Blogs from Delphi, Central Greece, Greece, Europe

While in Athens, we did a day trip to Delphi. Ancient Greeks believed that Delphi's famous oracle could tell them what fate had in store for them. Legend would have it that Apollo the god of the oracle would speak through Pythia, his priest, who would in turn speak to whatever priest happened to be on shift, who would in turn speak to the pilgrim seeking Apollo's wisdom. Ancient greeks believed that Apollo knew everything, including what had happened in the past and what would happen in the future. The priests who talked to Pythia, who in turn talked to Apollo, became rather powerful diplomats/counsellors with many a VIP seeking Apollo's knowledge before waging wars or starting major projects. At the temple itself it was written 'Know thyself' with the connotation being that one should never ... read more

After a brief divert to Parta, one of the larger towns in the Peloponnese, to buy a new camera. We stayed at a campsite near the colossal Rio-Antirrus Bridge, The World's longest multi-span cable-stayed bridge that crosses the Gulf of Corinth. It was a brief stay as our next port of call was to be Olympia, home to the famous games of antiquity, and inspiration for the modern Olympics (it is here where the Olympic flame starts its journey). The Games started in 776BC until 394AD where Athletes from all over Greece, later to include Romans, would compete, in the nude, over 5 days. Although we can only wander through ruins now, you certainly get a feeling of what things were like 2500 years ago. Next stop was another important site, Delphi. Again this site started ... read more

Today the plan is to head straight to Delphi before it gets too hot out and then make our way north to Mikrokastro. Got up at 8am, packed up the few things we brought in and had some breakfast at the hotel. The ancient site of Delphi was literally just around the corner from the village of Delphi and we were there in just a few minutes. It was still very early but the parking in from of the museum was already full so we grabbed a spot on the edge of the road. We decided we should see the site first and then see the museum while it was still relatively cool out. We tried to buy water, but all they had was sparkling water at the snack bar. Luckily we had some water in ... read more

Got up at 10am and finished the last bit of packing, showered and had breakfast with Steve and we talked through some eth the previous night’s stuff. Steve and Rachel took the transfer with the luggage from the hotel to the new ferry port to meet our ferry Highspeed 5. The ferry was at 11:25am. I took the rental car and met the rental car guy at 11:15am. Holy crap I was freaking out that the rental agents were going to make me miss the ferry! Argh I hate being so stressed out by stuff like this, and the rental agent was laughing telling me to ‘relax - the boat never leaves on time’. We wrestled the damn luggage up the car ramp and onto the ferry again. Okay this was officially way too much luggage!!! ... read more

We visited the Delphi Museum first this morning to learn more about Temple of Apollo and the other artifacts that have been found here. It was very informative and I’ll try to share some of that information with you with the pictures I post. Then it was back onto the bus for another long ride. We finally arrived at the Osios Loukas Monastery. This was just one more beautiful site in Greece that was incredible. The architecture and the mosaics were amazing. We then crossed the Corinth Canal and stopped for a rest break. We finally made it to our last stop for the day. This is the one I’ve been looking forward to. The Theatre of Epidaurus is not only the best preserved theater in Greece, it is the best preserved edifice in all of ... read more

Saturday 30th April 2011 Today we head further south towards Attica. Initially rejoining the E75 Thessaloniki - Athens motorway as far as Thermopylae where we stop for a spot of lunch and a short history lesson. It was here at Thermopylae where the Greeks tried to defend a narrow pass in battle against all odds of the massive army of Persians led by Xerxes, in 480 B.C. The Greek army was led by King Leonidas of Sparta. Xerxes demanded they lay down their arms only to be told to 'come and get them'. For forty-eight hours the defenders of Thermopylae held out, defeating not just the poorly trained initially sent to dull them, but the Immortals, the Persian elite. Unfortunately for the Greeks, Thermopylae held a secret: a small pass by which the main defences could ... read more

Greek Gods should not be so hard to find, I mean afterall I'm in Athens, the ancient cultural center of the Roman Empire and the very place where ancient Greek religion, and the whole mythology surrounding Greek Gods was invented. I'm not being picky either, at least not really, the only quota I have for my own personal Greek God (which I will just go ahead and assume also applies to my friends at home currently awaiting Greek Gods) is tall, nice physique, good hair, good teeth, and well good hygiene is a plus (although it is Europe so I can't exactly expect it). Anyways. Day 2 in Greece and the search continues. Today, I'd branch out and extend my search to Delphi. ln Greek mythology, Delphi was the site of the Delphic oracle, the most ... read more