We booked guided day trips to Meteora and Delphi from Athens, but if you’re visiting more places on the Greek mainland (like Thessaloniki), I recommend renting a car and doing it yourself instead.
Meteora
We had a 07:20 train to catch from Athens train station, which is conveniently located at Larissa metro station. It was a 4h ride to Kalambaka- the town beside Meteora. Yeah the 8h to and fro doesn’t really make sense. But nonetheless, the things we do to see monasteries perched on rocks.
The Eastern Orthodox monasteries at Meteora are the second most important in Greece, after Mount Athos. I implore you to google about Mount Athos; it is a very bizarre place. The monastic community governs Mt Athos as an autonomous region in Greece. Oh, and no females are allowed. This also extends to animals. Allegedly there was a monk whose mother died giving birth to him, and thereafter he lived the rest of his life on Mount Athos, hence had the distinction of never seeing a woman ever.
Back to Meteora; from Kalambaka station we were driven up the winding roads to the monasteries. We visited 3 in total- 2 monasteries and 1 nunnery. Entry to each one costs EUR 3. Guys should wear long trousers, but if ladies wear long trousers, they still have to buy a long skirt (another EUR 3) to wrap on top of the long trousers. I still don’t get it and I never will.
There used to be 24 monasteries in Meteora, but today only 6 are active. They were bombed by the Nazis during World War II as they suspected that rebels were hiding in there.
There’s a bit of stair climbing to get into the monasteries. Inside of which are places of worship, museums, and gift shops. The monasteries rake in millions of revenue from entrance fees and selling souvenirs (and not to mention skirts).
We got back to Athens at 10pm. What a long day.
Delphi
We had another early morning; this time the tour pick up was at Halandri metro station. A group of us squeezed into a fully packed minivan which drove 2h+ to Delphi. Maybe scheduling 2 full days of trips wasn’t such a good idea.
Delphi was a miss for us- a lot of background research was needed to appreciate the ruins and museum. It didn’t help that our tour guide was an actual rookie- we were the first group she led. She was also a good summary of the Greek labour market, a PhD in archaeology turned tour guide.
Nonetheless, she tried her best. And now I will try my best to summarise Wikipedia. The ancient Greeks considered Delphi to be the centre of the world, aka the navel (aka belly button) of the Earth. Zeus had launched two eagles travelling at equal speed from the two ends of the world (how did he know where the two ends were but not the centre), and where the eagles crossed paths was where the centre of the Earth is.
More famously at Delphi were its oracles. The Oracle of Delphi inspired The Matrix’s Oracle. She was always a priestess and resided in the Temple of Apollo, in which the god Apollo would deliver prophecies through her. People from all over the Greek-influenced world (which included Egypt and Turkey) travelled to Delphi to consult her on all major undertakings, such as war. She would allegedly inhale mysterious vapours from a chasm in the temple, falling into a trance and hence allowing Apollo to possess her spirit. For this reason the temple was always described by visitors as sweet-smelling.
Scientific theories on the nature of the hallucinogenic gas posit that it could be ethylene or ethane, sweet smelling hydrocarbons that are known to produce violent trances. However, geology analysis of the rocks at the temple do not seem to support that. So similar to The Matrix, nobody knows what is going on.
Entry to the ruins and museum cost EUR 6 for youths; double that for normal price. Afterwards we drove to the nearby town of Arachova, which we found more enjoyable than the temple at Delphi. Oops. In the evening we were driven back to Athens, and there ends our trip to Greece.
Hi! I am Joey, a University student from Singapore, attempting to show my appreciation for the world’s most powerful passport by literally milking its visa-free benefits one country at a time. I describe my travel budget as shoestring and travel style as audacious.
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