Eight Boots Abroad

Leaving Italy was surprisingly emotional. We had been overland traveling by train, bus, and car for more than 10 weeks, so boarding our flight out of Rome felt like we were starting a new chapter in our big adventure!

We landed in Athens and drove 4 hours north to a stunning region in northwestern Greece known as Meteora. The area is famous for monasteries built on massive sandstone towers that rise abruptly, nearly 1,000 feet from the valley floor below. The entire scene is otherworldly!

Beginning in the 11th century, caves within these sandstone towers were inhabited by hermit monks. In the 14th century the monks began building monasteries on the seemingly inaccessible tops of these sandstone towers, using the elevated location to protect against frequent invasions from the Turkish Empire. The monks then created an amusingly precarious system of ladders, ropes, and pulleys to access their isolated monasteries; building stone paths through dense forests to travel between them. Of the 24 monasteries originally constructed, 6 are still in use and can be visited today.

We stayed at the base of the towers in the small town of Kalambaka. From here, we were able to hike on the ancient stone trails through dense oak forests to visit the monasteries. The monasteries are simple in their layout, but the walls and ceilings within the sacred rooms/sanctuaries are covered in byzantine frescos and very elaborate gold, silver, and brass fixtures and accents. Understandably, visitors aren’t permitted to take photos of the sacred rooms within the monasteries, but we were able to take some photos in the courtyards and kitchen areas.

Spending nearly a week in Kalambaka also gave us some downtime for the kiddos to catch up on some school lessons… and for our family to become oddly obsessed with an entire season of the Dr. Seuss Baking Challenge on Prime Video. Our only “scheduled” time every day was watching sunset.

After our time in Meteora, we packed up and headed to Athens. Our hostel in central Athens was very cozy and in a great neighborhood – we were able to easily walk through the city to visit the Acropolis, ancient Agora, and multiple museums. I was pleasantly surprised by the pedestrian-friendly streets and alleyways, filled with small cafés and shops. So very cute!

How wild it was to be walking the streets of Athens, through the birthplace of democracy and Western civilization! To be honest, I’m a little jealous of my kiddos exposure to Greek, Roman, Medieval, and Renaissance time periods on this trip. In the past few months they’ve been seeing, touching, and breathing the history of each of these periods in the most personal ways possible. History was never really an interest of mine growing up, so I feel like I’ve learned SO MUCH along with them on this journey!

One of the highlights for the kiddos was a nighttime open air performance of a series of short plays called Madea and Other Friends I Made in Athens. Performed in traditional masks by the actors, the play focused on Greek history and mythology, and was staged on a rooftop with an outstanding view of the brilliantly lit Acropolis. Along with all the learning, we did get up to some shenanigans. Specifically, we stumbled upon a crazy restaurant called Little Kook which the kiddos accurately described as a “fever dream on crazy pills.” The restaurant and alleyways that surround it are covered in over-the-top gaudy neon lights and decorations for different seasons of the year. They happened to change the decor to Halloween theme just prior to our arrival. One evening we grabbed an outdoor table at 11pm and enjoyed some sweet crepes, surrounded by ghosts, goblins, pumpkin vampires, giant spiders, a zombie marching band, headless horsemen, and some very disturbing clowns. It was all amazingly creepy in the most wonderful way possible!

All-in-all, Greece definitely surpassed my expectations! Our time in Meteora was a perfect mix of nature, hiking, history, and culture… and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed Athens! I typically find big cities to be a bit chaotic and less relaxing, but the pedestrian-friendly city center and easy public transport sure made it delightful to wander and explore the ancient sites.

Greece – Meteora and Athens – Howie’s addendum

Greece was an entirely new place to me, and one of my favorites of our adventure so far! Going into the trip, I had not heard the best things about Athens as a travel destination, but we found it to be vibrant and friendly, while we suffered only one unsuccessful attempted pick-pocketing! But for me, the real highlight of this segment of the trip was Meteora – a place that I had always found intriguing as a destination, but I was unprepared for how amazing it was!

Here are my highlight memories:

Hiking in Meteora: I was worried that we were going to be scorched by high summer temperatures on this section of the trip, but the dense canopy of the forest kept us relatively cool on our days out exploring. As part of our school work, we are currently reading Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream with the kiddos. Hiking beneath the oak trees as the paths wind between the impressive sandstone towers has been the perfect setting to help visualize the Athenian youth lost in their nocturnal adventures with the woodland sprites in the play. As an added bonus, the cliff top monasteries add a sense of deep history to this stunning natural setting.

Sunsets in Meteora: I don’t remember any point in my life seeing so many stunning sunsets in a row – it was one beautiful evening after another filled with beams of sunshine breaking through the clouds to illuminate the monasteries on the glowing rocky cliffs. 

Greek food: Having been in Italy for much of the summer, we were not lacking in amazing food options. But the shift East to Greek cuisine has been a welcome change! Stuffed grape leaves and moussaka in Kalambaka were a particular highlight.

Evening views of the Acropolis: We spent one evening at the Acropolis itself, which was neat to see and an amazing place to explore, but it unfortunately felt rushed and crowded due to the enormous number of visitors. We found the nearby hilltops to be viewpoints much more to our liking on the nights that followed. After days exploring the ancient city sites, our sunset walks up Philopappos Hill and to the National Observatory were the perfect way to finish our days, away from the crowds, and with unbeatable views!

History: I have loved the feeling that our entire trip thus far has been a trip backwards through time. We started out at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, then made our way onwards to explore Baroque period architecture in Prague, the Gothic and Romanesque cathedrals and churches in France, and the Renaissance in Firenze. We then moved back in time yet again to Rome, and a step further back to ancient Greece. We still have one step yet further back to go on the next leg of our trip, to the cave dwellings in Cappadocia, Turkey – a place that has been inhabited for around 3500 years! It has been an incredible experience to see the overlap and influence of cultures on one another on each new leg of our adventure. Onward we go!