Thursday 27th June 2019
A chance meeting after dinner in the beachside bar at Enjoy Lichnos on Tuesday night has led to us moving today up to Meteora a UNESCO listed group of rock formations with six precipitously built monasteries perched on top.
The chance meeting was with new friends Anne, pronounced Anna, and his wife Saskia. They hail from the Netherlands. They joined us after dinner to chat about each others travels and share a few, maybe too many, drinks. Why does this always happen to us? 😉
This couple must have the highest combined height of any we have met. Anne is two metres tall and Saskia not far behind! 🙂
During the conversation they suggested as we were planning on heading toward Thessaloniki we should take time to visit Meteora and it turned out to be a great suggestion!
Kim & I had been disappointed by Enjoy Lichnos Camping. Our pitch, one of the few we could fit on, was cramped and in full sun at mid afternoon. Kim felt like we were camped in a car park.
The beach however is excellent and the sea temperature was very pleasant.
After a casual pack up this morning we moved on to Camping Vrachos in Kastraki which is a ten to fifteen minute drive from the monasteries.
Towing Kilometres – Today: 183 Cumulative: 32,844
The camping is set on a sloping site with pitches of varying sizes and degree of shade. There are two large sanitary blocks and an excellent taverna.
The campground offers excellent views of the surrounding rock formations.
Meteora from overhead Camping Vrachos
We arrived in the middle of the afternoon and were quickly checked in and found a pitch. The rest of the afternoon was spent watching a group of 300 Polish motorcycles arrive in dribs and drabs!
Early evening, with the heat of the day getting to us both, we drove out to Trikala, the nearest large town, and purchased a small air conditioning unit to stand in the caravan. A peaceful, cool nights sleep was had with the windows closed. Bliss 🙂
Friday 28th June 2019
Today we drove up, in the early afternoon, to visit one of the monasteries, the Holy Monastery Of Saint Barbara – Roussanou.
Taking notice of the dress code signs I changed into trousers and sleeved shirt and set off up the 150 or so steps to the monastery.
The temperature in the 30’s I was dripping by the top of the climb. We had a quick look around without entering the small room that costs €3 each to enter.
We returned to the caravan for a cool down and a swim in the pool, vowing to return later in the evening in cooler temperatures to watch the sunset.
Returning a couple of hours before sunset and the temperature now 8 degrees cooler we were amazed at the number of people already perched on top of the rocks waiting to watch the sunset over Meteora. The light was better for photography too until the haze increased and cloud started to develop.
We drove around the area and marvelled at the ingenuity and effort that it must have taken to build these monasteries.
This is a place you need to visit as the photographs cannot do any justice to the scene.
Most impressive of them all for me was the Monastery of the Holy Trinity, Agia Triada. This has been used as a set for Game Of Thrones and the James Bond film For Your Eyes Only.
Around a half an hour before sunset the cloud had built and it became obvious that we would see no sunset tonight 🙁
Time to retreat to camp for a cooling beverage or two 😉