Meteora and Ioannina

 

Friday 17^th May. Meteora.

It was yet another beautiful drive. We could see snow- capped mountains in the distance as we travelled to Meteora. We passed shepherds watching their flocks in the traditional manner: walking them over the hills with their dogs - no fenced areas here. We drove through mainly arable land and then the amazing landscape of Meteora came into view. This area is full of massive spikes, cones and rounded hills that were created from river sediment that was twisted into bizarre shapes as the river flowed into the sea 25 million years ago.

 

It was an area that has supported religious communities since the late 10th Century although it was 1336 when the first monastery was built. At one time there were 24 monasteries and each one on its own ridiculous pinnacle. There are 6 remaining today and have been made famous by such films as 007 “for your eyes only”. In the past monks had to be hauled up to the monastery by a net/basket but now there is a dizzying road that takes you there. Although we visited all 6 monasteries we only went inside the largest and grandest,  Megalou Meteorou, built 400 m above the valley floor. To enter Jacqui was required to wear a long dress (no shorts, trousers or skirts above knees) and trousers for Mike. The monastery contained some interesting information on the history and liberation of modern Greece from the Turks in the 16^th century and the Germans in World War 2, plus lots of religious artefacts.

 

As we drove and walked to each monastery we had to keep stopping as we were overawed with the views. At one of our stops 'Costas' arrived. He was offering free camping in exchange for a meal at his mother’s hotel. This was just the site/man we were looking for. We met up with two decent German blokes and exchanged places to stay in Greece and in the Alps. They also gave us some maps. We all ended up at Costas' mothers hotel for supper which was simple BBQ chicken, Greek salad and wine all for only 24 euros (12 euros each). Later Costas invited Jacqui and I to drink Ouzo with him overlooking his 1000 olive trees from a very romantic spot. I could not face all the Ouzo after my last experience so Jacqui very kindly, when Costas was not looking, helped me out. 

 

Saturday 18^th May Metsova to Ioannina

We left late morning as Jacqui did a couple of hours work. Before we left Meteora there was one last monastery Mike wanted to visit. This was Agiou Nikolaou Anapafsas. A 14^th Century Monastery famous for its 16th Century frescos. On the way down from the Monasteries there was suddenly an amazing number of butterflies fluttering around. Our journey to day took us across the Pindhos mountains via the Katora Pass. This was another stunning journey. 

We stopped for 45 minutes at Metsova. This is a high mountain town consisting of stone houses. It was very picturesque but also quite commercial. So we continued through the Pindhos mountains avoiding numerous rock fall, snakes and tortoises on an very quiet mountain road where we only saw two cars over a period of two hours. Eventually we arrived in Ioannina which lies on the edge of a very beautiful lake where we eventually pulled up to park. In the evening we wandered along the water’s edge and watched some traditional Greek dancing. It turned out that the following day there were to be road races along the front so we decided to move the van to a quieter part of town. This proved to be quite difficult as the whole town was buzzing.

Sunday 19^th May Ioannina  

We moved early back to the lakeside car park in readiness to watch the beginning part of the race. After the first 10k runners passed us, Jacqui did a little more work and Mike went into the Old Town to explore the 5^th century castle,  various fortifications and minarets built by Ali Pasha. Ioannina was the former capital of the Albanian Muslim Chieftain Ali Pasha.

At 12pm we both went to a café where Jacqui had a good chat with Daxa on Skype and Mike was eyed up by the waiter. We then had lunch by the lake. After lunch we both had a laze. By 3.30pm the temp had dropped to 33 degrees and there was a good breeze so we decided to have a cycle. We started off along the front to see where it would take us. We ended up cycleing around the lake – 25k plus. It took a couple of hot dusty hours. At one point we crossed fields through dirt tracks but overall it was a good ride. In the evening the town again got very busy. No sign of a recession here.