The lowest in elevation of the six Meteora monasteries, St. Nicholas Monastery still feels impressively picturesque.

Meteora needs no subtitle. The word, the title itself, evokes such a colossal, imaginative feeling that you just know it’s something powerful. I spent four days hiking through Meteora, watching the sun rise, watching it set, and losing myself in the beauty of it all.

Meteora comes from the word meteor, which means “suspended in the air.” That’s exactly what these monasteries are. Six remain at the UNESCO world heritage site. And each of them, suspended up there on the massive rocks, speak to your soul. They suspend YOU in the air. They freeze all else and leave you in silent awe that such a place might actually exist.

You can spend hours hiking through the valleys, constantly looking up, awestruck at nature’s capability for beauty and man’s capability for achievements of wonder. You can spend hours sitting amongst the rocks, looking out at the wide-sweeping grandeur before you. Lost in the moment. Suspended in the air.