Just a quick update here as we only spent 2 nights in Meteora but it was quite a dramatic place. It is these huge rocks that were pushed up from the earth about 10 million years ago, give or take a few centuries. They've then eroded to give these really wierd rock formations. And then in the middle ages various orders of monks decided it would be a really good idea to build monasteries on top of some of the pinnacles! So there is now this wierd combination of spectacular forces of nature combined with incredible human ingenuity and imagination.

We were very dedicated as we really wanted to walk around these as much as we could so actually managed to drag ourselves out of bed at 6a.m. to avoid both the heat and the bus tours. And that worked pretty well as we managed to see 4 of the monasteries and get down again before noon when the temperature really started cranking up, as well as bus loads of Americans arriving. The monasteries themselves were interesting though to be honest the inside of the churches all tended to be a bit the same, albeit very beautiful with frescoes painted all over the walls and ceilings. The most fascinating thing to see was the old windlasses that used to be used to haul up the pilgrims - nowadays it is very civilised with steps, although our legs were aching the next day after however may hundred of them! But apparently when asked by one nervous visitor how often the ropes were replaced, the monks reply was whenever the Lord allows them to break!

Incredible though this place was, there wasn't much else to see here, and it was very busy so we decided to head off through the Pindos mountains, onwards to the west coast