Greece - Delphi, Kirra, Livadia, Arachova

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The next morning, we got our second delicious breakfast at our hotel. Honestly, I was very happy with the Grand Hyatt; it was not cheap, but the roof top restaurant and pool have incredible views and that alone was worth it, plus they were so friendly. The included breakfast had many options and all tables had a view of the acropolis somehow.

Anyway, we made our way via the expensive hotel shuttle to the airport where I had booked two small rental cars with Enterprise. After checking in, we walked about 500m to the lot where we encountered seriously the most friendly Greek of our trip. He was so nice! I thought I was in a different country somehow. But the cars were small! Poor Tyler! We drove along the nice highways, with lots of tolls, hearing inland toward Delphi area, eventually starting to get up into the hills.

Livadia

Our first stop was a cute little town called Livadia. Tyler was in the lead and the town was mostly empty, with narrow cobblestone streets - so cute! But.... we took a right instead of a left, up, up, up into the hills with no place to turn around so we just kept going. At least we had an amazing view! Finally, we asked a couple people outside and they just pointed us down a hill with a do-not-enter sign so we went. And drove along what can only be described as an outdoor patio / terrace area for restaurants - thank god it was not peak tourist season! We saw the parking area to the right just across the stream and were able to access and park pretty quickly. It was a cute place! The stream with huge trees and water wheels was so beautiful, so lots of photo ops here. We went further up the little gorge / valley and climbed up to a modern amphitheater and could see a church / monastery up on the cliff across the way. Amazing. We headed back down to one of the few places open and with the best seating area on the stream, where the kids got some foods (that we gobbled up the leftovers) and we got a delicious hazelnut latte thing. Yum.

Kirra

We then continued onto our accommodation in Kirra, arriving about an hour after I had told her due to our coffee stop. She met us downstairs and gave us a brief intro. The apartment was perfect! Two bedrooms, a separate bed area, eat in kitchen, living area and two full baths, as well as a garden patio. Plus, there was a fireplace with fresh firewood stocked outside. My nephew got the fire going immediately and we enjoyed some of the snacks she had laid out for us. Katie and I walked the 50m to the grocery store for supplies - it was extremely limited so we wound up with pasta and wine in a plastic bottle for 3 euros. We were a bit nervous about that. Fortunately, the owner brought down spinach pie for us that her mother had made and it was delicious!

The next day it was raining for most of the time, so we went to lunch further down the beach and had delicious fancy food. The rain finally stopped later and we walked along the beach toward the main part of town. The kids swam, they skipped stones, and were interested in the many cats that appeared. The sunset was gorgeous. We stopped at a place for some gelato before walking back and having leftovers. Breakfast was also leftovers - calamari from our previous day's lunch.

Delphi

That day, we drove up the mountains to our destination: Delphi! The little town of Delphi was adorable. Tyler was able to get a parking spot right away, but I had to park along the road just at the edge of the cliff, which freaked my sister out a bit! We were able to get tickets to the grounds and museum for a very nice decent price (or at least, less than I expected). First was walking up the slope to view the ruins which date back to about the 6th century BC and basically ran up the side of the mountain. The first sight was walking through the plaza area, the Roman agora, which was essentially where people would shop and such. Then you continue to wind up the hill through the multiple treasuries, by the 'navel', and just the beautiful surroundings. About mid-way up, you reach the actual Temple of Apollo, which is mainly a flat area with multiple standing doric columns. Further upslope, you reach the amphitheater, with an incredible view of the valley below. By this time, the kids were exhausted from climbing, it was hot, and we did not have water. But we continued on, up and up. Until we reached a shaded area. Tyler and I continued up to the stadium which was quite impressive. I came back to get my sister and her oldest, while I sat with the other two. Then we walked down and down, along the path, to the museum cafe where we each got a cold treat.

After our treats, we continued to the very impressive Delphi museum. It was actually slightly busy in here, and we needed our vaccination certificates to enter. But wow - it was so well done. Many of the major artifacts found in the ruins are shown here and discussed. The first main rooms held huge sculptures and frescoes and motifs. They limited the number of people in each room due to covid protocols. The first limited entrance room had a large sphinx but most impressive to me were the friezes on three walls basically showing the story of the Trojan war - battle scenes, the gods on each side, the abduction, the golden apple... My 9-year-old niece also loved the story too and was able to identify some of the key characters by their depictions.

Other rooms also held some amazing finds, including marble statues and sculptures that once adorned the upper walls of the Temple of Apollo in Room 6, other rooms with weapons and more friezes, and Room 11 with the very cool Dancers of Delphi. I loved that my niece was fully into it and looked at almost everything with interest.

After the museum we walked towards the town of Delphi for lunch. A taxi driver in Athens had given me a card with a recommendation for this restaurant, and I had seen a short clip on youtube so it looked great. Of course it was at the far end of town, past road construction.... and closed. We had walked by a few other restaurants with great views, and my sister found one with good reviews, so we walked up some steep stairs and ate at Taverna Vakhos. It an amazing view of part of the town and valley, all the way out to the Gulf of Corinth. And all of our food was good. My eldest nephew was daring and got a rabbit stew, which he loved. I got one of my favorite dishes: Moussaka! Moussaka seems to be hit or miss and nothing has yet to beat the one at Heritage Garden in Al Ula, but this was pretty close, though on the salty side. So, craving satisfied.

Arachova

After lunch we walked back to our cars and made our way further up the mountain roads to the quaint mountain town of Arachova, apparently a popular ski town. Tyler recommended stopping here to see what it had to offer. So we parked at the town entrance and walked along the hill side sidewalk. It was actually quite a lovely place! The architecture was so lovely though I still don't know what the cave like apartments with red doors were - they looked so interesting. There were also lots of souvenir stores and craft shops. We stopped for some gelato for the kids and my sister and her eldest son ran up the steep stairs to the top of the town. The rest of us slowly made our way up. Just in time to catch the beginning of a beautiful sunset at the church and clocktower (which rang just as we got to the top). Then we made our way back to our cars and drove back to our accommodation for our last night together.

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Photos

Delphi museum
the story about the fall of Troy

Delphi Museum
the story of the fall of Troy