Greece – Delphi
July 13 Day One – Delphi
Our next and final stop for the day was Deplhi. It was situated on top of a hill overlooking a valley cradled by majestic mountains. Our room had a great view from the terrace, especially with the afterglow of sunset leaving behind a purplish hue backdrop for the mountains.
Caught up with some of the girls for dinner. Great view of the mountains!
After dinner we then bought some drinks, invited them to crash our room. We played cards, got told off by reception for the noise, continued more quietly, but still had so much fun! Wish we had this earlier in the trip – good to have fun and bond with fellow tour mates!
July 14 Day Two – Deplhi
This was the latest start we had for the whole tour. The Cowboy and I didn’t get up8 AMll 8AM, got ready, grabbed brekkie and still had enough time to spare and so did our walkabout of the area.
There were two or three levels of parallel streets that make up Delphi the town. Very quaint and quiet.
We all congregated at 10:30AM. The bus took us to the archaeological site of Delphi. First, we had our guide walk us through the museum. Next, we then all walked to the open site or archaeological site where we saw the ruins of Temple of Apollo, the amphitheatre and ancient stadium. The Oracle of Deplhi performed their prophechies on the 2nd of each month at the Temple. There was a “navel” statue which signifies that was where the center of the earth is located. They also found a fissure that emits hallucinogenic gas, which puts the Pythias (or Oracles) into a trance. Finally, they found spring water in the area. These were the reasons why Delphi was chosen as the place for the Oracle.
The Cowboy and I rushed to get to the stadium – I didn’t realize we still had to check that one out. We were a few minutes late by the time we got back to the bus. We then headed off to the Temple of Athena. It actually looked more “photogenic” than the Temple of Apollo.
Athens was only a couple of hours away. It was only traffic near the city that slowed us down a bit.
The Breeze Boutique Hotel was very new. Naya said it was only opened 4 months ago. It’s very nice.
We all met up after 45 minutes from check-in and Naya gave us a mini-walking tour. I’ve seen it all before, pretty much, just without a guide’s commentary. Athens was a place I never imagined I would come back to. If that’s what it took to see Delphi and Meteora, I was totally ok with that! Totally worth it.
Naya took us to one of the nicest restaurants alleys in Athens, with a view of the Acropolis. We didn’t get to have dinner with that view though, but we were entertained with traditional Greek music and dance. On our way back to the hotel, we could hear Zorba the Greek being played by restaurants.
We had to say goodbye to our travel talkers today. Stayed up later to do my online check-ins for Warsaw and for Tallinn.
July 15 Bye Bye Athens
I had to get up very early, around 5:40AM. Got out of the hotel at almost 6:30AM. The Cowboy accompanied me to the station. Ticket to the airport was 10Euros. I had to take the line to Syntygma, alighting after two stops, then from Syntygma, it was around 45 minutes straight to the airport. Pretty easy.
I had some time to check-in at the business lounge. Really maxing my Priority Pass on this travel.
