April 18, 2011
I am sure we were the only guests at the Olympic Hotel in Metsovo. Wonderful views over the hills and the red tile roofs of the town..both of which were white with the overnight snow. It was cold! The temperature about 3 deg C. But we walked around the town this morning marvelling at the quaintness of it all and the well developed tourist information and souvenirs. Apparently all of this was developed by a foundation started by a swiss guy with Greek Roots who died before he got to see how well this town has done. Their traditional crafts and farming morphed into goods and wonderful cheeses, honey and meats. A delightful place to visit and spend a night.
Off on the new autobahn heading for Meteora. The road was great, the vistas sublime across the hills and into the mountains. Lots of tunnels that made it a quick trip. A joint project of the EU and Greece...we know which one put in all the money.
Meteora..magnificent...monasteries perched on top of high limestone columns graced with moss. The weather was low and foggy and softened the edges of the rock. A handful of monks..very few of whom we saw, keep 6 out of the original 23 monasteries going. Bus loads of tourists were walking up the challenging steps to tour the areas that were open. In the chapels..no photos allowed of course...a few young men were polishing the silver and cleaning up for Easter. Every single square metre of the chapels were painted with icons, and the carved wood chairs around the edges looked most uncomfortable. All of us women had to put on a wrap skirt as no slacks, pantaloons or pants were allowed in. Couldn't see how the monks could get excited about that...but rules is rules I guess.
We are staying the night in Larissa one of the largest cities in Greece, where Sozon and Rosmarie with Jurg chaperoning had a visit in 1965. Sozon was in the Greek military at the time in this area. The city is alive with young people drinking coffee and socializing in the outdoor coffee places that line the pedestrian streets of the city. Our hotel overlooks the area..so we hope they aren't up all night. It seems like all the young that we didn't see in the mountains are here. It sure would be hard to leave this and go back to isolated Bitsa where we didn't see a soul on a Saturday night!
Lots of roman ruins around and tons of grafitti cover everything..some of it quite good. A 10,000 seat amphitheater is a real draw..