Well I got up nice and early again this morning and had no issues catching the 0730 bus to Delphi. Turns out I was not the only one heading that way as I found many other non-Greek speaking tourists who were trying to figure out which bus to get on. We did all get on the correct one and made the nice 3 hour bus trip to Delphi. I was a little worried because as we were leaving Athens the rain started to fall (I have been told that is has barely rained in the last 7 months so it seems fitting that it would rain while I was here). As you probably have guessed I slept pretty much the entire trip. I woke up briefly when the bus stopped for a 15 minute break and that was about it. I was very happy to wake up in Delphi…with bright and sunny skies.
Looking down the valley from Delphi to Itea.
So the bus droped us off in town which means that we all had to walk back up a hill and then down a hill to get to the site of Ancient Delphi. If you haven’t noticed Greece tends to have an ancient site...…just down the street from the modern town of the same name. The walk was really easy especially after some of the walking I have done in the past few weeks. I started in the museum at the site to take a look at some things. It was again full of lots of statues and pieces that were found at the site during excavations.
A couple of the marble statues you will find in the museum. They probably depict two heros from argive mythology. It is dated 580 BC.
I just liked this one. Not sure what building it came from.
Some of the statues are not complete but the pieces that were there have been put together nicely so you can get an idea of what it would have looked like.
These statues were also recovered from the site. They have been moved to the museum to protect them from the elements.
It was then out to visit the first part of the archaeological site. This was the Sacred Precinct and is home to the stadium and all the treasuries. Of course it is also home to the Theatre of Delphi built in the 4th century BC and the Temple of Apollo built in the 4th century BC. There is not actually that much that you can walk on as the rocks are not that secure due to earthquakes so you do have to admire them from a far but admire I did.
The Theatre of Delphi. It is dated the 4th century BC. It is still in great shape and while they won't let you climb the stairs they do let you walk out on the floor.
The remains of the Temple of Apollo
It was here in the Temple of Apollo that the Oracle is said to have sat.
The second part of the ruins includes the Sanctuary of Athena and the gymnasium. It is a much smaller site and there is not much left but you can still find the foundations of the baths and all those kinds of things.
The Sanctuary of Athena has been partially reconstructed so you do not need to use your imagination as much as in other places.
Delphi is famous because it was home to the Delphic Oracle (yeah just like in The Matrix). Kings and noblemen would travel very long distances and through the dangerous mountain passes to visit the Oracle and seek council. It has been suggested that the Oracle and the council received was actually due to some sort of geologic phenomena. It was said that when people visited the Oracle they went into a sort of trance and/or exhibited some weird behaviour. They think that the Oracle was actually placed over a possible fault line the emitted vapour or gas such as methane or ethane which lead to this behaviour. Whatever it was, it is said that many people received the correct answers from the Oracle.
Not a lot of people in Delphi but there were a few ants.
So really it did not take too long to check everything out but I decided to spend the rest of the day in Delphi. It is so much quieter than Athens and there was a great view from one of the cafes. Athens certainly has been the biggest disappointment (and I am finding I am not the only person to feel that way). I cannot lie, I enjoyed just hanging out in a quiet spot, with no one rushing to get me out.
The view from the cafe I spent the afternoon at. The village of Itea is down below.
So the ride back to Athens was……well uneventful. There was a great fight between the driver and one of the girls on the bus about where she wanted to get off. He did slow down enough for her to get off but never did stop. Other than that. I slept. Funny because at one point I woke up and forgot where I was. Looking out the window it looked no different than driving through New Jersey or Illinois or someplace like that. Just not the same nice country side I saw in other parts of Greece.
How do you know when you are leaving a town? They put a red line through the name on the sign.
As we arrived back in Athens, a bunch of the roads were blocked off and there seemed to be police all over the place. There was also a large gathering of people that appears to be some sort of protest rally. I will have to figure out what that was in the morning.
Julie
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