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Thursday 18
thMay
The weather has got even worse. It is cold and wet. Yesterday we drove up to Korinthos and then round the Korinthos Gulf to Delphi high in the mountains. We are in the Parnassos ski area and there is still snow on the peak. We drove through a small town which wouldn’t have looked out of place in the french alps. The campsite is a couple of kilometres from Delphi and there is a touring group of cloggies (John’s affectionate name for the Dutch) taking up all the places with the coveted panoramic view down the valley to the sea. Not that you can see anything at the moment as the sky is black and the low clouds are obscuring any views.
My knowledge of ancient / classical Greece is limited but my understanding is that Zeus (King of the Gods) sent out two eagles from opposite ends of the world and where they crossed, he dropped a stone and this was considered to be the naval of the earth. Apparently there are a few navels around the Mediterranean but the one at Delphi was considered the most important. During ancient times, around
2500 to 3000 years ago, a sanctuary was built to Apollo and it was home to the oracle (a priestess considered to provide wise and insightful counsel or predictions of the future, inspired by the gods and naturally a woman!). The sanctuary had a big temple to Apollo, treasure houses for visitors to deposit valuable items as a token of their faith, a sports stadium where the annual athletic games was held and a temple to Athena. The sanctuary would have boasted massive statues made from stone and metals but these were looted by the Romans or destroyed by the earthquake that razed the place to the ground. When the site was discovered again in the late 1800’s, the archaeologists did uncover a couple of giant stone men that are now on display in the museum but pride of place goes to the charioteer, a bronze statue of a young man as he wins a chariot race. It is considered one of the most important sculptures of ancient Greece. The ruins of all the buildings in the sanctuary can now be visited by the hoards. Today is National Museum Day so entry was free. We fought through the coach loads
of Italians, French, British and Americans as we wandered through the ruins and then into the archaeological museum. All very interesting.
Friday 19
th May
Today we walked up the hill out of Delphi along the E4, a long distance walking route that travels the length of Greece. It took us into the tranquil pine forested foot hills of Mount Parnassos. The mountain itself was off to our right and still covered in snow. The weather was sunny but fresh, great for walking. We ate at the campsite this evening as we have run out of food.
Saturday 20
th May
Today we walked down from Delphi along an ancient route to the coast and the town of Itea. In ancient times visitors to the Delphi sanctuary would have sailed into Itea and then brought their gifts up this very path. The path took us downhill skirting the village of Crissa. The last 3 to 4 kilometres was fairly flat and boring as we passed through olive groves. We had lunch at a lovely sea front Taverna and then headed back. By this point, it had got very hot with
no cooling breeze so it was a bit of a slog getting back to Delphi. We couldn’t be bothered to make the effort to eat out so using store cupboard staples, we had John’s signature dish of tuna pasta bake. It was delicious…..
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