Stephanie and I spent our honeymoon in Greece this July. Here are a few photos the trip.

Meteora

Meteora is a striking rock formation, made much more so by the monasteries built precipitously on top of those rocks. Twenty-four monasteries were established between the 13th and 14th century, of which six remain today.

The Monastery of Varlaam, with the Holy Monastery of Rousanos - Sant Barbara in the background.

The monasteries were built designed to be inaccessible to outsiders to keep the monks safe from political upheaval and those who might do them harm, including Turkish raiders. The only access to the monasteries was via rope ladders and winches such as this one:

The winch used to get items and people up to one of the Meteora monasteries.

These days the monasteries are a major tourist attraction. Stairs were carved into the rock in the twentieth century to make the monasteries more accessible.

These days you can climb up to the monasteries using stairs, but these were only added in the twentieth century.

The monasteries themselves are beautiful and carefully maintained:

The whole area is beautiful. You can hike up to the monasteries from the town below and watch the sunset.

A Meteora panorama. Four monasteries are visible: The Great Meteoron, Varlaam, Rousanos - Saint Barbara, and Saint Nicholas Anapafsas. Can you spot them all?

A small restaurant under the Meteora rock formation.

I couldn’t resist taking a photo of the phone in our hotel bathroom:

Our hotel room had a telephone in the bathroom.

This may seem silly at first, but boy it sure would have come in handy that one time in Laos. Perhaps getting locked in the bathroom is more common than you’d think?

Check out Wikipedia for more info on Meteora.

Delphi

We stopped in Delphi, where The Pythia, the Oracle of Delphi, spoke to the gods.

Athens

The highlight of Athens is certainly Acropolis and the historical sites around it:

Many are those who would climb the Acropolis

The dominant building on the Akropolis is the Parthenon, the temple of Athena:

I was often struck by the immediate proximity of ancient and modern in Athens.

I suppose that is what happens when you continue living in a place with such a long history.

Temple of Hephaestus at the Ancient Agora

Monastariki

Monastariki is the part of Athens just north of the Acropolis and the agoras. It is known for its vibrant street art and busy nightlife.

National Archaeological Museum

The National Archaeological Museum is definitely worth seeing. It houses Ancient Greek art & artifacts.

Bronze statue of a horse and a young jockey, found in the sea off Cape Artemision, north Euboea ca. 140 BC.

Statue of Aphrodite, Pan and Eros at the National Archaeological Museum of Athens

A particular gem for me (I’m an engineer, you know) was the Antikythera Mechanism:

This is a hand-powered orrery, a device for calculating positions of astronomical bodies. It is estimated that it was built between 205 BC and 87 BC! Whoa! Per Wikipedia, machines of similar complexity did not appear again until the fourteenth century. That’s awe-inspiring.

Kefalonia

We ended our trip on Kefalonia, looking to get away from crowds and lie on a forgotten little beach somewhere. In this we succeeded.

Stephanie, boss lady. You can rent a boat in Sami and then go looking for forgotten beaches you can explore all alone.

This is the Melissani Cave Lake:

It’s quite picturesque and memorable… so much so that it was included in Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey. In that game, unlike in real life, you’re allowed to dive into the lake’s pure waters.

Overall, it was an excellent trip. We are already looking forward to coming back - there are so many more things to see and islands to explore. Thanks, Greece!

The Klog

Greece: Meteora, Delphi, Athens, and Kefalonia