Day 3: Meteora and Athens

I arrived in Meteora late the previous evening, engulfed in darkness and only having the quirky hotel to associate myself with. When I awoke the following morning and stretched on my hotel balcony, I was confronted by the landscape: towering rock formations dominated like an alien presence. After months of googling and hours of driving the day before, I was at the feet of a natural wonder of the world.

Half way through my road trip, I was keen to explore Meteora: a UNESCO World Heritage site of medieval monasteries constructed on top of giant boulders. Various monks set up camp on these boulders from the 9th century. By the 12th century, the area had become a monastic state. While more than 20 monasteries were erected over the period, today only six survive. I was astounded by their extremely well-preserved state and how they idiosyncratically add to the areas’ immense beauty. The whole landscape puzzled me – who in their right mind would climb up a towering rock and build a monastery to live a life of isolation? To only get food via rope pullies? I am fascinated by history but I refuse to romanticise it, especially cults from Medieval times. History deserves to be questioned, not worshipped.

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I visited the two most popular monasteries: the Monastery of Great Meteoron and the Monastery of Varlaam. The experience was uncannily unique as I crossed bridges and climbed stairs to explore the Athonite architecture in the heavens. I poked around the dark corners of medieval religious men which still serve contemporary religious functions, which starkly juxtaposed to the stalls of men trying to sell me magnets and the cats and dogs spreading their animal love.

Overall, I felt troubled by their overt cult nature. If it was framed as a cult, like other Greek historical sites,  I would have enjoyed the spectacle more. Nevertheless, due to the ongoing prominence of Christianity, the admired, isolated, boy-club crept me out. Maybe was the skull display or the long skirt I was told to put on or, perhaps, I was just tired from all my travelling and my critical inner Leftie possessed me. However, outside their own physical magnificence, they didn’t have much to offer. The various museums located on-site were shallow, biased, dusty and badly lit. I felt letdown, considering how far I had travelled, the possibilities of the subject matter and Greece’s usual strong and compelling museology.

After visiting the two monasteries, I parked on a cliff – still on elevated ground –  to admire the colossal, beautifying and eccentric historical enigma perched on small mountains. Perhaps cults are best admired from afar and their institutional histories, if not presented well, left alone.

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The four hour drive back to Athens illuminated the condition of Greece outside of tourist attractions. I was confronted by ghost town after ghost town. Unintentionally, I drove through a refugee camp area. In the middle of a holiday high, I was presented with the difficulties of the current refugee crisis. Set in complete isolation, there were no shops for kilometres and rubbish was thick in the streets. I saw groups of boys playing football and little girls walking hand in hand through the thick weeds.

I tried to sort this out in my mind, feeling challenged and struck. While I am aware of the traumatic extent of the humanitarian crisis, in this moment, I was deeply troubled by my lack of in-depth knowledge and guilty as I continued to drive. This physical crossing of  human paths, one of holiday and the other of asylum, has clung to me. Saying this, I want to thank Ai Wei Wei and Amazon Studios for recently releasing Human Flow,  the documentary was clarifying and educational for me making sense of this experience.

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Back in Athens, after a day grappling with big religious, economic and humanitarian questions, I went to Psyri to enjoy the Saturday nightlife. My partner and I were exhausted (as you can see from our faces) but we soldiered on. I am usually not a social night owl but the vibe of this area was relaxing, warm and fun- we enjoyed eating moussaka and drinking Mythos until 1am.

If you want to read more about My Big Fat Greek Winter Road-trip, here are the previous blogs:

My Big Fat Greek Winter Road-trip

The Peloponnese

The Centre of the World