FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX: Drive To Delphi

We relished our sleep-in after 2 big days of walks. Next on the agenda was Delphi, home of the sanctuary dedicated to Apollo and the famous Oracle of Delphi. The town itself was pretty, perched on the slopes of Mount Parnassus, and offered amazing views of the Delphi Valley below and the Gulf of Corinth in the distance.

The drive itself was uneventful and we checked into Hotel Nidimos at around lunchtime. Fortunately the hotel had some (albeit limited) onsite parking, and we managed to snag one of the squishy spots. The main road of the town was tight and it was rather scary watching big buses manoeuvre their way through...

Beautiful views from Delphi. The body of water visible is the Corinthian Gulf, and the carpet of green are olive trees!

Our hotel

Similar to our other hotels, compact and clean

Really, really small bathroom

Free welcome drink! Cheers! View from our balcony

After a delightful lunch across the road from the hotel, we sought respite from the heat in the comfort of our air conditioned room. At 3:30pm, we set off towards the archaeological site. We had to cover the "secondary" archaeological sites of Delphi, namely the Tholos of Delphi at the sanctuary of Athena Pronea, the Castalian Spring and the ancient gymnasium. The last was closed due to recent landslides so we were left with only 2! It was hard going, despite being high in altitude the heat was no less intense.

Dinner was at Vakhos restaurant, a family taverna recommended by George, our guide for tomorrow. Once again, dinner came with a view. For the foodies, Delphi has its own olive - big and dark. There are strict laws forbidding the beautiful valley from any other use besides the growth of olives. Some of the olive trees are over 1000 years old! They are so proud of their olives that they hardly even use them for olive oil. We tried them and...sorry Delphi, kalamata olives are better. (Don't worry, we have already left)