Kastraki

Near the end of our time in Northern Greece, we arrived in Kastraki, the town at the foot of the world famous monasteries of Meteora. I was so excited to be there, to be able to visit this amazing landscape. We checked into a guesthouse nearby - run by a 60 year old Greek woman who had spent many years living in Australia - with fabulous views. Again, we were virtually the only travellers in town, which was kind of pleasant. We had the town to ourselves. While we were in Kastraki, unfortunately the weather was quite wet, forcing us to relax in the hotel for a couple of hours before walking down to the town for a wonder. We stopped at a small restaurant and had our lunch, the owner of which showed his upset face for no reason. May be he had an argument with his wife before we showed up. Anyway, we ordered a few dishes, tried to get a smile out of him and enjoyed his food despite it all.

Back at the hotel we started hearing music and the owner told us that the next day would be a special anniversay of a famous Greek victory over the Germans. We drove up there to have a look at the preparations, the music and the kids dancing. At the window of the town ouzerie, we saw the owner singing and dancing to Greek music as he served a single customer dinner. We immediately decided that this was the place for us. He was totally pissed and hilarious but he had a very nice voice and also he cooked brilliantly. We ordered some grilled sausages, Greek salad of course and Ouzo. He served the longest sausage I've ever had in my entire life, too big for the dish and it tasted amazing.

We started our monastery visiting the next day a bit earlier than usual as we wanted to visit as many as possible. Unfortunately some are closed on certain days. Anyway, we visited as many as we could and they were all amazing. I wondered at how the people could build so many monasteries that looked like they were hanging on the side of the rocky mountains. The walking paths up to them were beautiful both because of the view and the workmanship. After one visit, while I was waiting for my friends to come down, I talked to the ticket seller and he was so funny. He asked me where I was from and I responded. He tried to express that he knew Vietnam by acting out the shooting of a gun and said America and something else in Greek but I think he wanted to mention the Vietnam War. I'm so happy to know that at least someone in such a remote place knows about my country and he must know that we won the war. Thanks for that mate, I very much appreciated that. We had a brilliant day and yes, I can't believe I've been there.

To be continued....