Kalambaka

Trip Start Jun 01, 2008

Trip End Jun 30, 2008

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Where I stayed

Famissi Eden Kalambaka

(Kalambaka hotels)

Flag of Greece Kalambaka, Thessaly, Greece
Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Today we had a rather long day. We started out by seeing the archaeological site at Delphi. Because parking at the site is at a premium, we left the car in front of the hotel where we'd almost miraculously found a spot the afternoon before - and walked over. Slowly. The day was already hot and was only going to get hotter, so we didn't feel like hurrying. And although we arrived fairly early, we still found ourselves among the hordes of tourists and buses. But we'd beat the tourists arriving from Athens, so it was not as packed as is sometimes the case. Still the presence of lots of tourists means getting creative and staying flexible about using the limited amount of shade. This way we were able to see what we wanted easily and without crowds and in spite of a heat in the high 30s. If you can get to the site even earlier or stay even later, before or after the tour buses, you'll feel like you own the place.

I was pleased to see that a bit of work has been done since I was last at Delphi, mainly along the Sacred Way in front of the Athenian treasury, defining the walk itself and assembling the exhedras and tidying up some of the assorted debris, at least, I think they've done that

Karen rests in the shade at Delphi

. It seems neater. But in any case, I love this site. I would never get tired of visiting it. Especially when crowds are smaller, a spiritual mood is present on the site and a huge sense of history, of momentous occasions.

As usual, I enjoyed watching Karen discover the site, one Alexander is known to have visited. The essential point for Karen's purpose is to understand how the site appeared in the Classical Era when Alexander lived, because so much of what is visible now is from the Roman Era. We still hiked up to see the stadion and descended later to see the gymnasion, but we understood these to be Roman. The site during the classical era was more simple and, in my opinion, more elegant for that simplicity. Roman enhancements often appear as almost gaudy. Also here, as elsewhere, the picture is complicated by what has happened even since the Roman era: earthquakes, barbarian invaders, Byzantine construction and general erosion. It's almost impossible to imagine the richness and color of the site in its prime, with gleaming life-size and oversize bronze and marble offerings standing within the sacred precinct, sculpted friezes, columns and other architectural elements and painted buildings. The ancients tended to paint their buildings inside and out as well as their statues. The white purity moderns tend to associate with this time period is a result of the paint having faded or washed away

Me standing before the Temple of Apollo

.

This place was once as bright, beautiful and elaborate as the Vatican - and as important - though much smaller in scale. Imagine the destruction of the Vatican by earthquake, looting, erosion, desecration and neglect over centuries. That is what has happened here.

We spent several hours at Delphi - and Karen spent a bit more time in the museum - then we moved on to the monastery of Osios Loukas, which was founded by a Christian man described as a hermit who was credited with being a healer and prophet. I remembered from my last visit that the site has a "cave" associated with it but I did not have time to see it. Of course, I was already struck by the combination of "prophet" and "cave" because of my report on Delphi, based on the Scientific American article on it in 2003, so I was frustrated at not being able to see the cave because of having to catch the bus. Naturally, I wanted to see it this time.

The visit was complicated a bit by the fact that we arrived in the middle of the two-hour siesta, when the monastery is closed. After sweltering for a few minutes and consoling ourselves with some of the pastries from Le Ponte, we realized that the cave area, which is separate from the "moni" would probably be open

Offering a prayer at Delphi

. And it was.

I was underwhelmed by the cave, which goes back several meters into the rock of the mountain but is low and not very wide. It's full of water, possibly because they've erected a low wall, like a dam, in front of it; so basically it's a spring. Could a man spend enough time here to be affected by fumes? Was this cave even associated with Osios Loukas during his main time of prophecy and healing? Does the mountain of Osios Loukas share enough of the same geology as the massif of Parnassos where Delphi is situated so that it might also release the same gases as at Delphi?

I couldn't answer any of these questions during the visit, but I picked up some literature from the moni store-and some very nice incense and charcoal-and got some photos. I clearly need to get hold of a copy of the Geology of Greece when I get home.

Then we hit the road to Kalambaka, where our hotel for the night was. The drive is long and goes over roads that are not superhighways. First we drove back into Distomo, a village that had suffered one of the worst atrocities from the Germans during World War II. Several hundred innocent citizens of this little town were killed out of retaliation for an attack by resistance fighters hiding out in the mountains

Roadside memorial where Oedipus killed his father

. Today's cheerful and bright town gives no evidence for this brutal moment in its history, but there are some memorials in the main plateia.

We continued on along a side road toward the Chaironea valley, where the main road is. We soon passed a memorial that marked the place where Oedipus killed his father, then we continued on through Dauleia (ancient Daulis), another important town of mythology, and saw signs to the ancient acropoleis of several more towns. The drive definitely extended my knowledge of the geography of this part of the country.

When we joined up with the "main" road, we hit roadwork, "erga" in Greek. The good news is, Greece is improving its roads everywhere, and in the Chaironea valley and from Lamia northwards, that means they're widening and straightening them. In the short term, however, we experienced chaos and confusion. I'm particularly susceptible to confusion and didn't recognize many turns, although I managed not to get lost with Karen's help, and, I have to conclude, that during my previous trips through this area, especially south of Domokos in central Thessalia and the towns of Karpitsi and Trikala, I must have fallen asleep all three times, because nothing looked even a bit familiar. I became tired and overwhelmed, so Karen took over the wheel and, as usual, her amazing sense of direction got us through!

We arrived in Kalambaka at sunset and discovered that we'd decided to crack a few extra Euros to stay at a hotel with a pool, which made Karen's day. I'm not so big a fan of cool water and was too tired to just jump in and enjoy it. I barely stayed awake long enough to go for dinner, which finally happened at 10:30pm-a proper Greek hour, however: the town was hopping at that time.

Tomorrow we'll briefly visit one off the monasteries of Meteora, the Megalou Monastiri, which is where I found the incredible assortment of incense last trip. We want to stock up and then head north to Vergina, a very important destination for Karen's research.