#84 - Meteora Stole Our Hearts, Ancient Monasteries, Gentle Nuns, and Pure Peace
Meteora is one of those places that almost doesn't look real, giant stone pillars, cliffside monasteries, sweet cats wandering about, and that still, prayerful feeling that settles in when you slow down enough to take it in. In this little JuicyMagiK On the Go moment, we're out in central Greece, soaking in the beauty of Meteora, sharing a few first impressions, meeting some very friendly local cats, and speaking from the heart about the monasteries, the nuns, the peace of the place, and the simple grace that still lives there. It's part travel vlog, part pilgrimage diary, part gentle hello from the mountains. We talk about the six active monasteries, the long history of hermits and ascetics who came here centuries ago, and the way Meteora still feels alive, not like a museum piece, but a living spiritual place. Also, yes, there's a cool cat cameo, because of course there is. If you're drawn to sacred travel, mantra, bhakti, simple living, van life, Greece, or just beautiful places with soul, this one's for you.
Transcript
hi ball Namaste
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:hi ball peace be with you and upon you
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:this is Juicy Magic on the go
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:and I'm Madhu Manglodas
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:and we have some guests here today and this is
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:and beside us talking about this guy yeah
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:there are lots of cool cats in in Medioda literally
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:I know we like to use the term cool cat
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:to describe someone who's cool
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:but this is literally a cool cat
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:look at him
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:yeah and they come up
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:they want some food
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:they're used to getting fed goodies here
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:but we don't have anything to feed them
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:except how they know them
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:yesterday I had some yogurt for Kristen Das the cat
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:but anyway
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:behind us is one of the beautiful monasteries
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:there's six how many were there originally
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:60 something or 100 and something
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:a different times I don't know from about 5
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:6 700 years ago
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:they started coming here hermits and ascetics
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:and then eventually this was a place to withstand
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:the onslaught of the Islamic invasion
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:so they could resist being uh
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:trying being forcibly converted
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:but there are six active now yeah
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:six you can visit and we visit all of them
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:hello little kid and we chanted in all of them hello
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:here's another one hello look at this guy
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:so yeah the mountains
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:look at that it's beautiful
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:these rock formations we've been here
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:we were all day yesterday
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:we went to three and now we're going to the other three
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:to see all six of these um
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:they've been renovated and refurbished
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:but they're still all living active monasteries
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:nunneries all six amazing and life is very
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:very in in the cloistered life life is very peaceful
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:there's lots of prosperity for
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:spiritual and material prosperity
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:all mostly in the mode of goodness
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:you know fruit being preserved oh
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:tell them what they what they're giving to the world
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:beeswax bombs for the hands oh
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:I got some beeswax bomb with like
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:comfrey and Saint John's wort and calendula
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:and the best mouthwash I ever had yeah
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:I got her some antiseptic
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:all natural mouthwash made by
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:actually
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:the nuns in that monastery behind us called the uh
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:oh no
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:the one behind us is a different one
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:but the one behind that is a small nunnery
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:it's a dedicated to the Saint
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:Saint Barbara and it's called the Russo Rosino um
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:monastery it's beautiful and this
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:we're going to the granddaddy of them all
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:this is the big big
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:big that one one way over there
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:this one yeah
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:the hordes are starting to come already
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:it opens at 9:30
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:so we thought we would do a quick little hello
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:you can see the mountains in the background
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:we stayed overnight in a not so sexy place
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:bus near stadium but there was a there was no lights
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:there was very little noise and we were left alone
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:which is always a key to our overnight stays in the
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:what used to be formally Galadriel is now Gayatri
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:Devi Dasi our van and home on wheels
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:Juicy Magic Mobile
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:so thanks for tuning in yeah
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:we'll do some more today
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:and I really encourage you to visit this place
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:and the sweetest thing in all these monasteries
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:are the nuns yeah
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:the nuns are so they're so sweet
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:their smiles are so so cute and sweet yeah
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:there's it's a lot of dedication serving
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:selling tickets a lot of devotion
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:it's also incredible
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:every monastery has the same entry price
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:which is just €5 €5 which is so little um
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:and it's well worth it it's a
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:it's worth a visit yeah
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:Meteora in central northern uh
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:Greece and uh absolutely stunning
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:it's UNESCO World Heritage Site
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:has been since I think the 50s or 60s
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:or at least the 70s
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:I don't know when the UNESCO program started
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:but it's one of those they made this place so nice yeah
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:I was here in 1994 and I it's just the
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:the facilities have increased exponentially
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:but it hasn't taken away from the pure beauty
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:pristine beauty and and just awesomeness of this place
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:yeah just look at that
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:that's so amazing
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:yeah we'll do more videos today
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:so tune in
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:thanks for joining us on our global pilgrimage
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:as we chant Haribol
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:hey Krishna Haribol
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:hey Krishna around the world Haribol
