Kalambaka to Delphi to Olympia

Our tour director Erin is perfect. She is managing the heat wave really well. Her husband is a fire fighter, and he has been recalled from his holiday. The wind is causing wildfires around Athens.

Today is a big drive day. We literally turn around and drive south most of the day. Instead of heading into Athens we will turn east to the peninsula of Peloponnese.

Lunch was special. We ate by the sea for the first time. The dining area is on the boardwalk, but the restaurant is across the road. It was funny watching all the waiters running back and forth dodging traffic with our meals. We ordered octopus and bream. Superb with a drop of complimentary ouzo.

Now we approach Delphi where according to ancient myth, Zeus released two eagles, one from the east, the other from the west, and caused them to fly toward the centre. They met at the future site of Delphi, and the spot was marked by a stone called the omphalos (navel), which was later housed in the Temple of Apollo. We saw it today in the museum. This is why Greeks considered Delphi to be the center of the world. Over many years, several temples were built there to honor Apollo. He was the god of light, poetry and music, and prophecy, or the telling of the future.

Our local guide explains her grandparents lived here in 1892 in a village called Castro, which the government relocated nearby to allow for the excavation of the site of ancient Delphi. She said the people of Castro knew that below them were ancient relics, but they didn’t realize it was the Temple of Apollo. They didn’t say anything because they were farmers and didn’t want to lose their land.

The museum gave us some welcome relief from the heat. We particularly enjoyed the 4th and 5th centuries BC statues that even had old photographs of where they were discovered in 1892.

We went up to the archaeological site but none of us were game to go all the way to the theatre at the top of the hill.

Some of the artifacts are so old and in such good condition.

On our drive today there were field after field of olive trees, which many are 2000 years old. Greece really grows a wide variety of crops.

Tonight, we finish in Archaic Olympic. Erin has told us this is the best hotel of the week.Read more