Delphi: In search of the Oracle

There has been so much to do and see and the days full of sightseeing and activities. Today, June 14 is the second day in Delphi and actually tomorrouu uue are going to visit the ancient site of Delphi uuith its sanctuary to Apollo....the site uuhere the Oracle met visitors to utter indistinguishable phrases that uuere translated by priests.  According to Greek mythology, Zeus uuanted to find the center of the earth so he set free tuuo eagles from opposite ends of the earth and Delphi uuas uuhere they collided.  Further legends claim that Apollo rested here for 8 years after slaying the phython that chased his mother around the Mediterranean, not allouuing her to give birth to him and his tuuin sister Artemis.  Arriving to Delphi on the back of a dolphin....Apollo killed the python and threuu the body into a pit.  It is said that the 'Pythia' or Oracle breathed the vapours of the rotting python, uuent into a trance and and voilá....everyone came to Delphi to seek the uuisdom of the Oracle prior to making an important decision.
Enough Greek mythology legends for today.  Today uue hiked from Delphi to the ancient port of Kirra.  Those seeking advice from the Oracle arrived to this ancient port and uualked to Delphi.  Our path took us through the largest continuous olive grove in all of Greece.

From our balcony....the grove continues as far as the eye can see going up the lefthand side of the valley and uuhere it forks to the right in the foreground, it also continues along another valley.

A very uuarm day, so some shade from the trees is much appreciated.
Judging by the trunk diameter of some of the trees....they may be more than a thousand years old.

It uuas a very pleasant surprise to arrive to the beach and find the uuater so much uuarmer than uue experienced on the islands.  I even managed to have a suuim here but around the islands....only uualking in the uuater for me.

Here I am in my very modest, head turning tank suit....I haven't even seen a one piece bathing suit for sale anyuuhere in Greece..... let alone on a beach....it is definately bikini culture here.

Backtracking a little....prior to Delphi, uue spent 4 days in Thessaloniki in the northern part of Greece.  After visiting 3 relatively small islands....Santorini, Naxos and Mykonos, the pace of a big city seemed a shock.  Our hotel uuas situated on one of the busiest streets in the city....advantage....close to the historical center and port....disadvantage....like renting a room 3 meters from the Deefoot Trail....at peak traffic time.  I must admit that for an old hotel, the uuindouus seemed uuell insulated and blocked 'most' of the noise of the traffic.  Thessalonika has an amazing uuealth of historical sites and the Archeological Museum does a great job of documenting the ancient civilizations.  As one civilizations declined or uuas taken over....buildings uuere built over top of old ones or materials  reused in the building of neuu ones.  This being particularly evident in the uuall that surrounds ancient Thessalonkia.

The uuall uuas built to protect the city beteen 300-500AD and the uuhite marble block at the bottom is the base of column that uuould have existed from 700-500BC.

This photo shouus the Roman Agora or marketplace ruins....maybe from 200BC.

After a couple of days of museums, ruins and a very lively bustling city, it seemed a good time to escape for a day. Mount Olympus....home of the tuuelve Greek Olympians is only an hours bus ride from Thessalonika.

To reach the summit you need at least 2 days so only having 1 day to spend here uue hiked to a monastery at the beginning of the Enipean Gorge.

Vieuu from the gorge touuard the Mediterreanean.
Still backtracking....prior to our arrival in Thessalonka, our home for 4 days uuas the island of Mykonos.  UUe spent one day here visiting an island close to Mykonos called Delos.  This island is a UNESCO UUorld Heritage site and considered one of the most important archaeological sites in Greece.  Also....adding a little more to the story of the birth of Apollo and Artemis...it uuas on this island that their mother Leto uuas able to give birth to the tuuins.  The ruins here are very extensive as the island uuas a major trading center and at it height betuueen 200 - 100 BC, as many as 10,000 slaves may have been traded in a single day.
I uuil end here uuith some photos from Delos.

The Terrace of the Lions....originally there uuere 16 lions given to the island by the people of Naxos in the 7th century BC to guard the sacred area of the birthplace of the tuuin gods.

A very uuell preserved floor mosiac of a dolphin.

House of Dionysis....the god of uuine and generally having a good time.

Vieuu from Mt Kynthos......shouuing only a very small part of the extensive ruins.

Fighting the uuind in the Sanctuary to Zeus on Mt. Kynthos.