Goodbye Greece

Our time in Greece has come to an end. We fly home from Athens tomorrow. Greece was quite an adventure, and we had a wonderful time, and loved every minute! I saw a t-shirt the other day that said:

Culture
Art
Science
Philosophy
Greece

So true! You could study these subjects for years!

Hopefully, I can figure out my picture problem and complete the blog. I will work on it when I get back to Canada.

Chrisso

Well, in a 1.5 days we did everything there is to do in Delphi, so we hopped on a bus and went to the small town of Chrisso, about 15 minutes away. The town is small, quiet and quaint. We walked around the village admiring the buildings when we came upon a lemon tree that had the largest lemons we have ever seen and the tree was loaded with fruit. As we were ewwing and awwing over this tree the woman who owned the property came over to us and gave us 2 of her lemons. Each lemon was much bigger than my fist. With our gift of fruit we said goodbye and headed off to the local restaurant for a beer, where we were greeted with a friendly smile, 2 large beer, and a plate of delicious food, and with a second order of beer we received a second plate of food! Geesh! How much food does this guy think we can eat! When we went to pay the bill, we were only charged for the beer, the owner said the food was free! What a guy! 

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Ancient Delphi Ruins

Ancient Delphi is the site of the 4th-century B.C. Temple of Apollo, once home to the legendary oracle. This extensive mountainside archaeological complex contains the remains of the sanctuaries of Apollo and Athena Pronaia, as well as an ancient stadium and theater.

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Ancient Delphi Museum

The museum was interesting, and more importantly small. My fill of museums is getting saturated! Greek mythology, which is all Greek to me, and Greek history mingle in the rugged landscape of the Sterea Ellada area. Of all the archaeological sites in Greece, Ancient Delphi is the one with the most potent spirit of place. 

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Delphi Village

The small mountain town of Delphi on Mount Parnassus, overlooks the Gulf of Corinth, and extends into the valley of olive trees. This World Heritage Site is alluring both in its setting and inspirational ruins. It doesn't take long to walk up and down the streets, and we got to know the place real quick.

Travel Day

Another travel day. This time from Meteora to Delphi, which was a five hour journey going south, using 4 different buses, it sounds a bit grueling, but it really wasn't. We arrived in Delphi, a small mountain tourist town, found our hotel, checked in, and settled in. Another great view!

                           Hotel lobby

                                our room

                                  Views from our room

Meteora Monasteries

We visited 2 of the 6 living monasteries. One is closed each day of the working week. The monasteries and the towering rocks seem impossibly suspended in air, bending your mind around how either one was formed. Each monastery is built around the centre courtyard surrounded by monks' cells, chapels, and a refectory. In the centre of each courtyard is the church. 

The first monastery we went to is called Moni Megalou Meteorou, built in the 14th century, which is the best known of Meteora. It is an imposing form built on the highest rock in the valley.

                               
                             views from the monastery

                                             views

                            workshop

                                wine keg

                                          courtyard

                               chapel

                                courtyard

Meteora is a mecca for rock climbers of all abilities. We spotted these from the monastery.

The second monastery we viewed was Moni Varlaam. It has a small museum, an original rope basket used for hauling up provisions and monks, and fine late-Byzantine frescoes.

                                         kitchen

               Another wine keg. These monks are winoes!

This pulley was used to haul a basket up and down for provisions.

                                              courtyard

                      
                                         courtyard

The road from the town of Kastraki that leads to the 6 monasteries.

                           small chapel

We rode the bus to the monestary that was at the top and walked down to the other monastery and then to the town of Kastraki.

This is the basket that was used to haul up provisions. A large, heavy net was also used.

                             Our walk down the hill

                             Platforms used by rock climbers

                                       vineyards