A Day Trip to Delphi, Greece – Europe Travels September 2022

Greece is a country that has so much to see and do, depending on how much time you have and what you are interested in. Much of what looked interesting took more time than we had available to step outside of Athens, which was just one day. Delphi sounded doable, so off we went.

By now, I was looking only for “small group tours” and found it with Get Your Guide. We were very surprised, getting in the van, that it was just going to be us and one other couple for the day. They were a young couple from Dallas and by the end of the day we were friends. Our guide, Soteri, was smart and funny and ran a patter of information and conversation all day.

We stopped off for pictures with a view of Arachova, which is another great destination, but not today for us.

Soteri offered to take pictures of us at the scenic view, and ended up taking a selfie with my phone.

The visit to ancient Delphi began with a visit to the Temple of Athena, which was a major rest stop to the the city in those days. It was a “familiar, welcoming, and peaceful place” (according to the board) after making the arduous journey from all over Greece.

I’d been taking so many pictures of the cats I’d seen everywhere, so I had to take one of this dog that I saw at the temple.

So what’s the big deal about Delphi? Well, it was considered the center, the navel, of the world as far back the eighth century BC. Here, in this sacred place, the god Apollo gave oracles to the people through a priestess named Pythia. People traveled from all over the ancient world to give offerings and receive their oracle, generally an ambiguous sort of prophecy about their future. Of course, Pythia was human, so she wielded great power. She was highly regarded, educated, mysterious, and had to reliquish all family duties when chosen.

We started out at the museum. Soteri turned us over to another guide, Georgia, and she walked us through it, telling us so many things that I would not have known if I was just walking through. Then we were outside again, and just like the ancient peoples, we were walking on the way up to the Temple of Apollo to see Pythia.

Originally, the way was lined with statues, such as this one that we’d seen in the museum.

It was not enough just to go to the temple and seek Apollo’s counsel through the priestess Pythia. The people needed to bring offerings, too. It was difficult to travel with elaborate offerings, so each city-state had a treasury. This one belonged to Athens:

Finally, we were at the ruins of the Temple of Apollo and the place where Pythia was consulted.

It’s a beautiful spot, and I’m standing there at the entrance of the temple at the top of this blog. The picture below shows the building, and one of these rooms would have been Pythia’s.

Georgia was so knowledgeable about ancient Greece. She told us that in high school, which is five years, they are required to study Ancient Greek. This includes reading classic literature and studying the culture. She said that at first she wasn’t thrilled, but then it became interesting to see how different aspects of what she was learning fit together. Georgia left us here, but we were on our own to walk higher to visit Delphi’s amphitheater-

and admire the pretty view. Cypress trees dotted the landscape as far as the eye could see. Stopping here was also a good excuse to catch my breath.

Finally, at the top, a stadium, which is the best preserved ancient stadium in Greece. There were track and field events held here, as well as musical contests. There is room for 6,500 spectators.

I wanted a time machine so that I could sit here among the ancient Greeks and watch a contest.

It was already almost three o’clock and we hadn’t had a chance to stop for lunch, so Soteri took us in to modern Delphi to an excellent restaurant with traditional Greek cuisine. We dined with our new friends from Dallas but Soteri declined to join us. I guess he needed his break time.

We greatly enjoyed this journey back in time and the beautiful scenery along the entire way was a bonus. I’ll sign off on this blog with a couple of pictures from near our restaurant.

Next time – off to the Greek Islands