The Oracle!

Monday morning we dropped our stuff at the hostel and ate breakfast. Then we took the bus to Delphi. Buses in Greece are strange. You don’t always pay as you board. In many cases, we picked up a person along the route who came down the aisle to take our tickets or money. You could be practically at your destination before you actually paid a dime. The ruins of Delphi were built into a steep hill. Built in the 6^th-century, the Temple of Apollo was a pilgrimage site. People went to consult the oracle, a middle-aged virgin, who sat there. The temple and the rest of the site was built on Mt. Parnassos and has views of the Gulf of Corinth. The temple was in ruins, but the floor was still visible, which was unique. Many times the columns are still standing, but nothing else. There were other structures on the grounds – lots of walls and some columns. Up the hill we came across the theater and the stadium. We’re not sure what kind of games or matches were held at the stadium, possibly running races. It was all the way up the hill, so it wouldn’t have been used for cart races. There was another ruin site across the street (and down the hill from this area). We checked that out then went to the site museum. The museum’s building was new and it housed statues and pieces of buildings on the site.

Afterward, we tried to find food for lunch. There was one small “supermarket” with bad lighting and practically no food. I bought stuffed vine leaves and chocolate to eat. Back in Athens, we were shown to our own room again! This was nice because we had to do some laundry before heading to Italy the next morning.