We drove about four hours today. We started just south of Patras, the third largest city in Greece, and on the north coast of the Peloponnese, on the Ionian Sea. We drove over the Rio-Antirrio Bridge just north of Patras, one of the world’s longest multi-span cable-stayed bridges and longest of the fully suspended type at 7808’. The Rio-Antirrio Bridge crosses the Gulf of Corinth linking the town of Rio on the Peloponnese peninsula to Antirrio on mainland Greece. It opened in August 2004.
We drove through beautiful mountains, most in the range of 7500’-8500’ along the northern coast of mainland Greece and into the center of the country. The mountains and lakes we passed along the way reminded us of the Austrian Alps. Absolutely beautiful! Note: photos taken from car window as we rolled down the road.
We arrived at our destination, Meteora, by 1:30 in the afternoon. Meteora is a rock formation in central Greece hosting one of the largest and most precipitously built complexes of Eastern Orthodox monasteries. The six (of an original twenty four) monasteries are built on immense natural pillars and rounded boulders that dominate the local area. Meteora is located near the town of Kalambaka at the northwestern edge of the Plain of Thessaly. We rested a bit after lunch, then went on a drive around Meteora to see the monasteries. The sun was not in the best position for good photos, so we’re going back tomorrow morning. Still, we loved seeing the monastery locations on top of the boulders, along with dozens, probably hundreds of hermit cliff dwellings in the rocks.
