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September30,2007

"monastic cats and souvlaki"

as i said last time, the busloads of tourists were too many to count. by the time we were having our picnic on some rock, somewhere between Grand Metereon/Varlaam, and Triada/Stephanos, a trail of tourbuses had piled up at Grand Metereon/Varlaam. [see picture to the right.] i can't imagine the mayhem that must have existed at those monasteries. it was already unpleasant when we were there, especially when tour groups crowded into the churches to see the frescoes. Agios Stephanos was the only one that had newly painted, redone frescoes. while it was nice to see how the frescoes would have actually looked, i really wished we could have seen more of the monastery. of the six, it appeared to have been the second largest after Grand Metereon, but we only saw a fraction of the entire cloister. my favorite was Agia Triada for its amazing site. the monastery does epitomize solitude because of its isolated location. even today, a cable lift transports monks across, and the only other way up to the monastery is by walking down a sinusoidal paved path to the base of the rock, then climbing many steps which have been carved into the rock. the building itself began as a small cave, hollowed into the rock to form the building that it is today. the view was also spectacular, and was the location of many of my pictures of kalambaka below us.

but why do i title this entry about cats and souvlaki, you may ask?

because the cats at the monasteries in Meteora were not only numerous, but also very uniquely composed. the first cat we encountered was in the refectory of Grand Metereon. while i apologize deeply for using my camera in that room, i just had to snap a photograph of this amazing cat. it was sitting inconspicuously on a bench by the door, and when i first saw it, it tucked its paws and lowered its head. its eyes were closed the entire time, and for the longest time, stephanie and i thought it was blind. the cat didn't budge when i petted its head, and kept its eyes closed, as if in meditation. the following cats were equally interestingly meditative in appearance at two other monasteries:






the nuns and monks must take such good care of their monastic cats.

at the end of our long "pilgrimage," we decided to have dinner at a low-key, relatively well-known pension+taverna, koka roka. the host/owner, arthur, invited us in and gave us some guestbooks to read (he has guestbooks dating back to 1987!). all of the reviews raved about the souvlaki and according to my friend's guidebook, the souvlaki is a "religious experience." indeed, it was a religious experience because they cooked the meat over the grill in the fireplace, and the flavor was amazing. the meat was juicy, well-seasoned, and grilled to perfection. i dont think i have ever had such delicious pork! yes, that's right. pork. i am eating pork once again, because it's unavoidable in greece, and delicious in a gyro or on a kebab. that souvlaki was indeed, the best i have ever had, and probably the only koka roka souvlaki that i will ever have the opportunity to experience again.

more on crete later today, or tomorrow, i promise.