For the next 24 hours,
we're going to be hiking to the top of Meteora. To be honest, I never heard of this mystical land
before. I didn't even know a place this beautiful existed, where six incredible structures float in
the clouds and hang on the edge of steep cliffs. These six incredible monasteries
are open to the public, and today we're off to find this floating-like city. Very windy,
it is a long way up. If you've just joined us, John, my boyfriend, and I are on a three-week
road trip through Greece. Together, we're going to be discovering some of the country's
most amazing destinations and islands by car. Wow, you have to experience that, before we
get back on a boat to take you sailing through the Bahamas. So last week, we explored Athens,
but now we're driving four hours away to find out who built these sacred structures and what
the fuss is all about. Look at this view! Wow, we are just on our way to go and check out all the
monasteries. Beautiful spot! As we're driving to the UNESCO World Heritage site in areas,
the country roads of Greece have been destroyed by landslides and are crumbling under us. Look
at this road that we're about to go along. Wow, holy moly! Oh my gosh, John, I feel a bit anxious.
That is insane! When we arrive into the town of Kalabaka, where we begin this trek,
this is the scenery and towering cliffs we're greeted by. And I wonder,
how will we ever make it up to the very top like the monks did hundreds of years ago?
We're in the foothills of Meteora, and the views are already pretty spectacular, is it?
We'll find out. The hike is supposed to take us four hours, but I definitely think it's
gonna take us longer because every step that we take is another incredible view.
It's been about four hours since we've left the hostel. Plus we're going to be held up
by this new camera lens John just purchased to help create better videos. Let us know what you
think. Rock solid Peg (Kristina's Nickname), what's that? The new lens! So we've left our
rental car back in town, and as we start this trek, we walk through a quaint neighborhood.
It's easy to get lost through here, but if you follow the trail and have a hiking app
like AllTrails, you'll be able to weave your way through the valleys unassisted,
without a guide, slowly making your way to the roads above that lead to the monasteries.
[Music] It's believed that monks seek solitude and spiritual isolation here and began inhabiting the
caves and crevasses of the rocks that surround us back in the 9th century. So we are on like a
road less traveled. This trail that we've been doing is pretty quiet. We really haven't seen
many people at all. John downloaded offline maps, so we've been able to use it as we've
been walking along here. This is truly one of the most amazing hikes in the world, in my opinion,
and most people I've talked to about Meteora don't even know it exists. So I'm grateful to
share this experience with you all. Yes, the trek is fairly long, it's relatively steep,
but rewarding. It's just as beautiful from the foothills below as it is midway as we walk
through forests that make us feel like we've been transported into a scene from Lord of the Rings.
Then the beauty hits us right in the face, along with the wind. Very windy! I feel like a
parachute. That's because we're around 500 meters above the village below. Wow, that's 1500 feet. So
watch your step and don't slip. Whoa, just hang in there. Amazing! The best view is yet to come.
Oh my gosh, that definitely gets your blood pumping. So let's talk a little bit about the
history here. Radiocarbon dating evidence shows humans lived here 50,000 years ago, but it was
in the 9th century A.D. that a group of hermit monks moved up to the ancient pinnacles, some
as high as 1800 feet, where they freed themselves from addictions such as money, alcohol, tobacco,
and drugs. Wow! Well, John's just getting some shots of a monastery that's on top of a huge rock,
and we are also standing on a huge rock. There were initially 24 monasteries here,
today there are six. The name Meteora means lofty or elevated. Its origins relate to meteor, which
can be seen shooting into the Earth's atmosphere high in the sky. John and I are on this trail,
and the majority of people go. I think on the road. Each monastery is built directly
on the flat surface of the rocks. Where here in May, it's almost summer, but storms brew here
year-round because of the high altitudes, and in winter, it's hit with heavy snow.
Finally, we were at the top, but we made a rookie mistake. We didn't have cash with us,
and there were no ATMs up here, and we had no car. So we had to walk back down,
having tracked 14 kilometers without stepping into a monastery. So it was
back to our accommodation before we tried again the next day.
Because we accidentally forgot to bring cash with us yesterday,
we decided to just trek through the forest and the roads for about four hours,
stopping and taking lots of photographs and enjoying the scenery. And then today,
we've driven up here to the monastery, and we've had the opportunity to experience it
inside. So make sure if you do visit, make sure you bring some cash with you. And make
sure you dress appropriately. Because the next day, our second attempt, I was wearing pants,
but it turns out women need to wear some kind of a dress because Meteora is a religious site,
so there is a dress code. To get in, you have to wear a skirt. I'm just hearing the gentleman
say to wrap your jumpers around your waist. I'm not sure if this is going to work or not,
but we're going to give it a go. All right, let's give it a crack. If this didn't work,
we're going to have to drive all the way back down into town and come up for a third time.
Two tickets. So far so good. And armed with cash, but I was issued a warning. So he told
me to close it. I can't close it, so they're very strict, huh? You needed to wear some sort
of a dress. Whether that be the sarong? I would have bought a sarong had I known,
but this is a really last-ditch effort to get inside. Another tip, make sure you give
yourself enough time to look around and check the opening times. The hours vary depending on which
monastery you go to. This one here that we're at today is from about 10 to 2, I believe. John and
I are in the Monastery of Varlaam. You have to walk 195 stairs, that's almost 10 stories,
to the top. It is a long way up. As you can see, they have this pulley system to get all their
goods up and down so they don't have to take the enormous amount of stairs to get up here.
There was a time when the only access up into the monasteries was via ladders or a windlass, but now
you can simply walk up the steps which were carved into the rock only 100 years ago in the 1920s.
I've made a Google map for you guys pinpointing all the highlights from our Greek road trip,
and I've made it completely free. So if it's helpful and you'd like me to
continue sharing these pins, give this video a quick like or comment below or
consider subscribing to show your support. I've put the Google Map Link in the description below,
which includes my favorite monastery. The monastery was founded in 1350. Now,
I sucked at maths at school, but if my calculations are correct, that's more than
670 years ago. Each monastery is different up here. The manicured gardens are breathtaking,
as are the views. And here's a look at one of the Orthodox churches inside. You can light a candle,
you can say a prayer. I lit one in memory of my late grandparents.
So these incredible rock formations we see today began taking shape 60 million years ago. It was
formed out of deposits of stone, sand, and mud from streams flowing into a delta at the edge
of a lake over millions of years. Today, roads lead us through those valleys. So before heading
off for our next adventure, John and I couldn't help ourselves and came back up one last time
at dusk when everyone had gone home except a few tourists who piled onto lookout points. We will
watch the sunset. Oh my gosh, John, that is so incredible. So I think the moral of the story
is if you are heading to Athens, definitely head here for a day trip if possible, and better still,
come here for the night if you can hire a car. This is definitely a spot that you shouldn't miss.
So if you're heading to Athens, add this to your bucket list. And along the way, you'll actually
drive straight through Delphi. It's the second most popular attraction in all of Greece after the
Acropolis. So legend has it that Zeus released two golden eagles in different directions,
one to the east and one to the west, and this right here, Delphi, is the place where they met,
and it was called the center of the world. There are so many holes in that plot. Hey,
do you reckon? Yeah, for a start, how would they continue to fly in a straight line until they met
each other? Second of all, back then, where was he doing to make sure he was in the same
spot that they met? Yeah, well, I guess that's why it's mythological. Hence where the word myth
probably comes from, right? So if you're visiting Delphi, I would recommend that you do a little
bit of research before because there's not much information about what we're actually looking at,
looking at these beautiful archaeological sites, but we're really a little unsure of what they were
used for. Download a guide, yeah, download a guide for sure. And if you time your stopover right,
pop past the main town for lunch. So, we are now in the town of Delphi,
which is literally just a minute's drive from the ruins, and it is beautiful. There are
so many cobbled streets, cafes, tavernas, and the view is absolutely to die for. Some of the
restaurants here are looking over the mountains, and the view is absolutely spectacular. Like,
look at this little spot here. So, this is where we decided to fuel up on a Greek feast. Thank you!
Wow, that looks so good. I am starving. I don't know about you. Alright, let's
do it. Look at that olive oil, pickled octopus, fresh bread, and a Greek salad. I am so hungry.
As part of this Greece road trip series, we have three more stops, and they're all islands. So,
we're gonna have to put our hire car on and off a few ferries. Join us for Corfu, Zakynthos,
and Kefalonia, coming right up. Make sure you're subscribed and hit that notification bell,
so you also don't miss us sailing in the beautiful Bahamas. One of our Patrons
is joining us on board for the trip, so consider joining our crew if you'd like
to support our production and be part of our upcoming adventures. Because we're going to
be busy sailing the Med this summer! Do you feel like you're on a go-kart track?
I feel like we're on Super Mario Kart. How cools this little bridge thing?