Today we saw some of the most spectacular scenery of our entire trip—the steep, rocky and dramatic pinnacles of the Meteora region. Yesterday we saw the imposing mountains from down below.

Today, though, we drove up to two of the monasteries on the top of the mountains. At one time there were 44 monasteries but only six survive today, the others are in ruins or have been abandoned. Still it is a miracle that these buildings are here at all, and you wonder how they got all the building materials up here. It is a LONG, LONG WAY up the mountain.

We stopped along the way up the mountain to view the panoramic vista, and I was very nervous about losing my footing, because one slip would mean instant death! Absolutely no ADA compliance here, with no railings nor signs nor safety features of any kind to warn you not to get too close to the edge!!

The first monastery was St. Stefan’s and no longer is a monastery with male monks; it is now a convent with 42 nuns ranging in age from 25 to 85. They spend 8 hours a day in sleeping, 8 hours for prayer, and 8 hours for other activities. There is a small shop where they sell souvenirs, jams, honey, tea, incense and other products to support their mission. We saw a few of the nuns walking around, dressed all in black.

There is a strict dress code for both men and women. Men have to wear long trousers and shirts; and women have to wear long, ankle-length skirts, and blouses with covered shoulders. If you don’t have an ankle-length skirt you can borrow one, like I and many women in our group had to do.

We weren’t allowed to take any photos inside the church, but here is one from a postcard I bought showing the colorful ceilings and walls.

After a short bus ride we arrived at the second monastery, this one devoted to Saint Barbara. We had to descend 200+ steps through a peaceful forest in order to get to the building.

The bus picked us up at another location enabling us to keep walking downstairs unlike other tour groups which had to walk up stairs. How smart of our tour director to give us the easy way and how lucky we were!

On the way down the mountain, we were so lucky to see the Olympic flame pass by! It was escorted by about a dozen police cars.

Three-and-a-half hours later, our bus finally pulled up to our hotel in Delphi. I loved the view from my room!