Delphi

Monday morning we rented a car and drove to Delphi, which was about a 2 hour drive. The drive was fairly uneventful but we did note after paying a number of tolls in the cash lane that the toll takers we encountered were so attractive we wondered if there’s some overlap between modeling and tool booth personnel in Greece!

At Delphi, we had a lovely guide named Georgia give us a tour. We started in the museum to see a recreation of the site and artifacts found at the site. This drawing shows the site as it would have looked in full operation as a temple to Apollo. The model also shows a recreation of the site. Note the slopes or ramps that take the visitor on a journey from the opening agora or market area, up past the treasuries of different cities, to the large temple of Apollo and on to the theater and stadium.

These are some of the many columns that surrounded the Temple of Apollo.

Delphi is located in a really beautiful valley.

View of the columns of the temple of Apollo from the other side, with the foothills of the mountains in the background.

So, we learned a lot about the Oracle at Delphi. The Oracle was a young woman who would sit on a three-legged stool in the basement of the temple of Apollo. The stool (also called a trident and the subject of art works showing Hercules stealing the trident) fitted into the rock shown below, in three of these holes. The stool was positioned near a fissure in the earth where vapors would rise, and that, combined with the linden leaves she would chew, would put her into a state of mysticism that would bring out prophecies. However, the prophecies were in the form of screaming and rambling and needed to be interpreted by a priest, who would take in questions from people who visited the oracle and then hear her responses and deliver advice to the questioners.

There were many gatherings at Delphi held in this theater that held 3000 people! Sporting events were held in a stadium up at a higher level.

More valley with Apollo’s temple. The basement where the Oracle sat is still there but visitors aren’t allowed in side the temple so this is a good view of where it was. Who wants to visit an old vapor-filled basement anyway?

This is the treasury of Athens. Different cities made offerings to Apollo, and Athens had a vault here that was full of treasure. After the excavation, they decided to reconstruct one treasury, and they chose to reconstruct the treasury of Athens, which is about halfway up the slopes.

Readers may remember from Miles’s photos… it’s the naval! The belly button of the world! We also learned that Zeus had two eagles fly up and meet to determine where the center of the earth was, and they met above Delphi.

More beautiful countryside around Delphi!

Along the roads we saw a lot of small shrines. Our guide explained that they are put there after people have road accidents and want to either express thanks that they survived or memorialize the person who was lost. Here’s an example we saw right at Delphi.

We then drove on to Meteora, which was about 3.5 hours away. It was very misty, foggy and in the end quite rainy but we made it! We could see from our balcony that the famous rocks in the region were very close, but they were really lost in the mist.

This is what our guide book shows:

And this is what we could see from our balcony!

We rested up then went out to dinner, having what I have been declaring the best meal of my life. Seriously. We started with dolmades – which were served in a bowl of egg lemon sauce. The dolmades (grape vine leaf bundles with rice inside) are completely submerged in the sauce below. We were so confused when the guy brought out this bowl and thought we’d ordered incorrectly – then fished around in there with a big spoon and found the dolmades. And oh wow, they were so amazing – completely moist and without as much vinegar taste as usual. We also had red peppers stuffed with feta cheese that again had such a perfect blend of flavors.

For my main dish I had what was intriguingly listed on the menu as “Beans” and was again amazing. I didn’t take a photo but they were the gigante or huge corona beans I get through the bean club sometimes, cooked in a really yummy tomato sauce / oil. Then we got a half apple each cooked in grenadine. Amazing.

Then it was off to bed after a very long day!