We set off this morning for one of favourite parts of Greece, Meteora. This visit was going to be extra special for two reasons, firstly it was Greek Easter (this year it is the same as our Easter) and secondly, and most importantly, we were meeting up with our son Simon and partner Katie.
First of all though we wanted to visit the archaeological museum in Ioannina as our attempt to do so three years ago failed when we found it closed for restoration for an indeterminate period of time. This time it was open and we spent a pleasant hour looking around it. There wasn't a huge amount of finds (only one floor) but it was displayed very well with clear descriptions in English as well as Greek. Many of the displays were done by period rather than site, with the exception of Dodona, which had its own room. There are arguments for and against this method of display but it did make it difficult to spot finds from the sites that we had visited. They had made a replica of one of the catapults from the Necromanteion, so it is official, the metal parts were not a windlass mechanism for lowering sheets with depictions of the dead ancestors – shame. We were the only visitors in the museum and were followed, sometimes preceded if they could see that we were about to move, by two museum guards. If we split up, so did the guards and we had one each. Jane wondered whether they were going to follow her into the toilets – they didn't. It made us wonder what they expected us to do – mind you there were some lovely bronze jugs with a woman's head on the handle! Just to make some conversation, I asked whether I was allowed to take photographs and much to my amazement, they said yes provided that I didn't use flash. I hope this enlightened thinking applies to all Greek museums although I suspect that given that many people do not know how to prevent their cameras using the flash, a blanket photography will be the easy option.
On the way back we walked through the town centre and saw many shops selling hand-made metal goods from barbecues to beautiful hammered copper trays. Ioannina was always a centre for metalworking and it is good to see that the tradition continues. I took a picture of the impressive display outside one of the shops which was obviously also a workshop. Most of the goods had been made in the workshop and Jane spotted something that I have been looking for ever since I started building my wood-fired bread/pizza oven. It was a small grill designed to barbecue over coals and this one had a long metal handle and was small enough to fit through the low door of the oven. That was my birthday present from Jane sorted!
When we came through Ioannina on the way to the campsite, it was fairly quiet and the driving was easy. However, today being the last shopping day before the Easter weekend, the roads were packed. So we decided, after doing some shopping on the way back, to take the road away from the town round the north end of the lake. We were sure that we would be able to join the motorway (the Via Egnatia) to the north of Ioannina. We had excellent views of the lake and Ioannina from the road as it rose into the hills. It got higher and higher and we passed a huge metal sign telling us that the Via Egnatia cost €34,000,000,000 and lots of other facts that we couldn't understand. As we passed an identical sign designed for traffic travelling in the opposite direction, we decided that the sign must say that we had missed the motorway as it was travelling through a tunnel directly below us. The road went on and some distance further on we came within a tantalizing few metres of the Via Egnatia and cars were able to exit from it but there was no way on to it. We thought that was our last chance gone but a few kilometres further on we were eventually able to join it. This section of the motorway goes through many tunnels and cuts out the Katara Pass west of Metsovo with its long, steep ascent and descent. This is however a very pretty road and would probably be quiet now that the motorway is open. When we went over the pass three years ago, it was a very tedious journey as haze obscured the views and large numbers of very slow heavy lorries destined for the motorway construction slowed our progress to a crawl.
We left the motorway on the Trikala road and were soon arriving at Meteora. We checked in at the Vrahos (Greek for Rock) Campsite in Kastraki – in our opinion, a much nicer place to stay than Kalambaka. There was a huge amount of space in the campsite but it was surprisingly busy for this time of year. We chose a pitch in the old part of the campsite and soon discovered why it was so busy. We were the only motorhome in our section and all of the tents were occupied by climbers – some German and Austria but the vast majority Greek. We have never stayed in a Greek campsite out of season where the majority of the customers were Greek and it was a pleasant experience.
Simon and Katie came to join us from their hotel in the centre of Kastraki and we set off to explore the village. The backdrop to Kastraki is the massive range of rock pinnacles that rise in sheer cliffs nearly 400 metres over the village. It doesn't matter how many times we come to Meteora, it takes my breadth away and it was great to see that Simon and Katie were equally in awe. Over dinner in the evening we made plans for the next day. The campsite gives its customers a map that shows all of the monasteries, occupied or ruined, and the roads, tracks and footpaths that link them. We decided that we would try one of the walks.
I have a book called 'A Travelogue in Greece and a Folklore Calendar' and this has a very good description of the Easter celebrations along with endless descriptions of local traditions and superstitions associated with this time of the year. The book noted that on Holy Wednesday (yesterday) when the Greeks go to church the priest makes the mark of the cross on the forehead of each of the congregation. There was a large extended family group close to us in the restaurant and one of the women used a cotton wool ball soaked in olive oil to anoint each person. This was a long process as she made the sign of the cross on the forehead, both cheeks, the chin and both hands of every one of the family.
Photos: Mid 6th century bronze jug – the woman's headdress is also a place to rest your thumb whilst pouring – not only decorative but very practical; The Ioannina ironmongers where I bought my grill – it is the one in the front.
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