Meteora

Meteora used to be a community of 20 monasteries in the mountains in the north of Macedonia. Now there are only six still with monks and we visited the largest of these which is more of a tourist centre than a working monastery. Even so the monastery was spectacular.










The only part that was hard was the four hours by coach before we started to see the mountains in the distance. Mountains which are in fact remarkably like those of Montserrat.










One of the curiosities of the Monastery is that all the women have to wear a skirt out of respect for the religious community.










Getting to the monastery is a feat in itself. When we first set eyes on the monastery it became apparent that it would be impossible to get Jordi up there.










Two hundred and forty steps we were told. We seriously considered it, for a couple of seconds or so, and then decided that Jordi would unfortunately have to miss this out.
























Even on the steps up to the monastery in itself the views were spectacular.

























































Of course on the way back the long drive there, and the lack of sleep from the night before took its toll.