Pan Hotel Delphi

... It could seat 5,000 people. It was cool to see this theater and know that in a couple of days we were going to see the ultimate Greek theater (larger and best-preserved) in Epidavros.

Another ten minute walk up the mountain was the stadium. Every four years, athletes and spectators from across Greece gathered here to watch the Pythian Games. These games were founded around 582 B.C. and had the same kind of sports as the Olympics. The stadium is really well-preserved ...

... because the official train website gave us a completely different time and we’d been counting on it.

We knew we had to bus to catch from Lamia to Delphi that wasn’t supposed to depart until 7pm, and it was only 3:30pm when all this was happening. So at the next train stop, we hopped off and asked the train station worker when the next train to Lamia was (going in the exact opposite direction we had just been traveling). She said in ten ...

... left standing. Ewe found out that Greek pillars are fluted and that Roman pillars are not. Engraved on individual tablets of rock made up into a wall at one part of the site were the slaves' stories celebrating when they became free men. The engraved printing made on the rocks was tiny and yet very accurate and neat and the stones were interlinked without any cementing, both tasks of impressive craftsmanship.
On the return trip to Athens there was a stop at ...

... on the edge of the mountain and eat some delicious greek meals in the breathtaking view. Wake up in the morning, and go walk on the streets. It is not so hot early in the morning and you'll find it even more pleasing than in the night. If you go there in winter, keep in mind that in Parnassos, which is higher in the mountain, you will find the best greek location for winter sports.

... on are way to Delphi. Delphi: Stayed at a great hotel and went to the second most sacred site in Greece, ruins of the Oracle including the Temple of Apollo. There TONS of middle school and high school students on tours from all over Europe. We hiked up a very steep hill to the Temple of Apollo; put our hands to our ears and listened. We also went up to a Hippodrome among the ruins that held a similar competition as the Olympics. The ruins where preserved pretty well. Esther

... And then we climbed up, up, up above the theatre to the stadium near the top of the mountain, surrounded by pine trees. On our way back down, the students wedged themselves into a crevice under the Temple of Apollo and emerged through an even tinier hole quite a few feet away. Possibly this is the underground fissure where the Pythian priestesses went to breathe in the gas that would give them their prophetic visions from the god.

... had to roll. I found this to be troubling at first but soon remembered that the record of Christianity in the Americas and the South Pacific was not dissimilar. The main difference was that Muslims apparently can appreciate beauty and so they at least left the torso and limbs undamaged. By the way, statuary of the Roman era could be a little different because the Romans would carve one regally or militarily clad torso and then just mount the new ...

... of the Universe to be better shaped than this though...














More columns, ruined columns... a lot more to come in our visit in Athens!











This is the best dessert we've taken in Greece! BEST!!! Too bad we ...

... my roommates and I were being too loud because this guy banged on our wall and yelled at us. It was pretty scary. That was my second scare for the day by the way. That morning Audra and I had gone running when we ran into a herd of sheep. The sheep dog chased us and barked and was pretty intimidating, but the shepherd came and saved us. Needless to say we ran back to campus a different way. Anyway, we had pizza for dinner which was good and then spent the evening walking around the village.