Kalambaka, Greece

I'm sitting at SurfCity Internet Café in Kalambaka, Greece, near Meteora. We just had lunch at a fast food place (I had yet another gyro, which I love) and we spent all morning at three different monasteries in Meteora. I am almost going into overload because of all of the amazing sites that we get to see day after day. The three monasteries that we visited were St. Stephens, Holy Trinity, and Varlaam. All of the monasteries were built in the twelve or thirteen hundreds, and all of them sit on top of these huge rocks - of which I don't know the technical name. We got to actually go inside them and see the monks that live and work there. The inside of the chapels were gorgeous, but they wouldn't allow any photographs. The view from the top was breathtaking. I took this one picture of me on top of a rock with the mountains in the background that is amazing! I am getting really sad that I am unable to upload pictures, but that's okay.

Let's rewind. Two days ago we visted several sites. The first was the Areopagus, a giant rock near the Acropolis where they would hold trials back in the (ancient) day. This is the rock where Paul stood and spoke the Gospel to the Athenians, which is very well documented in Acts 17:16-34. Read it if you get a chance. It was unreal to be reading it on the actual rock upon which it was spoke.

Next we visited the ancient Roman Agora. It was very interesting, and there was another cool temple, but it wasn't my favorite thing we have visited. We had lunch, and then we took an hour tram ride down to the beach. We didn't do anything the entire afternoon except sit on the beach and watch the sunset. The water felt like it was just above freezing, so all I could do was wade to my calves, but it was great nonetheless. I wanted to get the perfect picture, so while I was there I took 55 pictures, and I now have it down to like 25 or so from just the beach alone. It was so peacful, and it was the first time I have seen the actual ocean. I have been to NYC and seen the harbor, but I wouldn't count that as the ocean. This I would count. Too bad I couldn't have been spending it with people who are really close to me... I am thinking of all of you.

That night we had a Greek woman that my professor knows host us at a restaurant that she likes. She taught us traditional Greek dances which were fun to do, but they got old really fast and the woman that was teaching us was getting confused, so we were really confused too. It was fun though. The food was unbelievable. They brought us as appetizers cheese pie, tzaziki, and fried zucchini. I am glad that I have been trying alot of the food, because it is all really good. Mom, if you're reading this I hope you're proud. The main course was really good pork. I like Greek food.

We packed our bags and left Athens yesterday morning and traveled to the ancient city of Delphi. This is where the famous Oracle of the ancient world was located, and the whole city is built into the side of a mountain. I am running out of superlatives to descibe these wonderful sites. Wow. At the top of the city is a Roman stadium, where they used to hold the Pythian games every 4 years. All four guys on the trip and one of the girls raced in the stadium from one end to the other, just like the ancient athletes would have, and I won. It was great. Not so much afterwards, when I felt like I was going to throw up (it was just under 200 meters), but the feeling of victory was nice. We ate lunch in modern Delphi in a restaurant with an amazing view, and then we rode the bus all the way to Kalambaka, which is where I am now.

I hope all is well at home. I love you all.