Delphi Dawdles: An epistle from the Corinthians, or Delphi at Last!

Epidavros to Meteora

Fri 19th June

We spent 4 nights at Ancient Epidavros - probably a day too long, in hindsight. We are now well north, at Camping Delphi, about 5 Km from Delphi itself (and several hundred metres lower).

On the way north we stopped at the ruins of ancient Corinth. These were much more impressive than we had expected. There were 2 coach parties doing the St Paul thing. An America group spent their time singing gospel songs, whilst a group from Southwark Cathedral was having a full fledged Anglican service, hymns and all.

The ruins of Corinth;)

Lunch was at car park at the southern end of the Corinth canal. This would be an ideal spot for wild camping - but we have to get to Delphi. We hoped to see a ship passing through, but all we got was a motor cruiser and 3 yachts. (N 37.91139 E22.87861)

Sally satnav's quickest route to Delphi was a huge loop on the motorway. That would be OK but every few miles there is a toll post extracting money, and the going rate for motorhomes is nearly 3 times that of a car. So after the 2nd such toll, we abandoned that route, and took the route across country. It is a main road - The main road before the motorway was built, but the first half is narrow, very twisty, very badly maintained, with double white lines almost entirely (which didn't seem to matter much to Greek drivers) and heavy lorries grinding their way up mountain passes at 15 mph. Really tiring stuff! Fortunately the 2nd half was a lot easier - wider, smoother, flatter, faster.

We were recommended Camping Delphi by a nice German couple we met in Epidavros - and they were right. Our pitch has a stupendous view to the sea, and across to the mountains of the Peloponnese - and the air is fresh (ie chilly!)

Camping Delphi

We ate at the restuarant - it had been recommended by the German couple, and it was excellent. As it was getting dark we noticed people setting up astronomical telescopes. It was the local astronomy club, setting up to view the conjunction of the moon, Jupiter and Venus, and showing camping visitors the results,

handheld shot of Moon, Jupiter, Venus in conjunction

Miles 2610 N 38.47861 E 22.47378 elevation 1149 feet.

Sat 20th June

The Delphi site opens at 0800, and we were determined to get there early, to avoid the coach party crush. Consequently we were there at exactly 8 am - but even then we weren't first in. For the first time ever, we had to go back and collect our passports to show we were the requisite nationality and the requisite age to get reduced-price entry. There is no car park - there is nowhere to put one, the hill is so steep. Instead you park along the road. We had the prime spot at 8 am, by the time we had completed the main site parking was chock-a-block

Temple to Apollo

Delphi theatre

Delphi - one of many treasuries

We were very impressed with Delphi, very well laid out and presented (on a very steep hillside). The arena is right at the top of the site - a serious climb. No one seems to know where the oracle actually was, so I never did get to find out when I will win the premium bonds.

Below the road is another, free, section. This also has some impressive ruins. Finally, there is the museum. I'm not normally a fan of museums - too many bits of broken pottery (got that at home!) - but this one is well laid, and well presented - giving the objects room to breathe. Once again, photography without flash is OK, but not posing next to an exhibit. I bet they have real fun when a Japanese tour comes through!

Delphi museum - posing is forbidden

The lady on the right is a guardian:)

portrait of a worried guardian:)

Rosemary is definitely not posing!

Early afternoon, and we're back on site enjoying afternoon tea.

Sun 21st June

So much for Delphi. Time to move on towards our destiny with a ferry. Next stop, Meteora in the north, where monasteries grow on pinnacles of rock. On the way we stopped at the British war cemetery at Bralos - beautifully kept by the Greeks. All the graves were from late 1918-early 1919, and the guess is that the died in the flu outbreak. It wasn't all British, there were Russian and Maltese, and no distinction between any of the graves.

Eventually we reached Camping Vrachas, in the village of Vrachas. in the heart of Meteora country. The village is dominated by these huge rocks of fantastic shapes, some of which have monasteries perched on top. That's for tomorrow. Meanwhile, as we went to bed the heavens opened. We closed the windows and vents, but forgot the chairs and table outside.

Vrachos

Miles 2767 N 39.71292 E 21.61371 elevation 790 feet

Mon 22nd June

We had parked down a bit of a slope. With the rain we had a fair bit of wheel spin as we got off the pitch. We had already moved our kit - table, chairs, electric cable, etc to a good spot just vacated by a German.

The campsite provided an excellent map of the Meteora, and we thought the roads would be hassle - narrow, twisty, lots of traffic. In fact the roads were excellent - wide, smooth, space for parking, and coaches were no bother. We visited 3 monasteries, at €3 pp for each. They all involved a huge amount of stair climbing. I wore trousers not shorts for the first time for weeks, and Rosemary wore a short sleeved dress - that being the required rig for going in, although they will provide skirts and shawls to cover shorts, and ladies in trousers. It seems that jeans are forbidden too

I wonder if Japanese ever take a photo without a grinning face in it?! A large party of Japanese arrived at this viewpoint whilst we were there, and elbowed us out of the way in their rush to have their photo taken in the prime spot - where I was standing. Individual Japanese are generally charming, but groups are invariably obnoxious and arrogant