Delphi, Greece
Seven-thirty in the morning, and I dared a quick look at Mountain Parnassos, praying for a beautiful day. The truth is that I have been working as a guide for more than 10 years, and I have noticed that it rarely rains in Delphi. It must be the presence of Apollo, the god of light for the ancient Greeks. It seemed to be clearing and the clouds were not that threatening! We started our tour at 8:15, and drove through the Amphissa Plain, admiring the beautiful olive trees, heavy with fruit. Some of the farmers were getting ready for the harvest of the olives, by setting their nets on the ground under the olive trees.
We reached Delphi driving up the windy roads, and the views became more breathtaking the higher we climbed the southern slope of the impressive mountain. The site was crowded, exactly the way it would have been in the ancient times by all the pilgrims. We saw the training center for the athletes for the Pythian Games, and Castalia Spring, and then started our “pilgrimage” on the Sacred Way. Delphi was green and lush again, after the first autumn rains and the song of the rock nuthatches was welcoming us. I think that it is interesting to consider that sounds we find so attractive and refreshing would have been so common to the ancient Greeks (all those birds would be present in the ancient site)!
Following the other groups, we respectfully walked along the Sacred Way to the Temple, passing by the treasuries, the stoas and the pedestals of the ancient statues. The sky was blue by that time, and the sun was warming us after all those cloudy days. The courageous ones climbed all the way to the Stadium and the rest started slowly on the way down.
The museum was our next stop. We studied the art of the 6th century BC, focusing on the Sifnian Treasury and the unique remains of the clay elephantine statues of Apollo, Artemis and Leto. We tried to think about the ancient Greek music looking at the hymns dedicated to Apollo and paid our respects to my favorites! The amazing statue of Agias that really moves forward, the attractive Antinoos, a melancholic young Roman aristocrat, and the most photographed Charioteer, gazing at us with such gentleness and sensitivity.
The light of Delphi embraced us on the way out, and we drove through the sparkling (this time) olive grove back to our ship. Our next adventure, after an olive oil tasting, was the crossing of the Canal of Corinth on the way to our final destinations, Athens.
