Day one of four-day trip.
After a few hours of driving we reached Delphi. It's easily one of the highlights of the entire trip. Before the hordes of tourists it must have been absolutely breathtaking. Even now it is a mystical place. The site is tucked into a hill, with each major building progressively higher than the previous one, so you walk up past the treasuries, past the Temple of Apollo, past the theatre, and finally, a long trek up to the stadium. Fortunately, we were well briefed on location by our marvelous guide, Rania, whose depth of knowledge was truly amazing even to thoseof us who knew something about the site already.
Delphi was considered to be the omphalos ("belly-button") of the Greek world. The story goes that Zeus released two eagles in opposite direction, and the place where they met was Delphi. and Here Joy compares her belly button to the large omphalos on the Sacred Way. The original, much more ornate, is in the museum.
Various city-states (poleis) would dedicate thank-offerings to Delphi. Over time so much stuff was accumulated that they built treasuries--little storehouses for all the loot kept there. The Archaic (early 5th cent.) Treasury of the Athenians was built after the Battle of Marathon and is the only treasury to be totally reconstructed. The metopes of the Doric treasury illustrate the labors of Heracles.
On nine days every year, one could consult with the Pythia (priestess of Apollo) who gave her riddling prophecies in a trance perhaps induced by gas emanating from a chasm under her
tripod placed in the back of the Temple of Apollo. The temple has 6 Doric columns in front and 13 on the side. Here you can see the front of the Temple with four of the columns mostly still there.
On the front of the temple was inscribed the phrases, "Know Thyself," "Nothing to Excess" and "
The 4th-century theatre was the home to musical competitions, seating 5,000. I tested it out with some lines from Hamlet ("Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, creeps in this petty pace...), and those standing at the very top of the theatre heard with no problem. (I also got applause from the people standing around me.)
We hiked up to the stadium (2nd century AD), which was not as crowded as the rest of the site. Here you can see the "deluxe" stone seats which would have faced the finish line.
The museum is airy and well lit, with excellent sculptures including the famous Sphinx of Naxos and the statues of Cleobis and Biton (well, maybe). The real showpiece is the Charioteer of Delphi. They told us that you can "take pictures of the exhibits, but not the people." I didn't know why we would want to take pictures of the museum staff, but later on realized that they meant they didn't want tourists standing in front of the pieces for photo ops!
After the museum we traveled the short distance to Delphi town for lunch. The town itself is
quiet, just two main roads parallel to one another. We ate lunch at Taverna Vrakgos. I had eggplant salad and calamari, Marshall had lamb in lemon sauce with rice and potatoes. We split a half-carafe of local red wine. Delicious! And what about the view from the terrace?
Meteora
Roman latrine
right pant-leg shredded and blood-stained at the knee, but he was otherwise intact. He could have gone over the edge, as there was no guard-rail. Later on he told us that the man had suddenly merged from another road and basically ran him off the road, but Marshall's quick reactions averted a disaster.
What a trooper.
Aphaia is a little-known local divinity who is sometimes equated with Athena. For you temple buffs, it is a hexastyle peripteral Doric temple of about 500-480 BC. The temple is fairly well preserved as these buildings go. We paid our 4 euros and spent about an hour at the site, including the small museum. For me the most interesting thing was the drainage that channelled water from the roof of the temple to a nearby cistern. The view from the west side of the hill is phenomenal–you can see the Peloponnesus, the Isthmus of Corinth, and the Piraeus.
I stuck my camera into a window and got a blind shot of the interior, which you could not otherwise see. We scrambled over the ruins and planned our later excavations of the site with a labor force of Fresno students.
The planning of the "excavations"
Brad and I got as close as we dared without startling them and snapped a picture. The goatherd and his dogs ignored us.
euros one received the use of a Lovely Deck Chair and Umbrella. It was rather windy, with the sun wandering in and out of clouds. Joy and Jon jumped into the surf immediately. They were warned against venturing too far into the water by a "Sea Urchin Sighting"–they have nasty spines. A Lovely English Family of Mum, Daddeeee, and four proper little tykes wriggled nearby. Why is it that all of their sentences have the exact same cadence, including the upwards lilt at the end? Do all American sentences have the same cadence?
Delphi was considered to be the omphalos ("belly-button") of the Greek world. The story goes that Zeus released two eagles in opposite direction, and the place where they met was Delphi. and Here Joy compares her belly button to the large omphalos on the Sacred Way. The original, much more ornate, is in the museum.
tripod placed in the back of the Temple of Apollo. The temple has 6 Doric columns in front and 13 on the side. Here you can see the front of the Temple with four of the columns mostly still there.
The museum is airy and well lit, with excellent sculptures including the famous Sphinx of Naxos and the statues of Cleobis and Biton (well, maybe). The real showpiece is the Charioteer of Delphi. They told us that you can "take pictures of the exhibits, but not the people." I didn't know why we would want to take pictures of the museum staff, but later on realized that they meant they didn't want tourists standing in front of the pieces for photo ops!
quiet, just two main roads parallel to one another. We ate lunch at Taverna Vrakgos. I had eggplant salad and calamari, Marshall had lamb in lemon sauce with rice and potatoes. We split a half-carafe of local red wine. Delicious! And what about the view from the terrace?
The Sisters of Mercy
