Delphi (July 18)

We had a lovely 6:45 wake up call this morning to pack up and depart for the site of Delphi. Breakfast at this particular hotel was okay – the eggs were awful and the peaches in the yogurt weren’t as fresh. But there was still croissants and Nutella, so all was at peace in the universe.

Today’s activity included the museum and grounds at ancient Delphi, the site of the ancient oracles in the B.C. times, and considered to be the center of the world by the Greeks. People would come from all over to speak with the oracles, whether to find out if a partner was faithful, or if they would have fortune in the coming year. Most came on the seventh day of the month when any question could be asked. The “oracle” was a woman, usually over 50, called the Pythia and was tended to by the priests.

The grounds had a temple dedicated to Athena (like every other site), a stadium for Delphi’s “Pythia Games” (a small scale Olympics), and lots of statues and treasuries for particular groups of people like the Athenians. Again, it was lots of rocks because they are ruins, but some of the columns were still in tact, as well as the theatre, which seats 5,000. The museum was pretty cool because it had many of those statues and other artifacts. A bronze statue known as “The Charioteer” is considered the most impressive piece, as it is completely original and in great shape. It had the weirdest eyes, like it was staring at you – and it was built in 478 B.C.! I tell you … the details these Greeks were able to carve out of a slab of marble just blows my mind. The reconstructed model of the site shows it to be very ornate and over the top.

The museum was alright because it was air conditioned; just lots of standing. But the site was all up hill and easily over 100 degrees, so I think I sweated my body weight. Seriously, we were all just dripping by the time we got to the top. We then went back into the town of Delphi and had 90 minutes to get lunch and walk around. Most of us ate at a cute taverna overlooking the mountains and even out to the sea. I shared a Greek salad and tzatziki/bread with another girl and it was delicious. But the tzatziki had so much garlic that I definitely shouldn’t talk to anyone the rest of the day.

We also got some good gelato (I got chocolate chip in a cone) and went in a cool store. They had the traditional Greek “worry beads” that all of the men jiggle around in their hands outside their stores. They were only 1.50 euro so I got one to hang up on my wall. Now we are back on the bus headed for Kalambaka – about a 4 hour trip – to see Meteora tomorrow.

We took a quick break at a sort of rest stop that would put all American rest stops to shame. This place had bathrooms (called “water closets” here), a market, bakery, buffet, espresso shop, and even tables with white table cloths. It was great. Then we hopped back on the bus for two hours, but of course since I wanted to sleep this time, Demetra put on extremely loud Greek music … and also Sarah Brightman songs, like Phantom of the Opera, and none of us could find the relevance.

We got to the Amalia Hotel in Kalambaka about 6 PM and immediately had to get ready for lecture and dinner. It is really nice, way better than the last two, and they were setting up for a big wedding out by the pool. Our lecture was supposed to be on Greek religion, but when we showed up to the non-air-conditioned sauna they assigned to us as a room, Katula said he’d heard some girls had wanted to learn about women in Greece from Niki. He took the boys to have a drink at the bar, while we ended up having an hour-and-a-half of “girl talk.” Katula even sent over some carafes of wine, so it was a good time!

Dinner was kind of the typical Amalia buffet, but the four-cheese crepes were to die for! And the chocolate gelato for dessert was phenomenal … I mean just imagine the richest, creamiest dark chocolate ice cream with chunks of chocolate. The best thing ever!

We spent the evening out on our connecting back patios, drinking wine and playing music. It was Niki’s last night so we all danced around and talked. A bunch of people ended up crashing the Greek wedding, which was apparently a pretty good time. I opted to go to bed instead around 1 AM.

I can’t believe that Monday will be the halfway point! It’s strange because I feel like we have been here so much longer than two weeks, but it’s also gone by so fast. I’m also going to splurge and send my clothes out to be laundered in Thessaloniki. I’d like to start the second half of the trip all fresh and clean!