Trikala is a town just half an hour away to Meteora where the hanging monasteries are located. Now, Meteora wasn’t initially part of my plan. I recall receiving an email from mr.G telling me that he had a location for me to hike in Greece. And voila, Meteora got into the list. The photos looked amazing and that was enough to convince me.
The train ride had 1 change, so it was on its way to Kalambaka but I had to get off and then continue on to Trikala. The whole day of traveling just made me feel so exhausted. I was getting a little bit grumpy by the time I got on the second train.
If I remember right, It was around 5ish am when we arrived in Trikala. Not knowing my bearing and woozy with the lack of sleep, I was trying to ask the guy at the train station if he knew how to get to Hostel Meteora. I think he was as confused as I was. After a few minutes, I arrived to an understanding as to what I was actually asking.
I found the street that led me to the square. After a few blocks, I was just about to faint with dizziness. A bakery across the road was prepping up for the days’ sales. I, on the other hand, found a bench where I dozed off for a few minutes. I was just dead tired. The bakers from the shop were giving me a weird look, I might have come across as a homeless girl. Yeah, tell me about it.
After the power nap, I collected myself and walked on. The sun was rising and the temperature board read it was 25C at 6 am. Man, I thought, it was too early to have that kind of temp. I crossed the small bridge in the square and walked on. There was a park across the road where I slowed down a bit. A black patched dog suddenly came out of nowhere and walked beside me. It was really friendly and for some reason it felt like it was drawn to me. I started talking to it and from time to time it would give me a look with perched ears. I was starting to think that it was angel in the form of a dog. Even to this day I’d believe that it was God sent coz it sort of alleviated the thought of fainting.
I passed a few more blocks and finally arrived at Hostel Meteora. The garden and benches outside were charming. I quickly put down my backpack and knocked on the door. No answer. I knocked again. No answer. Okay, so at that point I thought, there was no reception so that meant id need to wait for opening hours. The dog lingered around and looked at me. I was famished.
The benches were calling out to me. I sat down, took out a loaf of bread and scuffed ¾ in and shared the rest with the dog. It was happy to munch it all in. We were both starving. It lazed on the road while I slowly got the position of lying down on the bench using my backpack as my pillow. The neighbours were all giving me the weird stares and I tried not to look suspicious. The heat was starting to creep in for the day as I dozed off. I slowly slipped off the bench. By the time my back ached I told myself, “That’s it! I’m ringing the owner”. A grouchy voice said Hello on the other line. I woke Dimitris up. I assumed that he had a hangover (to be confirmed later on).
He suddenly appeared around the corner, rubbing his eyes and giving me the look. I was a little bit moody too. I guess we were on the same boat. He unlocked the door and walked me in to the dorm. 2 guys were asleep in the room. I tried to be as quiet as a mouse. Dimitris pointed which bed I’d be on and asked if I’d be going to Meteora that day. I said No, I just wanted to sleep. He said okay and see you in later. I quickly took a shower and dozed off.
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