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A trip to Delphi
Sea: Flat
Weather: Hot … 27C rising to 36C when returned to ship (high 30s whilst in Delphi)
Too early for the main dining room breakfast this morning so no choice but to brave the Buffet. It was surprisingly quiet and a much nicer experience when not so many people around!!
Our tour was scheduled to leave at 7.30am so headed down a little before this. However, as the captain hadn’t made his welcome ashore announcement, security told us to go back and wait on Deck 5.
The ship was cleared about 10 minutes later and we headed onto the dock to find our coach.
There were just nine of us booked on the Delphi tour … a very small group experience with a 52 seater coach. Mika was our guide and Andreas our driver.
Delphi was about 2.5 hours away from Pireaus. The first hour was motorway then we hit the provincial roads. Mount Parnassus eventually loomed large ahead .. and had snow atop. Over winter, this mountain becomes a ski resort.
Delphi was on the southern slopes of Mount Parnassus. We arrived about 10am and temperatures were already 33C. Mika brought us slowly up the path towards the Temple of Apollo and explaining the various ruins as we walked by. She had a knack of finding us some shade to stand in when there was very little about.
This was a trip Jon REALLY want to do – he was the Delphi Product Manager whilst he worked for Borland and this was a pilgramage he wanted to make. He even dug out the old product artwork and t-shirt to bring along!
Once we’d reached the temple, we were left to explore on our own for 40 mins. We walked up to the theatre but decided not to continue up to see the stadium. It was really too hot. The meeting point was outside the museum. Inside the museum were statues, sections of freezes and artifacts excavated from the site. How intact a lot of the exhibits were (especially the charioteer) was amazing. It also provided a little respite from the heat outside – it was air conditioned!
We had a late lunch at a hotel 10 mins drive away and we had the place to ourselves. The meal was a traditional Greek spread and delicious. First off toasted bread with tzatziki, then a slice of spinich/feta in filo pastry and a cheese bake. This was followed by a Greek salad. Then we has a choice of Chicken Kleftiko or Lamb Stew. Finally, some melon – even Callum tried a couple of pieces.
After lunch, it was time to head back to the ship. Most of us took advantage and had a snooze!
Really pleased we did the trip to Delphi but it was a shame we didn’t get to explore any of the sites in Athens.
Back onboard and we watched the sailaway from Pireaus from one of the upper decks.
Brodies for the Newcastle match. It was packed. We eventually got some seats with a clear view of the screen.
It was amazing how many people came in and stood in in front of people watching the match!
It wasn’t long before Man City scored … I decided to head back up to the cabin to carry on reading and Jon and Callum followed at half time.
I started a new book – a “Cosy Crime” novel called The Charity Shop Detectives … just wanted something light to read that I didn’t have to really concentrate on.
It had been a long day and more exploring tomorrow as we were off on a trip to Ephesus bright and early in the morning.
