We got an early start today, leaving our hotel before breakfast - almost unheard of by the Anderson team. We have a date at 8:45 in Kalambaka that we don’t want to miss: our tour departure with Meteora eBikes. To make sure we arrive in plenty of time, we bike to Kalambaka and have breakfast there, picking up pastries at the bakery and walking them next door to the cafe for filtered coffee. This is really an attractive feature of the Greek culture, shopping for food and then taking it elsewhere to sit down with a drink.
E-bike tour of Meteora! We’ve never been on an assist bike before, but decided this was the perfect time to experiment. Our original plan was to just bike on our own to the monasteries - it’s not a particularly difficult 12 mile loop, once you climb up the thousand feet to the monastery level.We decided we really wanted a tour guide to help us understand what we were seeing though, and being ushered around with a crowd in a van or bus just isn’t our style. A bike tour with a guide sounded ideal.
City center, Kalambaka. Our BF’s are in a safe place while we enjoy our breakfast across the street.
Our tour guide was Vassily, the owner of Meteora eBike, a new company in Kalambaka that I think just opened this year. I can’t say enough good things about Vasilis, his partner Jenny, and the tour experience we had. It was just what we were hoping for - a knowledgeable and informative guide (who speaks English fluently), and all of the advantages of seeing a place by bicycle - you can move at your own pace, you can stop wherever you want, and you’re spending all of your time outdoors instead of cooped up in a bus.
Vasilis was an excellent guide, teaching us a lot about the geologic history of the rock formations and the history of the monasteries. The general rhythm of the tour was to bike a ways, and stop at a good viewpoint and hear Vasilis’s background information; bike a ways further, and stop to tour a monastery on our own at our own pace, while Vassily stayed behind with the bikes. Pretty much perfect, I’d say.
I’m not going to say anything more about Meteora itself, because so much information is available already. This is a bike blog though, so what about the eBike experience? I think they worked better for me than for Rachael, who found it a bit frustrating - it made her a bit uncomfortable biking without a mirror, and it took her awhile to get down the mechanics of how to start up. For myself though, I was pleasantly surprised by the experience. I’m sure I’ll keep biking under my own steam for as long as possible of course, but if I get to the point that it is just too difficult for some reason (knee issues seem like the greatest risk at the moment), I’d certainly consider this as an option to transition to.
With Vasilis and Jenny, owners of their exciting new business, Meteora eBikes. Great couple, great business. Go to Meteora and support them!
Dupiani Rock, near Kastraki. Per Vasilis, this is one of the beginner routes for the rock climbers here because it’s so easy. On its right margin is the ruins of Pantokrator Monastery.
Outside Great Meteoron Monastery. While we visited the monastery for about a half hour at our own pace, Vasilis stayed with the bikes and chatted with friends.
The view of Kastraki from Great Meteoron Monastery. We could see our guesthouse (the nearest building in the photo, at the upper end of town), and the church across from last nights restaurant.
This is either Varlaam or Great Meteoron. The stairs on all the monasteries are new, within about the last century. Before that access was either by climbing or being hauled up by the monks in rope-suspended baskets.
Traffic outside Saint Stephen’s was pretty crazy, as it was also outside Varlaam and Great Meteoron. It’s Sunday, and the rocks are full of day trippers.
At a few points on the tour, Vasilis took video clips of us as we were all biking along and then emailed them to us. Great to have this as part of our memory of such a special day.
The amazing view of the Plain of Thessaly from Saint Stephen’s Monastery.
