Said goodbye to the cool mountain air (and my reprieve from sweating) and drove to the Meteora, a towering series of rock formations in central Greece. They’re enormous. Like taller than the Empire State Building enormous.
The rock towers are home to six Greek Orthodox monasteries. They are unusual because the monasteries were built on the FREAKING TOP of the rock columns. They were built in the fourteenth century as the monks looked for places to seek refuge from the Ottoman Turks.

Walked up a lot of hills. Because the only direction you can walk in Europe is up. Went rock climbing – scaled a rock in my monastery/church dress and my Birks. Would not recommend.

Until the 1920s, there were no stairs to reach the monasteries. You climbed wooden ladders. Or you could trust your buddies to pull you up in a basket. Those were some good times.

Oh goodie. Caves. Some of the caves in the Meteora were used by hermit monks who wanted to live in solitude. Other caves were punishment for monks who needed to repent. Not sure what offense(s) landed you in monk jail.

Went to dinner at a local taverna. Like no menu. You just sit down, and they start bringing you food. So so so much food. And the owner sits down with you to eat. Wonder if Greeks have leftover night.

Got to listen to some traditional Greek bouzouki and guitar music. Super talented duo – Jim and John. Probably actually Dimitri and Yiannis. We kept buying them beers. They sang “Dust in the Wind” for us. Greeks are the champions of hospitality. I’m gonna miss that.

And then there was dancing. I hadn’t had enough tsipouro for that. But, awesome. Still no plate breaking, though.