Delphi Bells

We’re back in Athens after a quick visit to Delphi - the Centre of the Earth. We arrived in Delphi in the early afternoon, as we were dragging our suitcases down the narrow street a little guy who looked kind of like a Greek gargoyle invited us into his hotel and offered us a room at a price that we were happy to accept. The room was spacious, had marble floors and a huge balcony with a fabulous view over beautiful valley of olive trees that stretched out for miles. We quickly freshened up and headed to the Temple of Apollo and to the museum, walking all the way up the site to the stadium at the top and then on to the museum. This was Brenda’s third visit to Delphi and she was impressed by how much has been done to bring the museum up to world class standards. The differences at the site were not as profound, the biggest change being that the stadium is now completely roped off and out of bounds; it makes sense to try to preserve the site for future generations, but it was so impressive to have been able to stand in the middle of the stadium rather than just view it from one corner. Robert was suitable impressed with the sense of realism and energy in some of the sculptures and statues, particularly The Charioteer bronze. If you are not familiar with this statue may we suggest that you Google it and have a look. This morning we awoke to the the musical tone of goat bells as the resident herd foraged their way across the hill side beneath our balcony. The second set of bells we heard were from the Greek Orthodox Church reminding us that it was Sunday morning. Shortly after the bells the sounds of the priest singing the liturgy rang out over the village. It was a stunning way to start the day. We had a quick breakfast and then walked over the Temple of Athena, that happens to be just down the hill from Apollo’s sanctuary. Our trip to Delphi was too short - we both just loved everything about the place. Tonight we are turning in early because we’re going to the port first thing in the morning to hopefully catch a ferry to somewhere - details to follow.

Good night from Athens.

R & B