Magnificent Meteora
The Hotel Meteora, a family-owned business since 1954 based in Kalambaka, Greece, put out a lavish breakfast spread this morning: sliced peaches, yogurt, bread, croissant, three different salads including eggplant, olives, tomatoes and cucumbers, cheese toast, stuffed grape leaf, and coffee. They even offered a fried egg and a slice of meat with cheese. I declined these last offers and tried to nibble my way through tastings more than filling up. It is challenging not to overeat with so much being offered. It is a bit of an effort to get to this hotel as they are up on a hill near the monumental rocks. You also get a nice view of the valley from up here. Yesterday under the shade of some trees there were a couple of turtles and I took a picture of one of them. I had asked about where I could wash some laundry and for 10 euros the matron did my laundry for me while I was on tour. This is not a service she typically offers.
This morning I went on another tour of the monasteries, same tour company: https://visitmeteora.travel traveling to several different monasteries. The views are breathtaking no matter where one travels here and the monasteries are high above the valley for the closest thing to a bird’s-eye view that I’ve come across beyond Machu Picchu. Ticket stubs are all in Greek so I am not certain of the monastery names. Chris is our guide today with a special interest in history and is very fun as a tour guide. On the return into town they kindly stopped at the train station so that several of us could check on the timetable for departure options, then recommended restaurants based on what us travelers were interested in eating. They really went above and beyond the normal tour.
For lunch I stopped at a restaurant with a fountain and had the refreshing sound of moving water to dine by. There are many cats here and one approached my table with soft little “meows.” I broke off a piece of feta cheese but it was more interested in getting some gentle pets. What a tender little being.
Upon returning to the hotel I could swear I had my eyeglasses with me and by the time I changed into a pair of shorts, I could not find them anywhere. I retraced my steps to no avail, returned to the hotel where the owner said “these are for you” in her limited English. She had found my glasses outside the hotel, to my extreme relief. All is well now and I am relaxing this afternoon before arranging travel for tomorrow. I’m so happy to have my glasses to read timetables and menus. On to Delphi by train tomorrow.