Sometime in the distant past, when monasteries were under threat from a bunch of people, someone decided that a really brilliant plan was to build a bunch of monasteries on top of really high rocks. And so Meteora was born.
Once upon a time, I think there were about 20 functioning monasteries. Today, there are six. (Well, technically 4 monasteries and 2 convents, but who's actually counting?) They are generally open to visitors (provided that the womenfolk are wearing skirts and not, as a sign charmingly informed us, bloomers or pantaloons) and very "visually arresting".
This is on the way in to Grand Meteora, which is the biggest of the six monasteries and the one that most people go to first. There are a lot of stairs. I think that it's easier now to get to the monasteries than it used to be- at one point in time, there were no stairs. It's still worth wearing good shoes.
A view of the rocks! I spent much of our three days in Meteora wondering exactly how these rock formations happened, and the answer that I came up with is "nobody actually knows." This is sad. However, they are still incredibly cool. You should go to Meteora.
...I think that the monastery that you can see in this picture is Agios Nikolaos, but I'm not entirely sure.
Grand Meteora. Next stop- more monasteries!
Sunset over the mountains! Northern Greece is incredibly scenic, much more beautiful than anything down here in Attica. (Not that Attica isn't nice, mind you.)
And here is our tent! We bought it at the Boy Scout store in Athens for 20-ish euros and it served us extremely well. In fact, it makes me vaguely nostalgic to see it.
As we were walking back to Kastraki, there was a break in the clouds and some dramatic lighting effects. I took advantage of this. 
Varlaam, which is the second biggest of the monasteries. 
This is on the way in to Grand Meteora, which is the biggest of the six monasteries and the one that most people go to first. There are a lot of stairs. I think that it's easier now to get to the monasteries than it used to be- at one point in time, there were no stairs. It's still worth wearing good shoes. 
A view of the rocks! I spent much of our three days in Meteora wondering exactly how these rock formations happened, and the answer that I came up with is "nobody actually knows." This is sad. However, they are still incredibly cool. You should go to Meteora. 
...I think that the monastery that you can see in this picture is Agios Nikolaos, but I'm not entirely sure. 
Grand Meteora. Next stop- more monasteries!
