a memorable trip to meteora

in the summer of 2017 i had the unbelievable fortune and pleasure of sailing into the fjords of the biggest island in the world: greenland. a place so vast and unsullied, it was such a privilege to walk its mountains that bore some of the oldest rocks in the entire planet, and to camp and wake up to the view of the immense fjords that i otherwise would never have seen in this lifetime on my own accord. almost three weeks of sheer disbelief that i was actually there, everything was so surreal. as a cherry on top, one person in particular, had made this trip extra memorable. 😊

we have kept in touch albeit exchanged messages far and few in between throughout the year. but since i typically visit belgium every summer, i have informed him of the upcoming visit and mentioned my desire to visit meteora. i planned to go alone and casually extended an invitation, without much expectations. a few weeks afterwards, we were planning the trip together. 

meteora is on the F list - and i was determined to cross it off that summer. i had an extra motivation knowing that another friend whom we also sailed with in greenland - could possibly fly that brussels-thessaloniki flight and i thought it'll be really cool to be his passenger. two weeks prior to my arrival in belgium, flights, hotels and car rental are all booked. and i really, really like it when a plan comes together.

for the uninitiated, meteora is a UNESCO world heritage site in greece that is a formation of 60-million-year old vertical rock pillars that, some time in the 11th century, some hermit monks decided to settle on. they started to build monasteries in the 14th century, of which 6 of the original 24 monasteries survive today. while you can imagine that back in the day these monasteries were extremely inaccessible and the monks had to use long ladders and pulleys (although the pulley system still exists today), nowadays one can freely drive from one monastery to the other. as i had only recently broken my right foot, we opted to rent a car for easier mobility than to join tours. 

i was pleasantly surprised that despite it being a top tourist destination, hotels in meteora were very reasonably priced. for €50 you could get a really decent room with private bathroom. we opted to up our budget to get a room with a view. this was the panorama from our balcony.

after a delightful late lunch nearby we opted to explore the town. we stayed in hotel meteoritis in the town of kalampaka. if you're fit enough, you could actually walk from kalampaka all the way to the monastery of Holy Trinity. we took that path but had to turn back at some point because my foot was not ready for a long walk, and it was getting dark. but that walk was quite an adventure. 

we saw a lot of wild blackberry bushes and therefore had some healthy snack as we walked. the fruits that were more plump were too high to reach. lucky for me, bringing a 186cm tall man came in handy. 😉

there were also an abundance of acorn trees. he told me that in dutch, acorn is called eikel. and that it was also a slang for dickhead. 😆

looking at the giant rock ahead of us, we noticed that in the cross section there was a huge hole and there was a clothesline with some clothes hanging on it! i tried to consult google but could not find any information about it. outrageous! i'm really curious of the story behind that. 

as we kept walking we saw the monastery of Holy Trinity from a distance.

when we turned back, we headed to the heart of the town to have dinner and beer. on our way we saw a little towering rock that looked like a gherkin. i named it pickle. 😄

we finally spotted a restaurant with the best view. souvlaki, beer, meteora and this guy. and that ridiculous smile that i couldn't wipe off my face.

the next day was when we visited the monasteries. it was such a warm summer, that it would have been logical to start early in the day to get a lot done before the sun starts to really burn. but then again, we're on vacation! by the time we're done with breakfast and got to the car, it was past 11. 

we first visited agios nikolaos anapaphsas or the monastery of saint nicholas of anapaphsa. this monastery was the first one you'll encounter as you drive up from the main road. it was one of the smaller and therefore more quiet ones to visit. we first had a look at the small chapel of st. anthony.

as it was the first monastery that we visited, i paid a lot more attention to the views from the monastery than what was inside, and therefore didn't have more pictures of the interior. you cannot fault me though because the views were fantastic. the town of kastraki was a mere kilometer away and you could see it from the monastery.

east of saint nicholas monastery was the roussanou monastery - one of the only two nunneries that still exist. we tried to visit this monastery later on but realized it was closed that day. we obviously were not good at reading pamphlets. 

to the north of the monastery of saint nicholas, you could see the two most popular monasteries - the monastery of varlaam and the great meteoron. we drove to a view point for a better glimpse.

after lunch we decided to see the highest and largest of the six monasteries - the great meteoron. of course, this being the most popular one meant a lot of visitors. as it closes at 4pm, hordes of people were rushing to see it after lunch. we were one of them. we soon realized that we have not allotted enough time for it. we first visited the museum and spent quite a considerable time there. by the time we wanted to see the church, the monk had already closed it for cleaning. 

i didn't take as much photos to give you a better idea of how amazing the monastery was, mostly because i was put off after seeing someone take photos of the sacristy where the skulls and bones of the monks who used to live there were displayed on shelves. i peeked and it was chilling and quite frankly i prefer not to see very obvious reminders of death. we did spend a lot of time by the courtyard though, to enjoy the views.

from the great meteoron, the varlaam monastery was very close by. even after the monastery was closed, we hung out for some time to enjoy the breeze as the scorching sun had begun to mellow.

the next order of business was to figure out the best spot to watch the sunset. the map provided to us by the guy at the car rental showed different sunset viewing spots. we checked out one and it seems to indeed be the best one. 

we stood there. in awe. in silence. taking in every single second of togetherness as he stood behind and wrapped his arms around me. i asked a stranger to take a photo of us to preserve this moment. in hindsight, perhaps we weren't sure how to pose for a picture together and it turned out to be what i could only describe as awkwardly cute. 😁

it was only around 6pm at that time, and sunset was not until almost 9pm, so we drove back down to kastraki for dinner before the much-awaited sunset viewing. trouble was, everybody had the same idea. nevertheless, we managed to scoot in and secure a nice spot with a relatively unobstructed view. 

sunset is always phenomenal, wherever you may be. but even this one had to fade away in the background, as he pulled me closer to him and kissed me for what seemed like an eternity. i was dazed and confused and - in a tagalog word that is now officially in the oxford english dictionary - super kilig.

the next morning, we intended to finally visit the monastery of the holy trinity, only to realize that it was closed on a thursday. clearly we hadn't really planned to see everything in this trip. i suppose now it's understandably because the trip was more about spending time together and seeing the most out of the attractions was just secondary. nevertheless, we managed to visit the monastery of varlaam as our final drive up to meteora before taking our train back to thessaloniki. at this point i have stopped taking photos, as we were just contently wandering around holding hands. 

we spent a night in thessaloniki and went 12th-to-16th-century-church-hopping for half a day. there's this and that and all sorts of things that happened that are irrelevant now as i smile like an idiot, remembering how i became his liefje after that trip in meteora. 💗

Budapest

i wanted to visit budapest primarily to see a friend who lived briefly in singapore and has since moved back. but also, i have been told time and again that budapest is beautiful and there is a lot to do and see. initially i thought of doing a little side trip to vienna too, and luckily i didn't go ahead with this crazy idea. there was enough in budapest to keep us busy for five days.

johanna, a friend who visited budapest recently, told me a lot of things about the city. i consulted her with the location of the apartment i booked, what the easiest things to do and see are given my broken foot and how transportation in budapest is like. i booked an apartment that is very close to the city center and to the metro stations because apparently taxis are not very reliable in budapest. for our arrival though, i booked welcome to budapest transfer services instead of taking the direct bus from the airport which stops fairly close to the apartment. of course this service is more expensive than taking the bus, but you get to sit comfortably in a nice car and tamas enthusiastically shows a presentation of budapest top attractions, historical sights, fun activities and even local cuisine. 

we arrived late afternoon so i didn't make any plans for the evenings and wanted to just take it easy. we walked around the vicinity in search for dinner. lovro saw the wheel and asked that we take a ride after we eat. it took more than half an hour to queue, for such a short spin, but probably worth it since the little one had fun.

the next morning i arranged for a visit inside the parliament building. i heard that the century-old structure is the third largest parliament building in the world. sitting at the bank of the danube, it is quite a sight to behold especially at night when it's all lit up and seen from a cruise along the river. up close, it was grandiose.

the selling point of the guided tours in this building is the crown jewel - which of course was not allowed to be photographed anyway. as expected, lovro didn't care for that tour. all the gilded stuff was nothing exciting for a 4 year old. in fact the main hall was glistening too much that i couldn't take proper pictures. that, or iPhone camera isn't so great. my photography skills are out of question of course. 😂

we met agnes afterwards for lunch. and from where we ate, she suggested to visit margitsziget or margaret island. it's a nice little park right at the danube, in between buda and pest. it's definitely a nice place to visit for locals and tourists alike. we hung out by the music fountain and awaited the hourly show. it was nice and chill and a good time to let our hair down. literally. 😆

then we searched for something fun for lovro. there was a playground for kids, and a small petting zoo. we spotted those silly-looking big-haired chicken and felt bad for laughing out so hard. they look so funny! we also saw some storks that were apparently injured and could not fly anymore so they just hang around the zoo. they looked so regal.

there are a bunch of interesting things to do in the park. right by the entrance you could see bicycles and motorized small vehicles for kids to rent. while it's not a big park, just merely 2.5 km, it's definitely more fun for kids to be mobile. we also saw people going for a run and others just at the benches enjoying the sun. as we walked to leave we spotted the flower garden and commanded dear lovro to take our photo.

in the evening we took a cruise along the danube river. while touristy, it was actually quite enjoyable to see the Bridges of Budapest and of course the Parliament Building all lit up at night. this has got to be the most popular tourist attraction in Budapest - there were countless boats going back and forth and i even spotted a humongous cruise ship.  

the next morning was bathing day! what visit to budapest will be complete without a trip to széchenyi baths? even though it is a thermal bath complex and summer days have been so scorching hot - we still got to go! the only caveat of going there with an uncooperative toddler is that you don't get to see the entirety of the complex! so i basically didn't get my money's worth - especially since it wasn't cheap to get in - but i was glad to have been there at least.

Melting in Malta: Playmobil Fun Park

one place that i was excited to visit in malta for lovro's sake was playmobil fun park. lovro has a bunch of playmobil toys and i know he'd get a kick out of being at the place where they're made. although they don't do factory tours anymore, there is a big play area with different themes that feature their product lines like pirates, knights, rescue, etc. 

we went a day prior to the date i have initially planned to visit. i was having a headache that day, and there was no way i could do our usual walkabout in that heat. so i thought why not do an indoor activity, and this had to be it. we took a cab from our apartment to playmobil (our typical mode of transport for most of this trip) because taking a bus would have taken us more than an hour. lovro was immediately excited when he saw the giant playmobil knights lined up towards the entrance!

first thing that awaits you when you enter the building is a big store of playmobil products. the cashier then asks if you are visiting the play area, and then you can pay there. otherwise some families just come to check out the store, but for only 2.40 euros it's almost impossible to not let the kids have fun inside. being there was great for me because lovro wants to play on his own, and there is free wifi inside. not to mention that it's air-conditioned! it was a good way to still get something done for the day while i mind my wobbly head.

playing was exhausting, so we had tea break. they had playmobil cupcakes of course. cute and yummy! next to the cafe is the party area for when there are birthdays and celebrations. 

there was in fact a particular area in this play park that lovro had been itching to see but i told him it was too hot to play outdoors: the pirate island. i showed him photos prior to the trip, and he does own a pirate island set, complete with pirate ship, a few pirates and officers, and all sorts of pirate swag. i finally let him play around 4pm.

lovro has a card game called pirate snap and one of the pirates is called "lucy the lookout". i believe i had the same hair style as her, so i asked lovro to snap a photo of me, with a young pirate and "polly the parrot" 😃

it was still hot at this time, so after he was tired of it we went back inside for some more playtime and to cool down. he made a friend and they played for a good while before it was time to go. 

while waiting for our cab, i browsed through the store to see if anything's interesting. as it was world cup season, they are selling football figures. too bad they didn't have belgium ones! what a shame!

we spent about 3 hours at the fun park and even though it was a bit out of way (it is closer to the airport and a bit far from the center) it was definitely worth the trip. if you're going to malta with a kid, then you know you gotta go.