Day 6 Mateora

Mateora which means "suspended rocks", "suspended in the air" or "in the heavens above" , is one of the largest and most important complexes of Eastern Orthodox monasteries in Greece, second only to Mount Athos. The six monasteries are built on natural sandstone rock pillars, at the northwestern edge of the Plain of Thessaly near the Pineios river and Pindus Mountains, in central Greece. The nearest town is Kalambaka. The Metéora is included on theUNESCO World Heritage List 

We went there on May which seems to be the best month as the weather is clear and comfortable and not high season so it was not so crowded. Anyway, you can visited there year round but it would be wet and cold in winter, Dec-Mar, and very crowded during high season, Jul-Oct.

If you want to go to Mateora from Athens, you can also take a bus or a train. You could take a morning bus from Athens to Delphi and had overnight stop at Delphi and then from Delphi take a bus to Trikala and changed the bus there to Mateora. If you go in group, rental car is the most recommended because bus and train does not run so frequently that you can do flexible plan. Road in Greece is very good and safe, at least for me. Inter city road most are wide highway and quiet easy to follow the map and GPS. I got lose only once on the way to Olympia.

We drove our own car up hill to Mateora as it located on the top of the cliff.

Holy Monastery of St. Nicholas Anapausas

Holy Monastery of Varlaam

Holy Monastery of St. Stephen

Holy Monastery of Rousanou/St. Barbara

We came down to have lunch at the restaurant in Kalambaka town and then left Kalambaka to return to Athens around 2PM

GREECE Day 5

Day 5 Olympia, Delphi

In the morning, after we had a breakfast at cafe, we went to the archaeological site, Olympia. Olympia is known for having been the site of the Olympic Games in classical times, comparable in importance to the Pythian Games held in Delphi. Both games were held every Olympiad (i.e. every four years), the Olympic Games dating back possibly further than 776 BC. In 394 AD, (after exactly 1170 years) emperor Theodosius abolished them as they were then considered reminiscent of paganism. The first Olympic Games were in Olympia in honor of Zeus.

Palaestra

Ruins of the Philippeion

Entrance to the Olympia Stadium

The Olympia stadium

We spent half day at Olympia. There is a museum at Olympia too but because we did not have time enough so we did not get in to there. After we had lunch at the restaurant in Olympia, we then left for Delphi.

Rion-Antirion bridge

The weather is very nice as you would see the blue sky. Driving under weather like this made me feel very good. We must cross the Gulf of Corinth to Delphi. Here is the bridge, Rion-Antirion, which is the longest cable bridge. If you have time you can stop by Patras before you cross the bridge. Delphi is about 230 Km away from Olympia but because it is not highway so you we could not drive 100 Km/hr. It took about 4 hrs to Delphi. It just kept driving place to place and stoped at each place for 2 hrs only. As I told you that I have very limited time but I wanted to go everywhere because I might not have a chance to come back here again. Anyway, I do not recommend to follow my route in less than 10 days ha ha..

Delphi Delphi was the site of the Delphic oracle, the most important oracle in the classical Greek world, and a major site for the worship of the god Apollo after he slew the Python, a deity who lived there and protected the navel of the Earth.   Delphi in ancient times was considered the center of the world, the place where heaven and earth met. This was the place on earth where man was closest to God. When Zeus sent two eagles to find the centre of the Earth, the birds met over Delphi, thus mark the site as the omphalos, or 'navel' of the world.


Archaeological Site of Delphi is another UNESCO world heritage site

Sanctuary of Athena Pronaia

The Temple of Apollo

The reconstructed Treasury of Athens,
built to commemorate their victory at the Battle of Marathon

The Theatre

We made stop at Delphi only for 2 hrs and then we continue driving to Mateora, Kalambaka for another 230 Km or 4.30 hrs. Kalambaka is a municipality in the Trikala peripheral unit, part ofThessaly in Greece. You could stayed at the hotel in Trikala too but Kalambaka is closer to Mateora. At Kalambaka, we stayed at Hotel Kosta Famissi which is located in the center of Kalambaka and right below the monasteries "Mateora". Breakfast buffet is inclusive. Good money valued.

The hotel is in town, surrounded by many shops and restaurants. I had dinner the the restaurant near hotel.