Meteora

We’ve finally run out of good weather as last night we had a thunderstorm followed by rain and it hasn’t stopped yet! Pity as today’s visit to the Monasteries of Meteora would have been more spectacular without the mist. We were able to visit two the first was Rousanou a small monastery perched precariously on the tip of a narrow spire of rock we had to climb up 150 steps to reach the entrance! It was founded in 1545 by two brothers and converted to a convent in 1988 home to 15 nuns who live and work there and renowned for its harrowing frescos. In some of my photos it is the small monastery. We then made our way to a much larger site. Varlaam was founded in 1518 and is home to several monks who live there. It has many beautiful frescoes and displays of paintings and traditional robes worn by the Priests. Materials are now brought to the top by cable car replacing the old rope baskets. An interesting morning.

One of our group was lucky to get this photo of a salamander