Meteora

Located near the towns of Kalampala in central Greece. it consists of a number of rock pinnacles topped with a total of 24 monasteries.

I run into Bianca and her boyfriend Odissei again in the train station, after I took photos for them in Mt. Olympus. So we three travelled together to Meteora.

We hired a taxi right at the train station to take us to all the monasteries for 50 euros, then the taxi driver dropped us off at the hotel. However, we still had to crimb up stairs to reach each monastery that gives visitors a tangible feeling of the Meteora's majesty. We visited all six major monasteries, one of which was closed on Monday.  The climbing is especially difficult because we just finished hiking Mt. Olympus. I did enjoy the views from each of the monasteries, but i do not think the virws justifiy the monks' life style back few hundred years ago.  Even it is aleadt in fall, the sun is still hot and we drank a lot of water.

• Agiou Nikolaou monastery (St. Nickolas Anapausas)
• Agias Varvaras Rousanou monastery(St. Barbara)
• Varlaam monastery
• Megalou Meteorou monastery (Great Meteoron)
• Agias Triados monastery (Holy Trinity)
• Agiou Stefanou monastery (St. Stephen, the only monastery for women)

Odissei came from Rissua and is studying mechanical engineering in Motreal Canada. He is interested in becoming a patent attorney after learning my career track.  We both agreed that Bianca needs to quit smoking, not only for her health, but also in view of her major in environmental engineering. Odissei told me he has been working on it.  I wish them sharing a bright future.