Delphi!!

Today I had a SAS trip to Delphi which is about 3.5 hours north of Athens.  The drive to get there was kind of long, but I slept most of the way.  When we got there we walked up what used to be the sacred path leading to the Temple of Apollo.  There was a famous oracle at Delphi so people from all over Greece (but mainly Athens) traveled there to seek her guidance because she supposedly shared the word of Apollo.  Delphi is settled in the mountains of Greece which were really pretty but nothing compared to the scenery in Croatia/Montenegro.  It takes a little imagination to put together the ruins of Delphi in your mind, but the path winds up through a bunch of “treasuries” which housed hundreds of statues and was preparation for entering the temple.  The Temple of Apollo is the main focus, but also there was a really big theater above it.  There was also a lower area with the Temple of Athena (a place where women come for healing) and a place for athletes to work out.  All in all it was a pretty cool place to see, but we did not have the best tour guide so I couldn’t really understand a lot of the stories she was sharing.

After walking around the ruins we went to the Delphi museum which had examples of things that used to be in the town such as some of the statues and columns.  The highlights of the museum were two Korous statues, pieces of a silver bull statue, and a famous charioteer statue.  The museum was definitely required to help put together the pieces of what Delphi actually looked like in ancient times.

After the museum we went to lunch at Chalet Maniatis where we had a 4 course meal.  The appetizer was a slice of cheese pie which was delicious and made with feta cheese and a flaky crust (definitely my favorite dish of the meal).  Then there was a pretty plain salad followed by a main course of pork, rice, and gravy.  For dessert they gave each of us a giant plate of watermelon and honeydew.  It was tasty but I probably don’t need to eat anymore watermelon for a long time.

After lunch one of the buses went straight back to the ship while the other one went on to a monastery.  The monastery trip was going to get back to the ship late which is why some people opted to go back after lunch.  I figured that since I was already out there I would go see it.  Luck for us we got to switch buses and have a really awesome tour guide for the rest of the trip.  I learned more at the one stop with her than I did in all of Delphi!  The Greek Orthodox monastery was really pretty and built in the year 1000 AD.  It had 2 churches inside that were full with mosaics that must have taken forever to make.  I guess it would be something good to do with your time when you are a monk in the middle of nowhere.  After the monastery we went back to the buses and got to the ship around 8:00pm.  Another 12hr trip day left me pretty exhausted so I just ate dinner at the ship and am going to turn in early tonight.  I have to write a paper for one of my classes about Delphi, so I am going to do that while it is fresh in my mind.  We are leaving for Aegina early tomorrow and I cannot wait!!