Day 2 Greece: Delphi!

Today I went on an SAS trip to Delphi. I knew little about the historical place, and had only seen a few pictures. Alas, I did not know what to expect… but it turned out to be an amazing day. Delphi is located about 170 km north of Piraeus, which is about 3 hours away. However, the traffic in Athens was heavy during the morning hours, so it actually took us about 4 hours to reach. We left early, at 7:45 in the morning. I tried to sleep a little, but you know me…I have much difficulty with that…and it didn’t help that our tour guide talked the majority of the time. I shouldn’t say anything though, because our tour guide was exceptional. She helped us to understand the most important and pivotal information about the sights. She was extremely knowledgeable, spoke excellent English, and seemed to know everything about Ancient Greece! She must really love her job!

Traveling North, I was able to see a different side of Greece. When I picture Greece, I think of the islands with the white and blue houses among the ocean (I think Mamma Mia!). However, the area we went to was nothing like that… instead it was quite the opposite… quite unique. It was located on a steep mountainside near the Ionian Sea. Most of the mountains were covered with lush greenery, although there were patches of mountainous bare, gray rock. Olive trees grew amongst the other foliage. The roads we drove on hugged the cliffs (like many of the roads I have been on during this voyage!), which at times was scary. Nevertheless, this allowed for spectacular, serene views. On this journey, we were taught much about Delphi. And in short, it stood as the place were the Greeks went to visit the oracle of the God Apollo, and to gain advice on both private and personal matters. The ruins date from the 4th century BC, and included a temple, a stadium, a theatre, a walkway of treasuries and shops, among other things.

Upon arrival, we first had time to explore the museum, which housed 13 rooms of many artifacts from the actual site. The remains of certain pillars, sculptures, treasuries, gold, ivory masks…everything inside was just remarkable.

The lunch provided on the trip took place at a friendly Greek restaurant. They gave us lots of food; as the appetizers themselves could have been suffice (although I didn’t really care for them). I liked the fried cheese stick and bread, but not the fried zucchini ball, veal and cabbage, spinach/filo dough thing (spanikopia?), or the Greek salad. The main course was more my style… rice, French fries, and a hamburger patty type thing. Well…I at least think it was hamburger meat…but afterwards people told me it was lamb. If it was…oh well. Still yummy. For dessert, I had juicy watermelon and honeydew. Delicious. I really wish we could take fruit on the ship with us!

On our return, our bus stopped for about an hour at the monastery of St. Lucas. It included two old churches, as well as the areas where the monks resided. Parts of St. Lucas’s skeletons rest here, which we were able to see. This monastery was about 45 minutes away from Delphi, also nestled on the peaceful mountainside. It is amazing to visit all of these important religious sites. Religion has inspired so much art, music, architecture, etc.… and has played/still plays a huge role in the lives of so many… It is just great to be apart of that. There is much history to soak up.

After the monastery, we continued our drive back to Piraeus. Our bus ended up being about an hour late, as we arrived back at our ship around 7:15 pm…which isn’t bad, except that everything in Piraeus closes pretty early! (which is surprising as it is a fairly large port city) Anthony and I were looking forward to using the international phone center to make some calls, but that and most others stores were already closed by 7!

At night, Bo, Morgan, Nina, Shannon and I stayed close to the ship and chilled in an Irish Pub…with an Australian waiter! He was super nice, and was from Brisbane. Us SAS’s talked for a while, and enjoyed a low-key night together.

Until next time, much love,
Erika

P.S. I updated some pictures on Facebook… feel free to check them out!