Greek trip, June 15

Today we were up extra early for disembarcation, and by about 8:30 we were on the bus to Delphi, about a 3- hour trip.  We stopped at the town of Arachova, close to Delphi, and walked the entire downtown area to the other side, where we had lunch at a taverna and were served delicious stuffed peppers, cabbage rolls with a meat filling and a fine sauce; tsaziki, fried cheese, and a superb baclava.  below were the plains of Boetia and the slopes of Mt. Parnassus.  The highest point is the village of Arachova, a well-known winter ski resort.  The views of the surrounding mountains are incredible, as they were when we dropped down a bit lower to the Amalia Delphi, sitting at the foot of Mt. Parnassus and providing a panoramic view of the green valley below, all the way to the Gulf of Corinth.  Our hotel was built in the 70s by a Greek architect, Nikos Valsamakis, a truly gifted architect who obviously studied under Saarinen or Mies van der Rohe.  I took tons of pictures of the hotel's simple lines and its eleganct furnishings.  Plan to learn more about Valsamakis in the future.

I was able to do several blogs now that I have Wi-fi, and then we were off on another adventure to Delphi, which the Greeks considered to be the center of the earth.  Divine presence was achieved through the discovery of a rock chasm which exuded strange vapors and reduced everyone to incoherent prophetic murmurings.  For over a thousand years, a steady stream of pilgrims worked their way up the mountain paths to seek divine direction in matters of war, love, business, or worship.  The Pythian priestess would chant her prophesies.  The place was a venue for worship, but by the 5th c. it was in danger of corruption and bias, and it was seized by various successive civilizations.  Eventually it was discovered in the 17th c. and was explored from the 1840s onward.  Real excavation of the site began in 1892 by the French School of Archaeology, and three parts were concentrated on: the Sacred Precinct, the Marmaria, and the Castalian Spring.  We first went to the museum, which exhibited fragments from what is a huge site. Then we walked the Sacred Way, stopping at the Treasury, Temple Terrace, and the Temple of Apollo,  We reached the Amphitheater, where we sat listening to Eleni's lecture on Delphi and gazed at Mt. Parnassus, the stunning valley below, and the setting sun.  Amazing day!  late dinner, and off to Meteora in the morning!