The Temple of Delphi

Today we had a day trip planned to Delphi. After rooftop breakfast in our hotel, we walked to the Amalia Hotel Athens to meet our bus. We made our way out of town with a guided tour from our bus driver, stopping at a rest stop along the way for drinks and snacks before arriving at Delphi. We arrived at the site and our tour guide got into a disagreement with another tour full of students and the ticket agent. The student group leader had not distributed her tickets to her students and our guide had so we were ready to pass in but the other guide held up the line as she passed out tickets one at a time. Eventually we got in but our guide had to yell in Greek several times for the student group to move over to allow us to pass or to stop yelling loudly.

We walked along the Sacred Way, the pathway that leads to the Temple of Apollo with our guide stopping along the way to explain the votive offerings and the various treasure houses where the wealth of the various Houses of Athens was stored.

Altar of Apollo

We continued our climb along the Sacred Way to the Altar of Apollo and the Magistrates' House.

Serpent Column

The Serpent Column is an ancient bronze column originally at Delphi but later moved by the Turks to Constantinople. The coils of the column have an inscription of the Greek city states who fought in the Persian War. A replica of the column was placed at Delphi.

Entrance to the Temple

Our guide had us stop for a rest at the Entrance to the temple, with its unique ramp feature which is more common in Peloponesian temples, which is a sign Delphi's architect was likely from that area.

Offering to Crateros

Crateros was a friend and general of Alexander the Great. The offering would have featured the lion hunt where Crateros saved the general's life.

Temple of Apollo

We reached the Apollonion, the Temple of Apollo, built in the 4th century BCE. During antiquity, the temple was home to the Greek prophet Pythia, the Oracle of Delphi.

Theater of Delphi

Our guide gave us free time and we climbed the path above the temple to the Theater of Delphi, built in the 4th century BCE and could seat up to 5000 spectators.

Walking Down

The ladies posed for some photos on top of the hill before we made the walk down to the entrance and over to the museum to meet up again with our guide.

Museum

We met our guide again outside the museum and he took us in for a guided tour. The museum was interesting but we spent far too much time in there as our guide talked far too long about each artifact.

Lunch

We boarded the bus for our ride to lunch at the nearby Hotel Amalia Delphi. The hotel boasted great views of the valley, but unfortunately the lunch was not very good as the chicken was extremely dry. We wondered if we had arrived later than expected due to the long time spent at the museum, and as a result the food was overcooked.

Arachova

Our bus stopped in the town of Arachova where we had a chance to use the bathrooms and grab some drinks before beginning the long bus ride back to Athens. After arriving back in town, we stopped at Alexander's bar for some drinks and Greco's for a late night Greek meal before returning to our hotel.

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