The very funny desperate Greek

Ons en die Hollandse Griek het lekker geclick!

When we left his guest house this morning, Kattejagter said to the auntie: "listen I am a fantastic gardener and as we Greeks are completely bankrupt I can come and work for you!" to dad he said "the whole of Greece is for sale, you can buy the Acropolis too!"

We took the taxi to the train station, it's cold this morning. The taxi driver drove extremely carefully, dad says because cars are so expensive in Greece.

At the station we saw a poster for missing children. Last night we watched BBC news and saw a very disturbing programme about human and organ trafficking especially in Kosovo. From the start I avoided going to Kosovo, only because of the blood feuds that exist between families and one can easily get caught in the cross fire.

The Germans and the Turks are part of the trafficking syndicate and even though the UN investigated the issue, they cannot resolve it and everybody is playing numb about it! Huge denial around the issue! Kidneys in particular are very hardy organs to transport and survive long journeys. They kidnapped healthy looking men and all the jailbirds got nailed too!

Imagine this being a very viable business in SA, we will get many vrot livers drinking vaaljapie from The Western Cape prisons. We South Africa, were also part of this by the way, as Durban Addington hospital was implicated a few years ago.

The black stork

This morning we say good bye to this extraordinary place and also to our black stork. We are training into Thessaloniki today and will be taking the overnight train to Sofia in Bulgaria tonight. We find the train rides smooth and comfortable.

The black stork (Ciconia nigra) is the rarer and lessor known of the 2 stork species that breed in Greece. It is sighted far less frequently because, unlike the white stork, it does not breed near human settlements. Except of course near the holy rocks of Meteora, we find the 'Skoorsteenveër' ( hulle broei in Europa bo-op skoorstene) on top of the Byzantium church dome in Kalambaka, feeding her chicks.

The black stork usually inhabits wooded areas with streams, lakes and other wetlands, where it builds it's nest in atop large trees. Like its cousin the white stork, the black stork is a migratory bird that winters in Africa before returning to Europe in April. In fair weather, at the end of summer, you can see hundreds of black and white storks flying towards Africa.

Every day life in Kalambaka

Mom has turned into a mountain goat! She sees a steep road and wants to explore!

We went window shopping, saw the most magnificent embroidery called Semen embroidery, a tapestry done in the finest cross stitch with golden thread, from this area. A table runner with two side cloths will only cost your R8000. We saw stunning porcelain too and very traditional copper work, utensils and plates and like mom says "kaggelkakkies". The monks taught one family to do bronze and copper work and this same family still makes products for the monasteries.

Dad went shopping too, he came back with a Greek milk tart! Soos ma sê: hy is in sy sewende hemel!

We walked up to the foot path that is popular with hikers and found a mulberry tree laden with white fruit! Like the old greek ladies, we stood underneath the tree and ate some too!

We found our way to one of the oldest churches that was in the valley before the monasteries were built! There we met young Greeks employed by the Ministry of Culture to restore the painted murals with acetone! They said they were very careful with the blue and red pigment. They spoke very good English and I asked why! "As children we were into heavy metal and learnt it from listening to music!"

I asked: "why are you doing this?" expecting an explanation of why they are restoring these particular icons and the one chirped and said! "We are doing it purely for the money!"
There you have it! They are all feeling the pinch.

We went back to the guest house late afternoon, mom washed her hair and we basked in the sun. Ma roep my en sê: hiers nog 'n wilde Phillip voor in die straat en sy ma slaat sy gat aan die brand, luidkeels, sommer twee keer agter mekaar.

Mom was very impressed with the guest house as we both had personalized linen and toweling.

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The Varlaam monastery

Mom and dad climbed the many, many , many steps to the Varlaam monastery. At the entrance we had to cover up our pants by wearing wrap arounds that the monastery provides.

The Varlaam monastery was founded in the mid 14th century by the hermit Varlaam. He climbed the rock and built a few cells and a small chapel which he dedicated to the Three Hierarchs. He lived there in seclusion, dressed in tattered rags and lost in prayer till the end of his days.

The buildings remained deserted for years after his death but then two brothers, the monks Nektarios and Theophanis, ascended the rock and single handedly began to rebuild the church that Varlaam erected. As time passed the monks increased to 30 in total, and a second church was built.

The earliest ascetics ascended the rocks by means of successive tiers of scaffolding supported on timbers wedged into crevices. Later they replaced the scaffolding with immensely long hanging ladders. Those not bold enough to ascend by way of ladder were hauled up in a net, a process that lasted half an hour. In 1922 steps were cut out of the rock face so nowadays visitors can climb with ease. The net is still being used for the carriage of food and other necessities.

The monastery now houses a museum and a shop that sells all the beautiful icons the monks paint.

A monk's occupation is not directed towards profit. The income from his labour is donated to philanthropic institutions, maintains schools or fosters social causes.

A monk is a jack of all trades, and his skills include wood carving, painting of icons, shoe making, carpentry, gardening, tailoring, milling and wine making.

Sacred rocks

We got up this morning when the weather started to clear, after having a hilarious conversation with our Dutch speaking Greek host. He came back to Meteora after running a restaurant in Holland for many years. He cannot believe that we live a life, surrounded by electric fencing in South Africa, an unthinkable thing!

He told me that he wasted so many years of his life chasing money. He came back to start a family. He got married recently, he is in his early 50's and now has a 2yr old daughter and a 2week old son. He is a proud father. He is so very impressed that I am traveling with my parents. He says family is everything!!

Greece is in a bad way, and when people pay him for the accommodation, he says thank you I really need this. I asked him for a tax invoice as we can claim 24% back at the airport, he flatly refused. Nobody pays tax in Greece, am I crazy to even ask for such a thing.

All over the town is so many cats, and today he was chasing cats out of his guesthouse. So we called him " kattejagter"!

We took a slow scenic drive to the top of the mountain from where you have access to the monasteries. I was here more than twenty years ago, and the towns below have literally exploded. It is now a massive tourist industry.

It's unbelievably majestic! An incredible feat of man and nature. There are 7 monasteries on top of the rocks, conspicuous in more than one sense, the monastic settlements of the Meteora are perch upon high and precipitous rocks that rise abruptly from the edge of the Thessalian plane, where it meets in the foothills of the massive Pindos mountain range.

This varied landscape strikes the traveller with a curious mixture of awe and amazement.