Ralph and Karen's Tours

Athens to Delphi – An Ancient History Master Class

After the pressure cooker oven conditions of Dubai, it was an absolute pleasure to get on the Emirates flight bound for Athens for this enjoyable 4 1/2 hour flight.

We’d done quite a bit of research about the best way to approach this road trip, and who knows if we have got it right? We wanted a mix of relaxation, beach side experiences, food, drink, and a good solid mix of Ancient History recap.

To cover everything we wanted to do, we would need three months, so to cram that into three weeks was a challenge. We had to give and take, compromise, cut things out and identify the things that were really important to US. I think I won…….

We arrived in Athens nice and fresh, and collected our chariot for the next few weeks. A brand new Toyota something or other with 4Kms on the clock..oh ohhhhh…..

We had the confidence in our Sat Nav girl (whose name is Karen) from previous trips to bring her with us again. Let’s hope she doesn’t let us down, or out the window both Karen’s will go…

Our destination for our first night was the historically significant village of Delphi – Delfi, Delfoi, Delfinus take your pick. Anyway, it’s about a 2 1/2 hour drive north west of Athens up into the hilly region of the northern mainland.

The drive was a breeze….basically from the Airport onto a motorway and off we went. Some of these motorways are seven lanes wide, and traffic flows beautifully. The speed limit varies unpredictably from 120kmh to 70kmh with generally no rhyme nor reason. And the 120kmh signs are purely for decoration.. NO ONE does 120kmh….even in the 70kmh zones.

A few toll booths along the way and it’s humans collecting money – that’s great because it gives them jobs, which in Greece’s current financial situation is fantastic. Tolls varied from €1.50 to €3.50 and worth every cent.

The toll operators are very friendly, and I got a great start to using my limited Greek language skills – other than every Greek swear word imaginable that I learned growing up in Newtown. Yassas, Yia Sou, efcharisto, parakalo, kalimeras……were all falling out of my mouth spontaneously. Now, whether they were issued in the right context……Karen laughing regularly suggests it may have been a bit random. Oh well – live and learn eh?

The landscape and geography changed remarkably in the short drive. Immediately north of Athens is a heavy industrial belt, which slowly changes into agricultural land with many green houses dotted around the countryside.

Further along as we started our climb into the mountains, those green houses disappeared and full blown farming dotted the landscape. Everything from the expected olive farms, to fruits, all kind of veges and some cattle/sheep took up every inch of available land. Vineyards similarly were everywhere. It’s gorgeous.

About 90 minutes in, we commenced the climb up into the “Greek Alps”. I’d read about this and was fascinated to see a genuine alpine culture in the area around Mount Parnassus. The road was steep, narrows windy and awesome fun to drive. Through tiny villages that had roads only wide enough for one car at a time.

The village/town of Parnassus is the access point to their major ski resort of the same name. It looks brilliant. They get on average 3m of snow a year, which is above Australian averages, but well below other European or North American resorts. We genuinely want to return in the winter to hang out here. How good would that be? Last run of the day and the slowest skier has to buy beers and gyros?

The historical and archeological beauty of Delphi (spell it however you want) is just down the road from Parnassus. It has two streets – one heading west and the other heading east. That’s it. Both one way thoroughfares and just wide enough for one car to travel through.

We found our apartment, which was right in the middle of the Main Street heading east, and met our hosts – the lovely George (of course) and his wife blah blah blah (whe never did understand what her name was).

We settled in with some cleansing ales which is only right, and headed across the road to one of his mates restaurants (of course) which had a balcony with the most amazing view down over the Delphi valley, looking out toward the Gulf of Corinth. Oh my stars. Amaze balls.

Some icy cold Mythos beers, a jug of house red wine, some olives, dips, fresh bread, souvlaki, baked and stuffed tomatoes, Greek salad with a slab of feta cheese lying on top and away we go – HELLO Greece !

We got to the restaurant around 8pm, and sat mesmerised until sunset at around 9.30pm looking the surrounding villages in the valley coming to life. Can’t be much better than this, surely?

This area is one of the most significant in Ancient historical times. It was the home to the legendary “Oracle of Delphi”, the Temple of Apollo dating back to the 4th Century BC, the sanctuary of Athena and was where the Oracle consulted on important decisions to affect the modern world. Greeks considered Delphi to be the “navel” or centre of the world such was the significance of the region.

There is too much to write about this place. I’ve become obsessed with it over the years, so……”just google it”.

The archeological site is approximately 800m from the village and is beautifully preserved thanks to its UNESCO ranking. We got up and out early’ish and were onsite by 9am ready to beat the day tripper crowds from Athens as well as the heat of the middle of the day. It was warm, but nothing like the hell of Dubai a couple of days ago.

We paid our €12 which is about eighteen Aussie dollars and set off into this amazing place. He climb up the side of the mountain is steady, without being insanely steep. First sites were the Treasury Buildings, which have been preserved beautifully. Each site has a great explanation of what you’re looking at, which makes it so much more enjoyable.

The Temple of Apollo sits at the edge of a slight incline into the mountain and the remnants overlooking the valley below are just breathtaking. To see how this looked originally in drawings is unbelievable. Six porous columns of 18m in height across, and 15 in depth. The surrounds of the Temple were clad in marble, transported by boat from the island of Paros – a massive achievement in its self.

This is where Old Mate Oracle held court, and Mate friends and enemies.

Further up the track is the amphitheatre, which looks as though it could still be used today. At the highest point of the site is the Stadium, where feats of athletic excellence were tested regularly. This was the pre- cursor to the Modern Olympic Games, and the pentathlon was first battled for on this turf. The site is again, ridiculously looked after, with the detail of the track, seating, entrances and judges areas all as clear as day.

Sensational.

The views down over the valley toward the Corinthian Gulf are just awe inspiring. There is no development in the valley at all, so you are seeing it now, as they were seeing it thousands of years ago.

We took our time heading back down the mountain, taking it all in but also careful not to fall “A over T” down the steep slope.

At the foot of the site is a very well manicured museum, which houses original artefacts too valuable to be left out in the open. Three hours passed in five minutes. What a magical day.

Old mate George from our accommodation suggested we head over to a place on the banks of the Corinth Gulf, that is not often explored (I bet he says that to all the girls and boys) called Galaxidi. It’s about 35kms down into the foot of the valley, down some of the hairiest roads I’ve driven across to the other side of the lake.

I’m so glad he suggested it. It is such a beautiful spot, that we’d never heard of, nor would have even thought of visiting. It’s an ancient shipping port, that has only had road access for a hundred years or so. A lot of the Ancient Greek vessels were built here and it has a significant role in greek naval history. It’s beautiful.

A lovely harbour dotted with all kinds of boats, with taverna and local produce shops all along the water front. We had to have lunch in one of the taverna that advertised “Eat fish fresh from my boat”. How can you refuse that?

So – grilled octopus, sardines and taramasalata dip were inhaled with some beers and wine, of course. And it was fresh and beautiful.

We drove around the other side of the bay and found a deserted beach to have a quick swim to cool off, just as a storm was approaching. What a great day.

Back to Delphi, and some rest time before…….dinner at one of George’s mates restaurants (of course) with even better views of the valley than the night before. Slow cooked local lamb in lemon sauce, stuffed cabbage leaves, local beer and wine – Yammas!!

Delphi has won my heart.

We leave the Greek Mainland tomorrow, with a drive down into the northernmost tip of the Peloponnese across to Kyllini from where we catch a ferry across to the beautiful island of Zakynthos…..

To check out more of our pics from Delphi click on this link

Stay tuned.