A huge thanks to my fantastic mates Rob and Marie who provided Katie with a lovely Birthday cake.Jun 10th - 18 years old and right in the middle of her A levels.
I know I will pay for being away ......I am already !
We left the beach and Halkidiki early and drove up to Thessaloniki and drove under the Easyjet planes as they came into land. There we rejoined the Cross Greece A2 motorway finished only 3 years ago. This is the 700 Km long motorway that stretches from the Ionain Sea ( right by Corfu) all the way to Turkey.
For a once Civil Engineer this was a real treat in itself.....Tunnel after tunnel after bridge after bridge.....a road built in straight through mile after mile of mountainous terrain......over 50% of the €7bn cost was spent on only 10% of its length: the bridges and tunnels. 1,700 structures in all, 76 tunnels with a combined single bore length of 99km and 1,650 bridges with a total length of 40km.....awesome. The van was screaming up the hills in 3rd gear barely able to keep a respectable 50 mph and the next minute I was hanging on for dear life at 80 mph careering down hill out of tunnels onto precipitous bridges with massive cross winds....
We decided to break the journey up and go and see the Meteora. I would like to say I had done my full research but I hadn't. I knew they were a phenomenal geological spectacle but I had missed the main point....the monasteries (Meteora - translated in Greek as' Hovering in the sky'), all 24 of them once, perched precariously on top of these massive stone monoliths
There are only 6 now, and until the 1920's none were connected by the bridges and paths you can just make out in the photos. All was brought up by ropes, nets and slings or by long long ladders; people, provisions, building materials etc etcThe geological reasons for the creation of these phenomenal rock shapes I did 'Google' but it was far too complicated for me to fully follow.....I did however learn that the Bond Film 'For Your Eyes Only' was filmed here.
The campsite had a pool but overhead crashing thunder and lightning stopped any chance of a late swim and so we walked up amongst the rocks and then back for dinner in the campsite restaurant run by a proper Greek Dude.....playing proper 'Zorba the Greek' Guitar classics....
Next morning I was up early to Facetime Katie to wish her a happy birthday and then off to the pool with the boy to catch up on where we missed out the day before.
We packed at lunch and took the van up the hills and got out to really see the monasteries......if you want solitude and protection against Turkish marauders then I can see why they are here. The 6 that remain have less than 10 Monks or nuns in each......tourism is what keeps it all going now. 
As the Thunder clouds started to build again we left to rejoin the final stretch of the A2 motorway taking us to Igoumenitisa on the Ionian sea.All in all a chance deviation from our route - 50 miles off route but all so so worth it
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