We hear it in the news—Greece: financial crisis, the edge of default, Euro near collapse, the brink of bankruptcy!

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   Stoic and jagged, this geological phenomenon has stood proudly for over 60 million years. They pop abruptly from the flat Thessaly plain, as surreal as if they were artificially inserted there in the soil. 

   Some see them as similar to the Grand Canyon, and others say they look like Mars, but they can only be known as Meteora: the monasteries that “float in the air.”

   They're a holy site, an old battleground, a monk’s haven, and a geologist’s dream. Rock climbers, artists, and simply quiet hermits linger here for the benefit of its peace.

   But for us, these rocks bring everything else to a halt. They are a sweet escape; the rat race can wait.

   Kastraki village is unspoiled—time stopped here long ago.  Kastraki’s air smells of a mixture of pine sap and smoked souvlaki. Pickup trucks cruise slowly through the town and kids throw dice on the Tavli board while old women carry baskets full of rosemary. Kastraki, a village untouched by mass tourism and commercialization, is the face of old-school Greece.

   Sydney hotel is a cozy stay, is accommodated well, and is directly across from the bus station that heads for the monasteries or Kalabaka.

   Once we arrive at our first monastery, we absorb the morning light and stillness of the scene.  The structure looks something out of a J.R. R. Tolkien story.  A fiery red shrub entangles the stairwell as we go up. We pay a 2 Euro fee, put on a provided skirt, and enter Saint Athanasius’s creation, the Grand Meteoro (standing since 1370). Taking a few steps up, I ponder the towering drop to the valley below. The tower, a feature since 1520, spews out a net once used to hoist up equipment and even monks.

   We stumble inside a dark kitchen, where old remnants of copper spoons, bowls, and cups hang. The museum harbors a collection of old Byzantine manuscripts, golden iconography, and romanticized battle scenes of the Greek independence and World War Two.

   I step outside to gaze over a balcony and gulp in the thin air. The light unsheathes semi-circular shapes and gnarly crevices on these sandstone giants. Though I am alone, the isolation fades as I soak in the energy around me.

   Meteora fosters a subjective divine—religious, spiritual, or atheist, the sight and place will give you chills.

GO.

Nobody can outdo a Greek when it comes to summer.  Regardless of class, work, or status, every Greek is guaranteed a vacation.  Nevertheless, even with the financial crisis, it’s still fair to say that most Greeks get at least one week off.  But there are exceptions, of course.  The upper middle class Athenians have the advantage of a summer home on an island or beach waterfront.  Jealous? Well, I am.  But let’s not get carried away.  After a long year of battling traffic, air pollution, and the daily frustrations of the city life, the escape begins… 

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Well guys, the inevitable has finally happened. I guess Zeus and Poseidon (in the incarnations of Superjet Speedboats and Blue Star Ferries) didn't want me to complete my island-hopping route without some kind of Homeric seafaring disaster. Though this Aegean mishap was a disaster for my Let's Go research itinerary, it was, luckily, considerably less harrowing than anything that happened in the Odyssey. I have emerged unscathed, save for some lingering nausea.

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For the third time in my travels in Greece, I've fallen in love. Like my first Greek lover (Athens), this time it's not a person, but a place (no comment on the second). The new object of my affections is Oia: a town on the northern rim of Santorini's towering caldera cliffs. Though Fira is the capital of Santorini, stunning Oia steals the show. You know those iconic blue-domed white churches that you see on all the Santorini paintings and postcards? That's Oia.

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Santorini is renowned for being one of the most beautiful of the Greek islands - and that's saying a lot, because these isles are all insanely gorgeous. Pulling into the New Port this morning, I was greeted with a scene just as breathtaking as I'd been imagining, if not more. Little did I know, a day of misadventure awaited.

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Cocktail menus on Naxos make math fun:

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