hello! yesterday evening we arrived in delphi after a few setbacks from karpenisi. we only travelled three hours from karpenisi, but waited and such for so long that it took us 12 hours to make it to delphi. once we arrived, we discovered that EVERY SINGLE ROOM (and im not kidding) was full in delphi. turns out this weekend a bunch of greek universities convened in delphi for reasons unknown. mon and i have been two of approximately 4 tourists in all the towns we've been to in greece so far so of course we didnt make a room reservation. on the bus we met four brazilian students studying in athens and we wandered around delphi in the rain together with no luck. a really nice hotel owner called all around town and found some rooms in a hotel in the village of chrissa 3km away. he then called two taxis for us. the place we stayed was actually really nice and chrissa was very quaint and charming with lots of white christmas lights on the trees around the village square. as we were walking down to our rooms with full luggage, i fell into a driveway crevasse. we are still unclear as to the purpose of such an invention, but i stepped perfectly in the crevasse, the toe of my shoe folded up and i fell in, spilling my large pack, daypack and treasure bag (bag of gifts) onto the driveway and they rolled down the hill. it was about up to my knees so i now have bloody, swollen, bruised knees and nearly ripped pants. at least it wasnt deeper!
this morning, we didnt want to call taxis again because they were expensive and the hotel lady said a bus came at 9 so we went out infront of the hotel to wait. we tried hitching up to delphi, but not a soul drove by. at about 9:45 the hotel lady came back out and said oh sorry the bus is at 11. boooooo. one of the brazilians, feeling particularly intrepid, went to talk to the hotel staff about the situation and a two-door hatchback was produced to take us up the hill. after trying to fit three bags in the bag we realized that all our stuff + 6 people + a driver would not make it. the hotel lady's grandfather fired up his old flat bed, we hopped in the back and away we went rolling around with a few sticks, rusty chains, and sheep poop in the bed. we made it safe and sound and were able to find a really nice hotel for a good price in delphi. we then wandered around the ruins of the oracle of delphi (a board with the statement "know thyself" was placed above the entrance of a temple there, hence my story title). the oracle ruins consist of several treasuries for cities that donated to the oracle and the famous temple of apollo, along with a roman theater and a stadium. the temple was originally built in the 500s BC but destroyed by a fire (it was made out of stone tho...) and rebuilt only to be squished in a rockslide in the 300s BC. six columns and the foundation remains. the oracle used to be consulted for any and all political and military decisions. this changed, however, with the roman conquest and it fell into decline. not a ton remains of the treasuries, but the athenian one is still intact and is basically a square building with some columns infront. the setting for these ruins is spectacular! rocky mountains rising above and to one side with cyprus and olive trees growing inbetween the ruins. infront of it the valley opens to olive groves and out to the sea. very beautiful! we also visited a temple to athena, but only three columns were left of that. after exploring the ruins for a few hours, we went to the archaelogical museum where artefacts were displayed from various 19th and early-20th century excavations. it was one of the best museums we've been to. lots of bronze figurines and one creepily realistic life-size bronze chariot driver. there were also a number of reliefs from the temple of apollo in incredible detail depicting various bloody battles and what not and lots of marble statues carved in stunningly realistic detail. after the museum the brazilians had to catch a bus back to athens, so mon and i wandered the town for a bit and then went to dinner. a thunderstorm just broke out here and was turning the sky purple with lighting and shaking the windows with thunder. delphi is really cool and is definitely a trip highlight for both of us! i would recommend all of you come here if you are in greece!
tomorrow we head to athens via bus and are likely to head straight for the airport considering that museums and sites in the city are closed. my flight leaves at 1:30pm on the 16th for heathrow so i will be spending awhile there, but they have free internet, cushy couches, and i have my book.
