After a few days exploring Athens, we heeded the advice of prior Greek adventures and sought to spread our wings and venture further a field into Greece. Taking our cues from our Greek friend, George, we decided a three hours bus trip north of Athens to Delphi would be the perfect way to explore the Greek countryside.
In short, it was breathtaking (unfortunately our photos don't do it justice). Our hotel balcony looked over the Valley of Phocis towards the Mediterranean.
According to Greek mythology, Zeus wanted to find the center of the world, so he released two eagles from opposite ends of the earth and they met at Delphi. This beautiful site proved an important place in ancient Greece and served as the resting place of Gia, the goddess of the earth, and was considered the navel of civilization. They could not have picked a more beautiful and picturesque site.
Delphi is both a quaint, modern village perched atop an outcropping of Mount Parnassus in the valley and the site of an ancient temple dedicated to Apollo, which is better known as the home of the Oracle of Delphi. The Oracle was a descend of the order of women who cared for the Temple, before any major decision was made Kings and rulers would consult the Oracle, who would be a messenger between the mortals and Gods. Once the Oracle was posed a question, she would inhale noxious fumes that emanated from crevices at the site, enter a trance and then offer non-sensitcal answers to the posed question - an ancient practice eerily similar to how decisions are made on Capitol Hill.
We were in luck as we happened to be visiting on a free community day. Once we arrived in town, we got situated in our hotel and quickly made to the museum to take in a number of the statues and reliefs that had been salvaged from the temple.
After visiting the Oracle, we ventured down the mountain side to walk through the ancient gymnasium where every four years, starting in 586 BC[4], athletes from all over the Greek world competed in the Pythian Games, one of the four games that served as a precursor to the Modern Olympics.
Here is an ancient hot tub that would be filled by water from the mountains to cool off the competitors.
Traipsing around ancient gymnasiums was just as tiring as working out in our modern gymnasiums so we headed into town to explore modern Delphi. We found some really cute restaurants and enjoyed eating local specialties like spicy feta and Greek salad with the home pressed carafes of local white wine.
On our way back to Athens from Delphi we stopped in a cute mountainside town called Arachova. Just a few miles from Delphi, we spent a few hours exploring this small town which is famous for its cheese, honey and wine. The town was very quaint and since it was out of season, we had the entire place to ourselves. During the winter, Arachova serves a skiing center, as you can see by the snow topped mountains in the picture. Although we didn't buy any goods here, we really enjoyed our time just walking the city streets, climbing their treacherous staircases built into the mountain and window shopping.
Once we got back to Athens from Delphi, we had just enough time to grab some dinner, a Greek salad (anyone see a theme?), catch Athens by night light and rest-up for our flight to Rhodes!
In short, it was breathtaking (unfortunately our photos don't do it justice). Our hotel balcony looked over the Valley of Phocis towards the Mediterranean.
According to Greek mythology, Zeus wanted to find the center of the world, so he released two eagles from opposite ends of the earth and they met at Delphi. This beautiful site proved an important place in ancient Greece and served as the resting place of Gia, the goddess of the earth, and was considered the navel of civilization. They could not have picked a more beautiful and picturesque site.
Delphi is both a quaint, modern village perched atop an outcropping of Mount Parnassus in the valley and the site of an ancient temple dedicated to Apollo, which is better known as the home of the Oracle of Delphi. The Oracle was a descend of the order of women who cared for the Temple, before any major decision was made Kings and rulers would consult the Oracle, who would be a messenger between the mortals and Gods. Once the Oracle was posed a question, she would inhale noxious fumes that emanated from crevices at the site, enter a trance and then offer non-sensitcal answers to the posed question - an ancient practice eerily similar to how decisions are made on Capitol Hill.
We were in luck as we happened to be visiting on a free community day. Once we arrived in town, we got situated in our hotel and quickly made to the museum to take in a number of the statues and reliefs that had been salvaged from the temple.
After visiting the Oracle, we ventured down the mountain side to walk through the ancient gymnasium where every four years, starting in 586 BC[4], athletes from all over the Greek world competed in the Pythian Games, one of the four games that served as a precursor to the Modern Olympics.
Here is an ancient hot tub that would be filled by water from the mountains to cool off the competitors.
Traipsing around ancient gymnasiums was just as tiring as working out in our modern gymnasiums so we headed into town to explore modern Delphi. We found some really cute restaurants and enjoyed eating local specialties like spicy feta and Greek salad with the home pressed carafes of local white wine.
On our way back to Athens from Delphi we stopped in a cute mountainside town called Arachova. Just a few miles from Delphi, we spent a few hours exploring this small town which is famous for its cheese, honey and wine. The town was very quaint and since it was out of season, we had the entire place to ourselves. During the winter, Arachova serves a skiing center, as you can see by the snow topped mountains in the picture. Although we didn't buy any goods here, we really enjoyed our time just walking the city streets, climbing their treacherous staircases built into the mountain and window shopping.
Once we got back to Athens from Delphi, we had just enough time to grab some dinner, a Greek salad (anyone see a theme?), catch Athens by night light and rest-up for our flight to Rhodes!
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