realised we were walking along the Sacred Way.

Like so many people before us over the centuries we had come to visit the home of the Oracle. The story goes that a woman priestess housed in a grotto under the Temple of Apollo inhaled vapours from a natural thermal spring or maybe according to more recent theory smoked marijuana and then gave you a prophecy.

To the left and right of us as we ascended were the Treasuries of various cities designed to honour the Delphi Oracle.

As we climbed further up the hillside we saw the Temple of Apollo and tried to imagine the pieces we’d seen at the museum the previous day in situ. Again we took far too many photos.

After 10.30 am we started having to battle against the waves of tour groups. Some of them hell bent on getting their best pictures and the best position. We let them pass, the beauty of the Middleton tours was that we could wander around and take our time absorbing the scenery and atmosphere.

After the main site we walked further on to the Castilian Spring where visitors to the Oracle would purify themselves before an audience. We crossed the road and attempted to enter the gymnasium which was also unfortunately and mysteriously closed.

Luckily, the temple of Athena Pronia was still open and we went below the road to see the impressive round tholos which is the picture you associate with Delphi. The whole area 2500 years ago at its peak would have been so impressive.

We walked back into town and took a right turn up through the little staircases and examined the back streets of Delphi. Unlike the high street it was a very local area with a picturesque church and a massive commercial laundry to process all the town’s tourist accommodation linens.

Back at the hotel we put our feet up and had a couple of camparis before dinner at Tarverna Varkos. A family run restaurant with a wonderful view and the typical generous portions.

[thegreatbigtriptogreece]

Thursday 27th September - Athens to Delphi

A slightly better sleep last night may be the chocolate martini? Maybe the wind had shut down the bizarre nightclub I’d been hearing?

We were on the move from Athens to Delphi. Middleton tours is all about the luxury touches so we took a cab across town to catch the local bus from the Liosion Bus station, which obviously isn’t on Liosion Street but around the corner on Giousou Street. We’d done our research and we weren’t going to fall for that. We stood in line to exchange our online booking for a ticket. We waited in the bus bay with an assortment of locals with carrier bags and young backpackers. The bus unlike the station was reasonably modern and nice.

The trip from Athens to Delphi was officially 2.5 hours departing at 10.30am with one stop. However, we soon worked out that the bus operated as the local courier service with the first unscheduled stop at the charming hamlet of Thiva. A couple of lads handed over packages and gave the driver cash.

There were a lot of abandoned houses, graffiti and rubbish as we whizzed along. The countryside full of olive trees and cotton plants.

Another courier stop in Aliartos where we received more packages and cash. Outside the rain had started and the temperature was dropping.

Just outside Levádhia we made a deviation requiring a u turn to get back en route for ..... you guessed it more packages and cash.

Then we stopped at the Friendly Cafe and Bar for a 10 minute toilet and fag break. We collected another few packages and a guy in a high vis vest who didn’t take a seat.

On the move again we started the climb towards Delphi. We could see little houses built into the rock and sparse land with a scattering of olive trees.

We stopped at Klauodatos for a passenger and it appeared the unseated man was the bus conductor as he collected the fare.

As we drove into the cute town of Arachova through the extremely narrow streets we came to standstill with another bus coming towards us. A lot of angry greek, tooting and gestures were exchanged between the bus drivers. The man without a seat got off and supervised a manoeuvre which meant the traffic behind us had to back up to allow us to backup and the other bus to come through. Finally, we stopped about 100m up the road for the only official stop and people got on and off. When we pulled into Delphi it was 40 minutes after our scheduled arrival time.

We walked through the high street and checked into the hotel. Upstairs we put on all the clothes that we could layer up against the freezing wind and temperature of about 10C outside. Then we walked back along the road towards the museum stopping to get a sandwich and an enormous piece of baklava each. The baklava was delicious but nearly put both of us into a sugar coma.

Three hours later we emerged from the Delphi Archaeological Museum having seen all of the material from the site. Some of it very intact and other bits less so. The Sphinx of the Syphnians and the bronze charioteer particularly impressive.

We stopped into Taverna Dion on the walk back to the hotel and had some enormous and tasty portions of Greek salad, moussaka and stuffed tomatoes.