Day 10: Meteora

Black Sea Navigation: BULGARIA: [Nesebar] [Varna] ROMANIA: [Constanţa]
TURKEY: [Sinop] [Bodrum] [Istanbul: Basilica Cistern] [Istanbul: Topkapi] [Istanbul: Haigha Sophia]
GREECE: [Limnos] [Meteora] [Thira] [Athens: Acropolis and Plaka] [Acropolis Museum Highlights]

We were very anxious not to get locked out of the excursion to Meteora, but we needn't have worried - the ship dispatched 6 buses on the identical itinerary, for a very crowded experience at tiny monasteries.

The most amazing thing, to me, was the rock formations themselves.  It was cool to see the buildings perched atop the rocks, but - wow!  The rocks!  The landscape!!!!

Monastery atop a Monolith

The large formation on the right looked (from several angles) like a ship crashing through green waves of foliage.

Through the bus window

At one of the monasteries: Rock O'erlooming

Wildflowers growing on a monastery wall

We got to see how goods are conveyed to and from the cliff tops - it's this hook mechanism (which is now controlled by an electric winch, though they leave the old one for show).

We watched as they used this contraption to send an old metal table to the ground below.
I thought of a faster way to accomplish this, but perhaps they were hoping to resell the item.... 

View to cliffs across the way

Beehives on the lower terrace

Monks get thirsty, aiight?

I think they said this one was featured in a James Bond film.

A garden at the second monastery we actually visited.

It was a worthwhile excursion, though the logistics left a lot to be desired.  Our guide spoke non-stop on the bus for 1.5 hours each way, on matters of increasingly marginal interest -- I almost lost it when she started to explain the difference between B.C. and A.D. -- and there were built-in speakers over every seat, with no volume control.  This was particularly disappointing on the way there, since we had to get up early for this, and I'd been counting on catching some Z's.  On the return trip, I didn't mind as much; I was already awake, and would not have been permitted to sleep anyway because I'd been commandeered for a game of Uno.

Black Sea Navigation: BULGARIA: [Nesebar] [Varna] ROMANIA: [Constanţa]
TURKEY: [Sinop] [Bodrum] [Istanbul: Basilica Cistern] [Istanbul: Topkapi] [Istanbul: Haigha Sophia]
GREECE: [Limnos] [Meteora] [Thira] [Athens: Acropolis and Plaka] [Acropolis Museum Highlights]