NYC posts- Brooklyn & Central Park

Posted on by amanda

NYC Day 2: Brooklyn, Lower Manhattan, and Central Park

Despite the late night Broadway show before, we were up early and determined to hit the rest of the list. So first up was Brooklyn. It took about 40 min to get to the Bagel Store on Bedford Ave between 2 subway lines and less than mile of walking.

Rainbow bagel with funfetti smear: perfection.

Like a kid in a candy store! (or a cake store! haha) That bagel was legit like eating cake since they use cake batter in the smear. It was all my dreams come true! lol and even though it wasn’t the cheapest bagel in the world, around 6.50 it wasn’t bad and their other bagels were a bit cheaper and just as yummy looking. 
The Bedford Ave store put is in an amazing position for our next destination of the Brooklyn Bridge. It was just a short walk through the super cool culture haven that is Williamsburg to the base of the Williamsburg Bridge. (also beautiful in its own right) And from there a cheap ferry ride over to the Brooklyn Bridge. 
Finally seeing some bits of blue sky and sun peek through after all the rain the day before! Here comes the ferry! 
After you get off at the ferry stop, check the cool park area around. Lots of green walking paths and you can get this stellar shot of lower Manhattan! 
And of course from the ferry dock you get a great glimpse of the bridge to come. 
Starting out on the uphill climb for the bridge. 
Even more blue sky! This may have been one of my favorite sites on the whole NYC tour. I love the architecture of the bridge and the history.. which is why there’s about 100 photos of it to follow.. 
The Brooklyn Bridge was completed in 1883 and is the 3rd oldest bridge connecting Manhattan to surrounding areas. The first, King’s bridge has been demolished, and the 2nd oldest carries a water main aqueduct and is inaccessible to pedestrians or vehicles. So basically this is the oldest bridge there you can cross. It is also considered one of the oldest suspension bridges and at the time it was built was 50% longer than any other suspension bridge in existence. That is of course, because it is a hybrid bridge with both suspension and cable stayed bridge techniques. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1964. 
My favorite bit of interesting history is that when designing the bridge, they added in lots of secret compartments which the city rented out in order to fund it. Some of those were used as wine “cellars” because they stayed a consistent 60 degrees. 
Even though she looks a bit small, you can easily see Lady Liberty our on Ellis Island from the Brooklyn Bridge. 
Another great photo spot. Important to note that if you want photos without 1,0000 other strangers in your shots, the earlier you get there the better. I think we were there around 10 and it was definitely picking up with field trippers and sight seers alike. 
Looking over at the other beautiful Manhattan Bridge. 
One last shot with our flag flying high and bright. Nothing like visiting some of American’s beautiful historic landmarks to inspire some patriotism. 
Once we were off the bridge it was another short walk to Ground Zero, the 9/11 Memorial. 
2 of my fave. sky scrapers from the trip that we passed along the way. 
I really loved the memorial. I can’t really imagine a more respectful way to recognize the events that occurred on 9.11.2001. We all remember exactly where we were and what we were doing when the twin towers were struck and will never forget those who lost their lives to that terrible act of terrorism.
Even though it was one of the more crowded areas we came across in NYC, everyone was very somber and respectful which was wonderful to see. 
Then time for our last subway adventure when we learned just how important it is to observe ALL the facts that Google Maps points out. Ie. if it only says get on the C line, only get on the C line because if you get on the A line which yes… goes in the same direction, you may just have gotten on the express which will take you 8 stops passed the one you needed to get off at. Thank goodness we figured it out in the subway station so our $3 bucks were still good and we just hoped on the C to go back a few stops. Added maybe 20-30 minutes to our transit time but otherwise.. not too difficult to get from lower Manhattan to mid Central Park. 

Because now it was Central Park time! First up we wanted to check out the Loeb boat house and Bow Bridge. 
Such a peaceful and beautiful area! We discussed a possible romantic boat ride together but decided to not. haha (which turned out to be a solid idea as we DEF would not have had time) 
Most of the places we wanted to see was as the center of Central Park and the hotel Watson was at the SW corner. (We still needed to go back and grab out bags we’d checked there for the day) 
The Alice in Wonderland statue! There was a solid amount of people waiting to have their photo taken here so I just decided to grab a shot between modelers and move onto the next site. Very cool (and large!) statue though and pretty close to the boathouse area. Definitely worth checking out if you’re in the area! 
And you know I couldn’t NOT check out Balto although he was a bit further from the center, he was still pretty on the way as we headed south though the park. 
Here comes the exciting part as these next 2 photos I essentially took at a run. We realized that the absolute latest train we could take in order to get back in time to catch the 7:00 ferry to Block Island… left at 1:20. and ya we were still at the Balto statue at 12:40 deep in Central Park. haha at this point nothing would get us back to the hotel for our bags faster than going through the park… so walk/run we did.
Finally a beautiful day and we were running to escape the city! Back at the hotel it took all of 3 minutes to recover our bags and then google was saying the fastest way to Grand Central (1 mile) was by car/ taxi for a 10 minute drive. OF COURSE all the taxis near our hotel were taken so we ran along the side walks (Katie dashing into the street to check for taxi cabs like a mad woman) and finally the right taxi cab found us. Of course he heard us say CENTRAL PARK instead of Grand central station so he took us like 5 minutes out of the way but he more than made up for it by completely disregarding the traffic laws and other drivers on the road, thus getting us to the station with about 10 minutes before our train left. Luckily we had used the apps and bought our tickets from the cab so now we only had to figure out what platform it was leaving from.
COMMENCE both of us running around Grand Central, plowing down people like mad women but thankfully we were dropped off on the closer side of grand central. We made it to our train with about 5 minutes to spare and at that point I rewarded myself with a famous NYC Black & white cookie (purchased from the bagel store) and relaxed on the journey back to New Haven. 

BUT the excitement did NOT stop there! OH NO cause the connecting train we’d planned on turned out to be an unholy expensive AMTRAK train and NOT the Shoreline east train even though it was on their schedule. That coupled with a ticketing agent telling us the next train wouldn’t leave for another hour had us in PANIC mode. We checked everything from bus schedules to Uber prices but just when we gave into our defeat by purchasing Sbarro pizza (the worst pizza ever) we discovered the ticketing guy was WRONG and there was a train departing only 30 minutes later than we had expected. So rush we did and home we got just in time to throw more bags and be on our way to our next destination!

So there you have it my NYC experience, a bit of doom & gloom, to glorious broadway, to bagels in Brooklyn, sunshine in Central Park, and plowing down people in Grand Central. Certainly an adventure I won’t forget

Costs of the day:
Rainbow bagel with funfetti shmear: something like $6.50. I believe it was a dollar or 2 more than the normal bagels.
black & white cookie also from the bagel store: $3
Ferry from Williamsburg to Brooklyn Bridge: $2.5 pp
All activities were free today
oh! except for the wild taxi ride which ended up around $7 pp
The trains to get back was the same as day before: $24.75
And of course the terrible Sbarro pizza was like $6 but a girls gotta eat.
Total for the day: $49.75 just under 50

Miles walked: around 5.5 with almost about half of that just in Central Park.

A rainy day in NYC

Posted on by amanda
NYC Day 1: Bright and early caught the train from Old Saybrook Connecticut ( free parking and closer to Stonington so less traffic concerns) to New Haven Union Station where we then transferred to go  on to Grand Central. (Above: a horrible lighting selfie in Grand Central… you’re welcome) 
Shoreline East train from O.S. to New Haven: $7.25
Metro North train from New Haven to Grand Central: 17.50

Union Station in New Haven was pretty cool
A much better photo of the incredible ceiling in Grand Central station
Grand Central Station
The hotel we booked for the night was a mere mile from Grand Central so even though it was lightly sprinkling outside the station, we decided to walk to our hotel. Not the best decision as it would turn out as that “mist” quickly turned to full on rain and while our rain jacket kept our top and backpacks dry, it did nothing for my head, legs, or the most regrettably: shoes. 

But luckily enough, Hotel Watson had a room ready for us 1.5 hours early so we were able to go right up, dry off and change, and formulate a new approach for the day as we had previously wanted to explore Central Park.
NEW PLAN: Take the Subway downtown to the Chelsea Market since that was inside and see if we could bide our time till the rain let up.

Impressions of Chelsea Market: Let’s just say it’s way cooler than I am. Tons of eating options and cute little shops. We ended up with Iced Coffees and a loaf of break for $3 for a snacking option. 
The markets were almost like a more intimate version of a mall with different art and cultures mixing into one. These 3 photos from inside were my favorite parts, especially this pipe waterfall that drained right into the ground. 
But sadly, the markets couldn’t go on forever and once again we were faced with going out into the bleak weather of NYC.  But blue skies or not, we determined to check out the new park, the Highline trail that had an entrance just outside of the market. 
The trail is approximately 1.5 miles long and foot traffic only. It’s an old railroad track that was just recently converted into an incredible green space with loungers and flowers everywhere. 
Above: The view looking out toward Jersey City. 
The rain teased us while we were up there giving us a mix of down pour to a fine mist. There were a few spots to take cover during the heavier rain thankfully, but overall, the rain never let up. 
You can see these bench loungers are actually built right over the old track. 
Looking into the city from the Highline Trail. 
Some cool benches I really admired. Since we hopped on the trail near one end we walked first the shorter distance and then headed off on the longer route, determined to see the whole thing. 

Many views of the city from the trail. As you can see it was a near perfect day to be wandering around a park. 

Overall I would actually say that Chelsea market and this park are worth checking out if you are in NYC. ESPECIALLY if you have some down time on a nice day as those loungers would be a lot more inviting in the sun. The park also has a few bathrooms, shops, and elevators so it is wheelchair accessible. Great facilities all in all. 

So from there the trail ended not too far from Hell’s Kitchen so we hopped on the subway to check out Times Square. and the rain rained on. lol but we checked out a few souvenir shops searching for the one magnet that would speak to my soul (none ever did. I am a connoisseur of magnets and NYC seriously let me down on this front) and grabbed a street gyro (which turned out to be pretty delicious.)
And from there on it was a short walk (like .7 miles) back to our hotel.

Then it was time for a HOT shower and another change of clothes into a dress and park 3 of 3 shoes I packed for my whole trip haha. I was so over having wet toes you don’t even KNOW. We had 3 of us, me the pickiest of eaters and also probably the cheapest, a vegetarian, and Katie… so what could we possibly end up with in NYC? The answer is Ramen. Previous reports had recommended Totto Ramen which just happened to be on our way to Broadway so we headed that way. Only Totto Ramen had a line out the door with a likely 20 minute wait that we likely didn’t have time for. 
BUT after some 5 confusing minutes of looking at a sidewalk menu we realized that the sign saying Totto Ramen Next Door was a LEGIT place and we had been studying its menu the whole time! No wait we walked in and had some delicious Ramen and were right on our way again. 

And then we were there. Childhood dreams becoming a reality: Seeing THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA on Broadway. Show started at 8 so we got there 30 min early. PRO TIP: DO NOT EAT SALTY FOODS BEFORE SEEING A BROADWAY. Or at least if you do, chug plenty of water after. We were all so thirsty from the salty Ramen and the bottles of water here were $5! Crazy. 
Needless to say the show was INCREDIBLE. I would LEGIT see this show every time I go to NYC (although  I know there are definitely more incredible musicals to see) The singing, acting, and my favorite park the incredible stage props and backdrops made for a show I’ll never forget. 

Once out of the show we hit up a CVS/ or some other drug store to grab out weight in water bottles lol. Then we again walked back to the hotel (again in the rain which consequently soaked my 3rd pair of shoes)

It seriously didn’t stop raining ALL DAY!
NYC Day 1 Budget review: Trains total: $24.75
Subway 1 way ticket $3 (we used it twice so for the day: $6)
Loaf of bread and iced coffee: something like $8
Street Gyro: $7 
Ramen place: $12 plus tip so like $15 pp
Phantom Of The Opera tickets for Front Mezzanine seats: $100 pp
Hotel Watson for a 2 double bed room: $240/ 3 of us so like $80 pp
Total for day: Something like $240. (NYC ain’t cheap ya’ll!) 

A walking tour of Boston

Posted on by amanda

Onto the next trip! New England. After a short visit home to work a few hours and see my boys, I was on a flight back to Boston to spend a week with my friend Katie. We met when she lived in Utah for a couple years and moved back east a year ago. I haven’t been to New England in recent memory so a trip out for a visit seemed a solid plan.

So day 1: Scenes from Boston. I flew Boston as Jet blue had RT tickets for only $200 direct from SLC. I did have an overnight flight so I got in bright and early on a Sunday morning ready to explore Boston. Katie picked me up from the airport and we headed over to the Boston Commons area.

Pro tip: Sunday it is free parking at metered spots in Boston! And there were definitely plenty to choose from at 7 in the morning. Boston apparently sleeps in quite late on Sundays.

Now I hadn’t been to Boston since my sophmore year of highschool 10 years ago and I don’t think I even did the entire freedom trail then! So for all intents and purposes, that was a major game plan.

We grabbed some breakfast sandwiches as Thinking Cup. (If you look at their website it says they have the best hot chocolate. Friends it’s Starbucks like hot chocolate: bitter. Be warned before you spend 5 dollars on 12 oz of it) And we headed over to the state house for the 2nd stop. (the beautiful gold dome you saw first) Then it was onto the Park Street Church and Granary burying ground (where notable figues such as Mary Goose, the original Mother Goose is buried) Oh also Benjamin Franklin as you can see the giant Obelisk erected as a memorial to him. Although if you actually tried to find anyone else, the head stones are all so old it is hard to make out any of the writing.

Next we’ve got the Old South Meeting House where the Boston Tea Party was born. The building was built in 1729 and is marked as being the first successful preservation effort in New England. (Also the church were Benjamin Franklin was born)

Next stop: probably my favorite building on the entire trail, the Old State House. Why do I love it so much? Because it is the oldest building in Boston, built in 1713 and it has it’s sitting smack in the middle of the sidewalk. From all angles with the sky scrapers rising about it, it just looks crazy cool.
(also there’s a museum in it which was closed at 8 in the morning, not surprised, and a subway station below it!)

Then it’s onto Faneuil Hall (which I hope someday to be able to pronounce) and the Quincy market. Again closed at 8:30 in the morning but I love how there were zero people around and the light coming behind the buildings.

From here we deviated from the trail a bit to walk out to the Aquarium and historic North End. We didn’t actual go into the aquarium (as that is one of the things I definitely remember doing when I was here 10 years ago, HELLOOO Penguin island) but we did stop to check out the seals playing in the outside exhibit. We also just enjoyed some of the parks and piers before making our way back to freedom.

Really cool (but random) merry go round. It had grasshoppers, fowl, fish, foxes, lobsters, butterflies, bunnies, and probably a few other animal families I can’t remember at the moment. One of the first things we came across that we’d really wished was open. haha 

The cutest little Duck house off the pier

Another view of my favorite building. Check out the old meeting house peaking out from the middle of this picture. 

After we finished checking out the North end, we were back on the freedom trail but it wasn’t long before we had another slight deviation and I highly recommend everyone check out this Holocaust memorial as it is just off the freedom trail in front of the Boston City Hall. It was built in 1995 and consists of six glass towers symbolize a different major extermination camp (Majdanek, CheÅ‚mno, Sobibor, Treblinka, Bełżec, and Auschwitz-Birkenau) Engraved on the outside walls of each tower are groups of numbers representing the six million Jews killed in the Holocaust (1 million on each tower). Inscribed on the inner walls are quotes from survivors of each camp. Underneath the towers, steam rises up through metal grates from a dark floor with twinkling lights on it to represent gas chambers. It is incredibly haunting and solemn to walk through each column.

Soon you will leave the sky scrapers behind and experience a different, quainter side of Boston.
This time we got to Paul Revere’s house just in time for opening at 9:30. Admission is $5 per person and allows you to walk through the old home, a small gallery, and gift shop with restrooms. Well worth it to us as in each of the rooms of the house they have a guide who explains different parts of the room, the history of the house, and also some information on Paul Revere and the “midnight ride.”

My favorite thing I learned/ saw was that Paul Revere was a silver smith and in the gallery they have silver pieces crafted by him with the name Revere inscribed in them.

The man himself 
And the church itself (you know 1 if by land, 2 if by sea…) 

And it just keeps getting better. Check out the freedom trail red paint that takes you across this super cool bridge into yet another vibey part of Boston. At this point we were finally starting to see some life in Boston. (and loads of dogs!)

The trail splits and kind of ends at 2 different locations. We ended up at the Bunker Hill monument first which the hill itself has some nice views and an even cooler statue of William Prescott. But you can actually climb the tower for free for some even more amazing views of Boston. You do need to get a ticket (don’t worry free) from the museum that is across the street where there are also restrooms, a water fountain, and a small museum.

The climb itself will take some work as the tower is 221 feet tall and it’s a total of 294 stairs to the top with little ventilation within the tower and a constant spiral of steps to go up. The obelisk was created to commemorate the Battle of Bunker Hill (one of the first major battles in the American Revolution) and was erected between 1825 and 1843. Needless to say, we had a nice sit on a bench out front once we got down.

William Prescott’s statue looking out to the rest of Boston. The museum (where you get tickets) is that brick building on the right. Hours of operation is 9-5 daily. 
Views from the top of the monument. 
Standing on the grate in the center looking all the way down to the bottom

After the Bunker Hill we doubled back to the USS Constitution national monument and museum. Let me tell you, I get VERY excited about going on boats now. (which is interesting since I’m sure my parents can tell you stories of me complaining their ears off about being dragged on boat tours) but I LOVE them. So going on this ancient war ship that was active during the American Revolution was definitely a cool experience for me.
The area has both a museum and the ship you can go on for totally free! (They do have suggested donations of 5 pp for adults though)
The museum did NOT have air conditioning and I was losing some steam at this point with walking so we skipped out on that and went straight for the boat. Be aware you go through metal detector security and adults will need a license to get on.

Most of the ship is just bare bones but they do have some wonderful guides again stationed throughout the ship to tell cool stories about the ship.
For example: the story we overheard down in the hull was how the ship excaped 5 British naval ships with NO wind in the sales by A. Lightening the boat… standard procedure of throwing all your fresh water overboard. B. attempting to TOW the boat with people paddling in smaller boats haha C. People rowing out and dropping the anchors out and then essentially “crawling” the boat along the ocean floor. D. The thing that finally worked was after 3 DAYS of being in a tight pinch with the British on their tale, a Squall rolled in so they headed for that, opened the sales without tying them down, THUS escaping the British.

We LUCKED out because as it turns out the Destroyer ship USS Cassin Young was also open and ALSO free to board and explore around a bit. This ship was built and commissioned in 1943 and served in the Pacific during WWII. You were a little limited in where you could go but they did let you go below deck to the mess halls and cabin quarters. (Although I would’ve really loved to see the engine rooms.)

Welcome Aboard the USS CASSIN YOUNG Destroyer
The view from the Naval Yard ain’t have bad either

After the Naval Yard and climbing the stairs up the Bunker Hill Monument (plus a red eye flight) it’s safe to say I was pretty tuckered out so (I’m ashamed to say) we took the easy way out by taking the train back to the commons. We did go over a different bridge when walking to the train station though which was a pedestrian bridge over a series of lock systems. I wish I’d gotten a photo of it because it was really pretty cool.

Back in the Boston commons, we realized we were starving to death and that lunch time was overdue. LUCKILY we were less than a half mile from the original Cheers. So time to be a tourist .

It was a really cool joint I’m not gonna lie and the burger I got was so delicious! 

After lunch we walked off some of our heavy lunch and checked out the beautiful parks. Seriously with the sun shining and the live music within the park, it was the perfect end to a wonderful adventure around Boston.

Onto Connecticut for some more New England experiences. 
Cost breakdown:
JetBlue flights direct from SLC to Boston- $200 RT
Thinking Cup breakfast: $10 for a coffee/hot chocolate and a breakfast sandwich
Paul Revere home: $5 admission for adults
Train ticket (charliecard)- $2.75
Lunch at Cheers: burgers start around $15 
RT back to Connecticut: Priceless as Katie is the best and picked me up
Dinner: again priceless because yay for friends that a great cooks!
Total cost for day: Roughly $33

Visiting Meteora

Posted on by amanda

Greece Day 3: One of my most highly anticipated days of the trip!!!! METEORA

Not even kidding guys, I have been wanting to experience Meteora FOREVER. It’a short and steep climb ( on a bus! hehe) from the town to the first monastery St. Stephens which is.. by far the most accessible as there are NO STAIRS to reach this one, only a narrow foot bridge.

 There are monasteries everywhere you look, perched here and there, some of which I have NO idea how you get to
 St. Stephen’s monastery from the road. 

The inside of the monastery was soo peaceful and undisturbed as we were one of the first groups to get there in the morning. If you can picture any sacred place and invoke that feeling in your mind, you will understand how we felt exploring these beautiful monasteries.
For reference, the monasteries, as most churches in Greece, are Greek Orthodox and are still in operation today by diligent nuns AND monks.

To add to that, I’d also like to point out that St. Stephen’s is a Convent so it is run by nun’s. This is important as the monasteries only would not allow us females in on tours! So…. we visited the Meteora convents I should say. As they are first and foremost churches (not tourist traps) it is required to dress modestly with longer skirts and tops that cover your shoulders. (Women HAD to wear skirts, pants were not permitted however they did have wrap skirts you could borrow at each monastery)

Looking down on Kalambaka from St. Stephens. We are PRETTY sure this is the one monastery we could see from the town/ our hotel room! 
There were so many peaceful gardens within the monastery complex. 

We started our tour in a church which ABSOLUTELY took my breath away. If you have ever been in an Orthodox church then you know what I mean. Floor to ceiling gold and colorful paintings of the icons and the most ornate furniture and wood screen to hide the altar I’ve ever seen. I think the part that also blew me away was how devoted the monks must have been to build something so beautiful and devoted to God in such a challenging landscape.

It was also an incredible experience to witness the devotion STILL of people today as they moved around what I’m positive is our annoying tour groups, and worshiped within the small churches. It is to be noted that Meteora is a place people will consider pilgrimages they need to go to.

The entrance with the very narrow bridge to enter St. Stephen’s. 

 Brief history of St. Stephen’s Monastery: The foundation dates back to the 12th century, approx 1191 however the church within St. Stephen’s is recorded as being rebuilt in 1545 when many of the other buildings were added such as rooms for the monks. The monastery was also very heavily hit and damaged during WWII and the following civil war within Greece so a majority of what we saw/ pictured was recently done in the 20th century and in 1961 it was re-dedicated as a convent. While the grounds are not huge, the walls contain 2 chapels (only 1 of which we were allowed to visit) and enough room for 28 nuns to live within.
Operating hours (if you wish to go on your own) are daily from 9:30-1:30, 3:30-5:30 and closed on Mondays. I do recommend going with an organized tour however, especially if you are not familiar with Greek Orthodox as it was an amazing experience to learn about not just the history of the places, but the beliefs and reasons for the way they decorate the interior of their churches.

Another view of the monastery from the road. 
Other stunning monasteries from the road. (we unfortunately only visited 2) 
It will take a lot of stairs to reach that one I’m guessing! 

Taken from the bus. We were about to visit one of these 🙂 
Not only are the monasteries amazing, but the rock formations themselves are out of this world! 

The entrance to the 2nd monastery convent that we visited: The Holy Monastery of Varlaam. This one… had steps to get up to it but I will say it wasn’t too bad and if you look at the picture below.. the view while you climbed up was amazing and it was a lot more fun (to me) to feel I was making a climb for something so special.

The view of another monastery as you climb up to Varlaam

The beautiful courtyard at the top of the stairs and main entrance. You can see the road cutting along the cliffs across the way (how we got up there). I think there was a period of time when we could see as many as 4 or 5 monasteries at a time in the distance.

As we were not permitted photos within any of the buildings, this is the only photo I could get with artwork (as it is only the covered entrance to the church, we weren’t inside a building yet. AND YES I still asked permission before taking this photo) 

History of Varlaam: In 1350 a daring ascetic named Varlaam ascended to the rock. The monastery was named after him. He built three churches, a small cell and a water tank. After his death the rock remained abandoned for about 200 years. In 1517/1518 the two founders of the church, began to construct additional buildings. They renovated the little church of the Three Hierarchs and they erected the tower (more on this structure later). They also built in 1541/1542 the central church of the monastery dedicated to All Saints (which is the one guests are permitted to visit). The transportation of the materials lasted 22 years and the building only 20 days. 


“Since 1350, the ascent to the monastery was made by wooden ladders, each of which had about 25 rungs. The ladders were hanging from the rock with the help of pegs on the north side of the church and a gap was created between them. The monks often had to jump from one ladder to another risking even their own lives. This difficulty was due to the peculiarity and the morphology of the rocks. There were about 4 or 5 ladders consisting of 95 rungs at maximum. “

With the addition of the tower that was built, the monks and materials were hoisted by hand in a rope net using a pulley system. It was not until the 1920s when the stairs which we use today were carved into the rock to allow for easier access.

Although this is the 2nd largest monastery, only 7 monks currently reside and run the day to day functions. Again, women are required to wear long skirts with shoulders covered. Men are also required (in all monasteries) to wear long pants. No shorts permitted.

Buildings within the monastery to note: the old refectory( which is now a wonderful museum and not to be missed), the tower where you can see the old pulley system, behind the church is a room storing one of the MASSIVE barrels that they used to collect rain water, and the chapel of Three Hierarchs which “is a small aisle-less church with very beautiful frescoes and it was built in 1627.”


 The tower with the pulley. To the right of this building is where the ladders for the monks would’ve been
A beautiful spot behind the church

I also forgot to mention that in both monasteries there are “modern” restrooms available. (for women with our long skirts be aware these are of the “squatty potty” variety where there is no toilet but merely a flushing hole in the ground)
Hours for Varlaam Monastery are daily from 9AM to 4 PM and it is closed on Friday.

Between the 2 I enjoyed Varlaam more as the experience to get in was much more exciting, the museum is a lot larger and has a lot more information contained, the church itself has frescoes from the 1600s that have NOT been retouched at all so that is really cool. (St. Stephen’s as mentioned before the chapel was rebuilt as WWII so while the frescoes are a lot more vivid in color, they are  A LOT less old), the views look out to other monasteries instead of down on Kalambaka, and I do feel as if there is more open to the public to explore. There was also a very friendly monk that would smile and speak to me in Greek everytime we passed by and eventually asked “Ameria?” to which I said yes and that the monastery was beautiful. All in all so welcoming and friendly!

The main courtyard. The central church we are permitted to visit is the tallest building on my right. 

Ok a little information on the area: It is still a bit of a mystery as to how the Meteora rocks were formed but the most recognized theory is that they were deposited by an ancient river which once the river was gone, erosion did the rest. This is theorized by the make up of the boulders (sedimentary rock) and that they found pebbles that dated back to the same age as the larger boulders. Either way these rocks are unlike anything in the world.

Looking up at Varlaam Monastery from our bus heading back down into Kalambaka. 
We finished up at the monasteries just before noon and headed into Kalambaka for lunch where we had an hour however they dropped us off and recommended the restaurant Meteora restaurant which is family run. You enter into the kitchen where there are 10-15 giants pots containing a variety of meats and sides for you to choose from. There is an adorable grandma who explains which each dish is and will dish what you select up for you. Most plates range from 8-12 euros depending on how much meat you want but for 1 meat dish and 2 sides it was 10 euros. Then at 1 we were back on the bus headed to Athens through very mountainous terrain so I recommend bringing some motion sickness pills. (I was pretty miserably sick for 2 hours until we had our first rest stop) There weren’t any interesting points of interest to stop at however from the bus our guide pointed out the small city of Thebes and the town/lake Marathon which is 26 miles outside of Athens (yes this is where marathon races are derived from). Also as you follow the coastal road down to Athens, there are many islands and one of which was pointed out is where they filmed the movie Mamma Mia. We were dropped off at the main bus stop Syntagma Square around 7:30 and grabbed some dinner with new friends we had made. (Shout out to these wonderful new Friends, Aaron and Dean if they ever read this blog!) I tried a meat and potato tart as well as a kabab pita sandwhich for dinner. Then we took the bus from Syntagma to the airport to catch our midnight flight to Santorini where we had a shuttle waiting to take us to our next hotel. More on that later though. 
Day 3 costs: 
1.5 liter Water bottle from a Kalambaka market: 70 cents 
Breakfast: was actually delicious and included in our hotel stay
Lunch: 10 euros at Meteora Restaurant
Dinner: 8 euros in Syntagma Square
Meteora Monasteries: Admission was included in our tour costs but if you go on your own most monasteries are under 5 euros each
Bus from Syntagma Square to airport: 6 euros
Flight with Ryanair from Athens to Santorini: $40
Transfer from Airport to hotel Villa Manos: 15 euors which we split between 3, making it 5 euros pp
1 night at Villa Manos: around 56 euros. (19 pp)
Total cost for day: 88.70
Now also I’d like to claim that I remembered all of these facts from our tour guide but that would be a lie, so I’d like to cite and thank the below websites for filling me in on the gaps in my memory. Feel free to visit these sites to learn more not just about the 2 I visited but the others in the area. 
https://www.kalampaka.com/en/
https://www.visitmeteora.travel/en/

A tour of mainland Greece- Visiting Delphi

Posted on by amanda

Greece Day 2: For the 2nd and 3rd days of Greece we booked a tour through Astoria Travels/ G.O. Tours. It would take us to Delphi and Meteora with a few stops along the way!

The tour picked us up around 8 AM and we were off with a few rest stops and got to Delphi around 10:30/11.

To the left: The Mountain of the Muses (as seen/ photographer from a moving bus. sorry for the terrible quality)
The bus ride to Delphi took us through so many gorgeous mountain passes! One of the most scenic bus rides you can take.

 To the right: the town Arachova (again as seen from bus) This town is referred to as the Mykonos of Winter as it is a huge skiing town with great night life in the winter. It is also the gateway to Delphi so our bus drove us right down the middle of the VERY narrow town.

The entrance of Delphi or also called “The Sacred Way”: it leads from the Sanctuary of Apollo to the Temple. It was was erected to hold monuments and also little shops that would sell idols. 
The Treasury of Athens (reconstructed) which was built to commemorate their victory in the Battle of Marathon. 
The theater that was built just above the Temple of Apollo where spectators would have a view of the entire Sanctuary of Apollo. 
A view of the Temple of Apollo from the Theater. 

 The Stadium is at the top of all the Delphi ruins and is about at 15 min. (avg) hike up from the theater. It is well worth it as I can’t imagine a stadium as scenic anywhere else! The pines surrounding as well added to the wild ambiance.

 Left: Looking down from the temple onto the Athenian treasury (no roof). Unfortunately it was a super hazy day. Our guide told us the reason for the haze was from a lot of dust and sand blowing up from North Africa.

Brief history of Delphi’s origin: Zeus determined the spot when he sought to find the center of his “Grandmother Earth” (Gaia). He sent two eagles flying from the eastern and western extremities and the path of the eagles crossed over Delphi where the navel of Gaia was found. This is how Delphi came to be known as the center of worship, or even the center of the world.
(There is an actual navel stone at Delphi that is known as the navel of the world)

How the Sanctuary became dedicated to Apollo: Apollo, as an infant of only 4 days old, set off to find a place to call home which in this case he decided would be the location of Delphi. HOWEVER this spot was a sanctuary to Gaia so he shot his first arrow to slay the serpent Python, the son of Gaia, who guarded the spot. This effectively made this Apollo’s sanctuary however to atone the murder of Gaia’s son, Apollo was forced to fly and spend eight years in menial service before he could return forgiven.  
Information about the Oracle: You couldn’t actually see the rooms the Oracle would’ve occupied as they were in the back of the temple below ground. The Oracle had to be older woman of blameless life chosen from among the peasants of the area. Alone in an enclosed inner sanctum she sat on a tripod seat over an opening in the earth (a chasm) where according to legend the body of Python body fell after he was slain and fumes arose from its decomposing body. Intoxicated by the vapors, the oracle would fall into a trance, allowing Apollo to possess her spirit. Priests of the temple would interpret her ravings as she prophesied.

After Delphi we stopped for lunch (at a very expensive restaurant so I only got a coke) and continued on our way toward Kalambaka. We made one more stop in Thermopyles to see the “300” monument erected there.
We got into Kalambaka for the night around 6:30.

Included in our tour price was a triple room at the worst hotel of our trip the Kosta Famissi hotel. The beds were terrible with comforters none of us would even sit on as they just felt so grimy and unwashed and we spent the first 30-40 minutes in the room inspecting every inch of the mattress for bed bugs. None found we inspected the rest of the room where there were used Q-tips from previous occupants on the heater and some hair in the bathroom. Apart from the cleanliness issues and terrible uncomfortable mattresses, it did have a balcony with a pretty spectacular view and AC (which in Europe is always a plus) so considering the 3.5 star review.. you get what you get haha.
Kalambaka I will say is a very charming and affordable town. For dinner we went exploring and ended up at this Nom Nom place with EXCELLENT burgers and even more delicious crepes which was only $5 for both! WIN!

So budget in review:
Breakfast from a bakery in Athens: 3 euros
Lunch: 2 euros for a coke and extending the life of my snacks from home
Dinner: 5 euros
Tour cost pp including all bus transportation, AMAZING guide, entry to Delphi & Meteora, and hotel 125 euros pp
Total cost for day: 135