Life on the Rocks
We start off at 7:30 a.m. with a breakfast of salads, olives, eggs, and breads! We went hiking at 9:00 a.m. with our tour guides Chris and Costus, who lead us through towards our first monastery with a little history: the rocks are millions of years old, carved by a river and eroded by wind, ice, and water. The views of the natural landmarks from the 1st monastery were beautiful after stepping up from a whooping 324 steps! It’s so humbling to be a part of such ancient buildings, that are still used today by monks. The 2nd monastery was smaller but the hike was worth it, and the pilgrims that went got to meet monks and take in the incredible view. We were driven later on the bus to a pool to swim in and cool off, we got a bite to eat, and we were ready to take on the rest of the afternoon.
Then, after taking some time to clean up at the hotel we left for our bus tour and sunset hike. Our first stop was an ancient church that was dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Our tour guide, Maria, talked about how the Virgin Mary is an important mother figure in Greek Orthodox Christianity. Maria always asked the Virgin Mary for permission to do things instead of asking her parents, haha.
We also got a few opportunities to take pictures and look at some sights on the rocks We got to see some pretty sun rays through the clouds! Then we stopped for a late dinner and had some really great salad with olive oil on it : ). We got so lucky that it didn’t rain on our hike!
Virginia Echols
Grace Osborn
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