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Delphi
Olive trees fill the valley way belowThe time had come for us to start making our way up to other parts of Greece. The only difficulty was deciding where next, because there were so many great destinations. After lots of thought, we set off on Apr. 7th for Delphi, a small majestic town of 1500 people, where Alexander the Great once sought advice at the Oracle.
We left Athens in the early afternoon to try and catch a local bus to the main bus terminal, where we would then hop another long distance bus to Delphi. We got a bit confused about which bus to take, but after rereading directions and debating with each other, we ended up getting on one. But with huge backpacks and all, we were feeling a bit like overburdened elephants getting on a bus full of mice. It was strange, unlike in Canada, we got on the bus through the back door and not the front, a hard thing to get used to. We got to the station, bought a couple tickets, and before we knew it, were on our way to magical Delphi.
The three hour trip seemed to fly by, since we spent the whole time admiring the
scenery, which was wonderful. Fields filled with fruit and olive trees, rolling hills, which later morphed into towering snow tipped mountains and deep valleys. As we got nearer, we noticed huge canyons on the left side of us, stretching so far down that we couldn't help feeling some serious vertigo.
The funny thing was that, little did we know, we were just minutes from Delphi. A little town perched on the side of cliffs, overlooking a massive canyon. We got off the bus and found a nice little hotel, only a short distance away. The hotel sat above, and had a great view of the deep valley below, with a little deck to chill out on.
We went out to explore the town. Not long after, we realized we were two of only a few people actually staying there at this time of year. The streets were almost entirely empty; it was strange, for such a beautiful place, it felt like we had entered an episode of 'The Twilight Zone'. We found a little restaurant, and had some pizza and a couple huge glasses of beer. As we sat in chairs on the outside patio, we gazed out
Delphi
Christine drinking a beer bigger than her head, with the valley behind her. at the incredible view. The food was ok, nothing to brag about, but everything else was perfect.
We went to bed early that night, in preparation for the next day's adventures, but were woken up by strange noises in the middle of the night. Peering out the window, we were treated with the most crystal clear starry sky, and realized that the sounds we had heard were bats squeaking and chirping outside. We watched as hundreds of bats flew by as the stars lit up the night's sky. It was incredible and almost a bit hypnotic too.
The morning came and we excitedly set off to see the archaeological site of ancient Delphi. It was a short walk down the road, and we admired the wild flowers blooming and the beautiful scenery. After buying tickets, we started hiking up the 'Sacred Way', the ancient path to the Oracle.
The site is located on the steep slope of Mount Parnassus. We made our way up, admiring the various stone ruins, passing the Treasury of Athens, a well restored structure, then reaching the Temple of Apollo. This is where the female priestess of the Oracle, the Pythia, sat.
The god Apollo would prophesy via the priestess.
She would dole out advice to pilgrims, who would first sacrifice a goat or sheep. They would then ask a question of the Oracle, who would shudder, writhe and speak in tongues, with the priest translating the response afterwards. All types of decisions were made based on these prophecies. Wars, business transactions, and even marriage arrangements were questioned.
We continued our hike upwards, and about half way up, out of breath, we reached the theatre. After climbing above it, we realized that it was such a fantastic place to put on a show, overlooking an impressive view of the almost bottomless-looking valley below it. We ventured on, and eventually reached the huge length of stadium, where games were once held. It was still in very good condition, even though it was built around 600 years BC.
We also checked out the archaeological museum, located at the entrance of the site. It housed many of the artifacts found there, some incredible finds, including marble statues, jewelry and pottery. Also many of the more fragile carved marble pieces from the ruined temples had been moved there for preservation.
Below ancient
Ancient Delphi
Some pretty mosaics Delphi was the sanctuary of Athena and the Tholos, a reconstructed ruin. Another pretty place to wander around between ancient stones and wild flowers, in the company of a local friendly cat. Ancient Delphi had been a great place to explore and see some more amazing Greek history.
To get to our next destination, we returned to the little bus station just around the bend. It was there that we met another couple of travellers, two girls, Chelsea and Laura from Seattle. They were taking the same route to Meteora that we were. After some brief confusion, we all made it on to the bus and enjoyed the incredible atmospheric views that accompanied the steep and winding twenty kilometer trip to the bottom of the hill. The entire valley seemed to be filled with olive trees and pretty houses with red tiled roofs. We had no idea that we were in for a game of musical buses.
Reaching the next station, we had a quick transition onto the next bus, which left almost immediately. So far so good, and after a few hours up and down crazy switchback roads with even crazier snow covered scenery, we made it
En route to Delphi
Mountain views from the bus to yet another bus station, in the town of Larissa.
Unfortunately, the place we had to take our next bus from was a kilometer away from where the bus had dropped us off. We started walking, but by the time we arrived, we had just missed our bus and had to wait an hour for the next one. It was good to rest a bit, have a drink and stretch our legs. Another bus, another trip, then off and on to transfer to another one in Trikala! The end was in sight, and we stepped off the very last ride about seven hours later, finally in Kalambaka, a small town located at the base of the monasteries of Meteora.
As we grabbed our bags, we were greeted by a little old man on a scooter, who told us that he had a cheap room. Usually we're pretty skeptical and make it a rule not to go with touts who wait for arriving travellers, but in this situation we thought, 'Why not, we were tired, the price was right, let's take a look'. We followed the funny little man with our backpacks. He would drive to each street corner,
Delphi
Hanging on like crazy, cause it's a long way down then turn and wave to us, let us catch up, and then repeat the process. Surprisingly enough, the hotel was very nice, so we took it. Our balcony came with a great view of the incredibly enormous rock pinnacles that dominated Meteora and the villages nearby.
We went out, watched the sunset, grabbed a gyro and a beer, and called it an evening. Later we decided to try the favorite strange alcohol of Greece called retsina, a pine flavoured white wine that is bitter, but interesting. Actually it's most likely enjoyed only by the experienced retsina drinker...or if you're already drunk, but all visitors should at least give it a taste.
After seeing a gorgeous sunrise, we left the hotel the next morning to hike up to see the monasteries in the sky. It is believed that early in the 11th century, hermit monks somehow made their way to the tops of these incredible natural towers to spend their days in solitude and isolation. Later, in the 14th century, more monks became interested and built the monasteries which sit on top of the larger than life rock pinnacles surrounding the area. At one time there were monasteries on
Ancient Delphi
Christine hanging out at the ruins, just don't step backwards! all twenty-four peaks, but now only six remain, while the rest are in ruins.
We picked a beautiful day to do this, as the sun shone on us throughout our walk. We hiked up a steep trail, that switched back and forth through the woods. Every time we turned, we took in another great view of the village of Kalambaka below. We even saved a poor tortoise that we found laying on his back at the bottom of a hill. He must have been there for ages, based on the mountain of poop building up behind him. On our way, we passed the Holy Trinity, which was closed that day, but we still admired it from a distance.
Finally we reached the first one that we entered, the monastery of Rousanou. Built in the mid-1500s, it is now the only monastery inhabited by women. When entering the monasteries, all woman must wear long skirts, or borrow one of the ugly nylon ones supplied at the door. Luckily Christine was already prepared, and had on one of her own, but we saw many unhappy looking young gals on tours, wearing the frumpy, black and white checkered ones.
The
Ancient Delphi
Theatre with a fantastic view monastery was really tiny, with some incredible murals showing gruesome scenes of various martyrs being decapitated, burned or dismembered because of their religious beliefs! The views from the windows were quite impressive too. A few nuns seemed to care for the entire place, from charging for entry, to lighting candles and running the tiny gift shop filled with religious items.
Carefully making our way down the steep stone path, we continued our hike up to the next stop, the monastery known as the Grand Meteoron. An appropriate name, seeing as it is the oldest, largest, seemingly highest and all around most amazing of these sites. We saw examples of how the early visitors either climbed a rope ladder, or were hauled up terrified, dangling above the abyss in rope nets. Sounds fun, but luckily for us, steps were cut into the rock in the 1900s. It was home to a huge array of religious artifacts, local historic costumes and war memorabilia.
Eventually we cut through the quaint town of Kastraki on the way back to Kalambaka, which was just as nice, but without all the tourists. Arriving back, we were exhausted from all the climbing and hiking, but
Ancient Delphi
Overlapping stones of the aquaduct totally impressed. This area was easily one of the nicest places we had seen on our travels, and pictures just didn't do it justice. Great to stretch our legs a bit, hiking and enjoying the great outdoors, a day well spent.
The following day it was back to a semi-long bus journey to Igoumenitsa, where we would then catch a ferry to Corfu, Greece's second largest island after Crete. We again shared the bus with our gal pals from Seattle, who we parted ways with half way through in Iouannina, where we all changed buses and said our good-byes.
We met another couple of ladies on the next bus who were also on their way to catch the ferry to Corfu. The ferry ride itself was great, nice, relaxing and short. The four of us arrived, and set off to find a hotel together. Too bad that the one that we went to was closed for renovations. That left us with a more expensive, but more beautiful and luxurious option that faced the harbour, not far down the road. It was strange, because in Corfu there were only a few hotels, unlike many of the other places we
Delphi
The empty streets (where are the tourists?) had been, which had one on every corner.
We had lots of things that we wanted to do, but as usual the weather wasn't being our friend. It also seemed like a ghost town there. There was hardly anyone on the streets, shops closed early, and a foggy mist settled over the Corfu harbour, which was very beautiful in those brief glimpses of sunshine. We did manage to walk around a lot on our couple days there, admiring buildings, gardens and shop windows.
It was a great place to relax before we set out on a twelve hour ferry ride to Bari, Italy. This time we chose to get a cabin on the ship, which was on sale for a special deal, probably because of the off season. We'd had enough of long ferry rides, sitting in chairs in smoke filled rooms, hopelessly trying to sleep. We said goodbye to Corfu, hopped on the ferry to Igoumenitsa, then on to the long distance ride to our second European destination.
Upon boarding the massive ferry, we were instantly thrilled that we didn't get the cheap deck seats like before. Just another smoky room full of drunk male Italians,
Sunrise over Kalambaka, Meteora
Worth getting out of bed at six for. not the best place to get a good sleep. A wise decision indeed. Our room was similar to the one on the Spirit of Tasmania ferry to Melbourne, small but totally fine, with the best part, a bed to crash in. Our trip ended up taking thirteen hours, but we arrived energized and ready to tackle Italy, with the help of our first true Italian cappuccino.
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