6th and 7th May 2017
Yesterday we woke early at our wildcamping spot in the car park of the Osios Loukas monastery, after a very peaceful night. Our intention was to get to Delphi before most of the coach crowds.
The journey was a simple 20 miles or so, but was almost immediately enlivened when, on a long straight, we saw what looked like an accident, with several cars stopped, but none of them near each other. It didn’t seem like a typical car crash and indeed it wasn’t.
First we came across a car with a heavily damaged front end, which puzzled me because there were no other cars that appeared to have suffered damage. The driver and passenger were unhurt. Then 50 metres or so further on all became clear. Lying in the road, clearly dead, was a huge wild boar. I’ve never seen one in the wild before, dead or alive, and it looked massive. No wonder it had caused so much damage. We were not sure whether the other assorted cars and pick up trucks which had stopped, had done so to help the driver or grab the corpse!
It made me aware of the damage a wild animal can do to a vehicle and when we get to Scandinavia, moose are a real danger to both vehicle and potentially life.
The rest of the drive to Delphi was uneventful. As we got closer we passed through a number of villages and a town advertising snowboarding and skiing. This was most incongruous as the outside temperature was already well into the 20s. But the Greeks built Delphi in a spectacular location on the slopes of Mount Parnassus, which is over 8,000 feet high and a ski resort in the winter!
The location of Delphi, on a steep slope also meant parking is at a premium, but we were early enough to stick Basil in a prime location. Sarah took the first turn to babysit the dogs while I went into the ancient site.
Athenian Treasury
Another UNESCO World Heritage Site, the ancient Greeks believed Delphi to the literal centre of the world. It was famous for it’s four yearly games, like Olympia, but much more for its Oracle. There is evidence that a famous Oracle was located here as far back as 1400 BC, but from about 500 BC onwards the Temple of Apollo housed the Greek world’s most important Oracle. The Oracle or Sybyl was selected from uneducated local women and housed in the Temple, where she was consulted for prophesies by all the great Greek city states on important topics of the day. She apparently inhaled a “vapour” and then spoke in tongues. Her indecipherable utterings were “interpreted” and conveyed in verse by a priest.
Temple of Apollo
This was all taken very seriously and big decisions on such matters as wars were dependent upon the prophesies. It also made Delphi extremely rich as tributes were paid to the city for these prophesies. It is thought that Delphi had a large number of advisers spread around the ancient world which made Delphi the best informed Greek city on matters of politics in the Greek world, so the prophesies were not based on the rantings of an illiterate old woman, but were in fact highly informed decisions based on the best evidence available.
Delphi’s influence began to slip when Oracle failed to back the right side in the Greek Persian wars; waned further with the arrival of the Romans; and finally effectively lost all power with the official adoption of Christianity by the Romans.
Theatre
The site itself stretches up a steep slope with almost the entire site in ruins. Some buildings have been able to be reconstructed because the stone blocks were covered in writing and so it was possible to fit them back together. The Athenian Treasury is the most complete building, which would have been one of many built as tributes by various states who had received a favourable augury.
Remains of Spartan Monument
The Temple of Apollo has had a few columns resurrected and Sarah, who made it to the stadium at the top of the site, said the stadium is very complete and worth the climb.
Sarah and I swapped and I sat with the dogs at the museum cafe as gradually more and more coach parties arrived. Mabel and Melek were star turns. I have never had my picture taken or been engaged in conversation by more people than in that hour. English speaking people from all sorts of nations wanted to know about the dogs and asked to pet them and/or take their photo. I felt like a minor celebrity, but I know I was just the bit part player to the dogs!
Finally, when Sarah returned, I went into the museum. It had a few impressive pieces, in particular a life size bronze statue of a charioteer, which would originally have been complete with chariot and horses! When it was found it was the only life size bronze to have survived from the Greek era, because it had been buried in an earthquake. All the others have been melted down by succeeding cultures. There are now at least two others, which were found undersea a few years ago elsewhere in Greece.
Charioteer
There are also a few friezes from the various building, but many are not very complete. Anyone who has seen the Elgin Marbles in the British Museum would not be greatly impressed, but at least these are in Greece!
Having finished at Delphi we drove only a few miles to Camping Chrissa. The campsite was virtually empty and we chose a large pitch with a great view over the surrounding countryside and in the distance the sea and snow topped mountains. At €15 a night, including fast wifi and a lovely little swimming pool, it is one of the best sites we have been on.
We tried the site restaurant last night. It had a small menu, which always a good sign, and the food was excellent. For desert we were given, free, local quinces preserved in sugar syrup. It is the first time I have tried quinces, but unfortunately the taste was dominated by the syrup.
Sarah has been for a swim on both days and I have been doing more planning, to see what progress we have to make to get to the north of Norway by mid to late July. Norway is intended to be the second highlight of this trip, the Peloponnese being the first, and we would like to get there in time to give us four to six weeks in the country with summer weather.
I have also had my birding lens out with much more success. I have got, what I think is, a really good shot of a Greenfinch and decent photos of a Goldfinch and Chaffinch.
Greefinch
Goldfinch
Chaffinch
Tomorrow we are heading back to the coast for a day or two.