Castalia Hotel Delphi

... very reason. The first part of the tour involved a walk through the excellent museum which contains works in stone, ivory, gold, silver and bronze. The workmanship given the time when they were made is quiet astounding, in particular the silver skin of the life size bull and the bronze charioteer. <br><br>Aspa dragged us around and all the while kept up a commentary which was informative, in-depth and interesting. She seemed to love imparting facts and history ...

... Pick up holy (...!) plastic bag in act of atonement. Lyn walky-talkies me: she is ready. Be there in just over an hour I promise.<br>As I descend, the clouds melt away: perhaps my gestures are acknowledged, after all...<br>Spend rest of afternoon relaxing in campsite - not something we have done much of, lately.<br>Also successfully un-bug laptop, so am able to post this in real time (virtually).<br>

<br>Day 17 We decide to head south too. Even if wet, big city can offer many distractions, we reflect. Get robbed by motorway bandits (in booths!) Bit of a low-point this - not what you expect in Greece. Scarcely seen the sun: but road is very fast and smooth and it does begin to dry out the further we go. Hopes secretly rise... Just after Lamia, turn off to look for memorial to Leonides, heroic Spartan leader of 300 who held off massive army of Xerxes at ...

... give us the latest news and pictures as they see it on TV.<br><br>I try to forget the incident for a couple of minutes, and I take a couple of photos from the round area until we get that phone call telling us that everything is ok.<br><br>Kamena Vourla is a tourist costal area. Both Greeks and foreigners visit it the whole year round. A few kms from this ...

... monies, if you will) erected by the numerous Greek states who had come to the site to seek the advice of the Oracle, all the way up to the impressive Stadion (stadium) built above the town<br>and seating over 6,500 persons, the area was a great example of ancient Greek civilization. A nnatural disaster rarely yields a positive outcome, but if it weren't for an earthquake in the 1890s that destroyed the the town ...

... across a water trough of overlapping stones. We are still astounded at how they did things so very well such a long time ago. We walked back into town, had our dinner and then sat out on the balcony with a Bailey's and watched the sun go down. It is so beautiful and peaceful here. Now we really wished we would have bought everything with us to stay longer and even go on to the next town or two. Oh, well we will save it for the next trip through this area.

... who sat in a tripod bowl and babbled incoherently, and then the priests would translate the prophecy. Theories abound about what actually caused the Pythia's feverish rantings. Chewing laurel leaves? Drinking from a naturally narcotic spring? Breathing hallucinogenic gas seeping up from a fissure below the monument? We don't know. Beyond the Temple of Apollo was a theatre which featured choral singing, double flute, and kithara ...

... Sunday Market in Brussels. Again, misting on and off with pretty strong winds quickly brought my casual day out in Brussels to an end, but I managed to see the main sights and get in a bit of souvenier shopping and antiques browsing before I headed back to bad tv land at my hotel. Of course, the high-light of the day was the near-godliness that I experienced in the form a decadently chocolate-drenched, banana and strawberry covered ...

... and to think back over 25 centuries as to what might have gone on there. One of our number, being in better shape than the rest of us, chose to run the length of the stadium and back, a distance of perhaps 500 or 600 yards. We crowned him with a laurel of olive branches. <br> <br>At the vaulted entrance to the stadium Anitazizi assembled the group and then asked me why there would have been sixteen statues standing along this stretch. I had no clue ...

... answers through a woman, the Apiphia. She would purify her body and enter the naval room. Here she inhaled gases and chewed laurel. When she was in a trance she would utter things. A priest would then interpret what she said. The answers were always vague and could be taken many ways. Many people came with city matters such as policy, war, and about plagues. Themistokles is famous for the oracle given to him about the fate of ...