The apartment is very central. Perfectly fine and comfortable. A double bedroom, two bed settes and a daybed in the lounge.  So, in theory could sleep seven, with one shower room. No dining table which is a shame. But the water is hot, the heating works, and its very clean. There is a balcony running all around outside with great views of the rocks. It is on the main street through the town so, although a little busy, we have the benefit of bars, cafes, shops etc on our doorstep.

I should imagine Kalambaka is very busy in the season. Right now its busy enough to have atmosphere but without crowds. 

We are here for the incredible rock formations with Monasteries perched precariously on top. The main area for this spectacular sight just along the road in an area called Meteora. (We can see the rocks from our apartment).

So, settling in. Usual supplies required, bread, wine, milk, wine etc. Imagine my delight, there is a Lidl just along the road. Not just a grotty Lidl either, this one is very nice. Woo hoo. (No baked beans though)

Little wander around, nice selection of bars, cafes, restaurants etc. Everything from Gyros to Gastro`. My advice - look for somewhere busy. An empty restaurant is probably not a good one. This theory doesn't always reward, but I generally find it works for us. So, we find a restaurant where there are locals queueing to get in. Its called Panellenion, look for the stone swans outside. Our turn comes. Its packed, but there are two chairs at a table sharing with another couple. Ok. They are obviously local by the way they are greeted by the waiter and the fact that they don't need a menu. We settle for Greek salad, moussaka and oven cooked lamb. And to drink 500ml of white and the same of red from the barrel. Its very noisy, everyone talking over everyone else. The atmosphere is great, waiters buzzing around with great armfuls of plates and jugs of wine. Tables are cleared and reoccupied straight away. We have eaten here twice now, second time recognised by our waiter. We didnt use the menu second time around, he recommended the slow cooked beef in tomato. It was melt in the mouth. It came with potatoes cooked in stock and rice. We had our Greek salad and wine. Delicious.

There is a footpath from the town to the nearest monastery (Holy Trinity). We didn't really plan to walk it, but ended up doing it anyway. It took about an hour, good underfoot but steep. The view from the top was worth every ache and pain. The whole of Kalambaka and the plain laid out before us, with snowy mountains in the background.

Highlight of the trip. To see the monasteries. But how? There lots of tours on offer. Minibuses buzzing around. But I found something different. E-bikes. (Electric assisted bicycles). I tentatively suggested it, must admit I expected to be told to get on my bike, but Norman said yes! Get it booked before he changes his mind!! METEORAEBIKE.COM. Owned a run by Vasilis Tsiantikos and the lovely Jenny Zahos. Fabulous. They can arrange various guided tours, or you can hire a bike (e-bike or ordinary) and do your own thing. Onroad, off road, lots of choice. We arrive at 8.45 for our 9am start. Helmets and gloves sorted out. Bikes adjusted for height etc. Bike operation instructions and safety briefing. We are so lucky, there is no one else booked on this tour so basically we get a private tour, hurrah. (Low season is good). I do spin classes at home but haven't ridden a proper bike for about 20 years or more. Norman doesn't even do spin! Bit wobbly setting off, but its fantastic. The bikes do all the hard work, you can adjust them to make yourself work harder if you are into self punishment. But why would you? We head out of Kalambaka, through the pretty village of Kastraki (little castle in Greek) and head into Meteora district. We pass vineyards and fields with multicoloured bee hives, little houses with lazy smoke coming out of the chimneys. Dogs asleep in the sun, cats watching as we pass by. Its a beautiful morning, the sun is shining, the birds are singing and it feels spring is in the air. This is so much nicer than a minibus. We can stop and take photos. Our guide, Vasilis, is so knowledgeable. He tells us how the rocks were formed, the local geology, culture etc.

All this area was once a huge lake. Sea shells and fossils can be found even on the highest rocks. Then the earth was breached and the water drained slowly away forming this huge plain and leaving the rocks high and dry. The river Pineios runs 100k into the Agean sea in the East. On the top of some rocks you might notice a little box. Rock climbers can take out the little book kept inside the box and add their names, date of the climb, and any other details they care to add. The rocks have moss on them which is black when dry, but if you pour water on it it turns vivid green straight away. Its instant! 

St George with the scarves. There is a story, during the Turkish occupation of this area, a landowner was cutting up a tree in the sacred forest dedicated to St George, which was forbidden. He cut himself badly. He wrapped a scarf around his wound to stop the bleeding. His wife, who was a muslim, prayed to God to save her husband. Behold, the wound healed. The wife offered the scarf to God as a thank you. (The veil or scarf is a very important gift according to a Muslim) Every year local professional rock climbers collect scarves from the villagers and take them to a ledge high above the village as offerings. Last years scarves are removed and kept as a good health token by the rock climbers.

The monasteries - we cycled to the Great Meteoro monastery (which is closed for maintenance in February), but still has spectacular views. Then continued to Varlaam, Agios Stefanos, which now houses 52 nuns who are self sufficient in the convent, they sell tickets, postcards, gifts etc. then back past Holy Trinity (there is only one monk Iiving here, but he has help from local people), stopping for a photo shoot at a breath taking rock top (I couldn't venture near the edge!) before calling in at Roussanou, then my favourite Agios Nikolaos. No photos allowed inside most of the monasteries. The frescos are fabulous and the fretwork and carvings so intricate. Gleaming candleabra and incense burners. The smell of candle wax and polish. Sun shining through coloured glass in the tiny windows. Lovely. Agios Nikolaos is the exception, the paintings have not been restored or repainted, its very much more simple. Here you can visit the old monks room, which wasn't as stark as I expected, more like a simple but comfortable single bedroom (great view from the window).

Strolling along Kalambaka main street and we bump into Jason, our `Eastbourne` friend that we met in Alexandropoloi. Small world. Are we following him or is he following us? Ha ha. We are reminded of all the lovely people we have met on our journey. We are fortunate indeed.

I love travelling, but it can be quite tiring. The constant packing, researching where to go next, booking tickets, accommodation etc. I can spend hours looking at maps, researching on the internet, checking where is safe and where is best to avoid. I am tired right now! I have a money off voucher from hotels.com and we decide to use it on a nice hotel for a couple of days `holiday`. So, we book Alsos House on the outskirts (peace and quiet) with views of the rocks from the balcony. Hotel bar, restaurant, lounge, room service, sounds lovely. In hindsight we should have walked up there and taken a look, but the photos look great on the website. Oh dear! Its a building site. There is a huge generator outside, kangols, drills, hammering etc. There is no bar, restaurant, lounge, there is a dingy room with some tables and chairs where the owner is sitting with a dustmask on his face. (Yes, its that bad). He says he will give us a room as far away from the noise as possible. It is dark, gloomy, no balcony and the view from the one small window is of a neighbouring properties back yard where there is a dead animal hung up on the fence. (Think it was a rabbit but not sure). I am a country girl, but I don't want to see that each time I open the curtains. After a teary lunch in the village we decide we cannot stay in this hotel a minute longer. We return to get our bags and contact the owner of the apartment we have just vacated to see if we can book another two days. Fortunately it is not already booked - relief! There is no one around at the hotel, the builders are still banging away, the `reception` room is locked, so we leave the key on the mat and walk away. I e mailed Hotel.com, offering them photos etc , but they gave us our money back straight away after contacting the hotel. I didn't get my voucher back which is annoying, but at least we got something out of the experience.

It was major work going on at that hotel, in the UK a building site like that would be fenced off for health and safety reasons alone. The hotel would not be able to operate. We are becoming very aware that Greece in particular has very low standards when it comes to health and safety. Not impressed.

Another little experience to share. When we were trudging up the hill to that hotel, a chap on a moped stopped and asked where we were going. Alsos House! Ah, let me help you, I can take your bags. Yeah, I am going to hand over my bags to a bloke on a moped! Do I look that stupid? Turns out he was from the hotel (think he was a builder) but it pays to be wary.