Sunday, May 27, 2012

Ask the Oracle

 We woke up in Itea. It's a beautiful small sea side city that no one visits anymore. Why? We asked the local baker and he said that there once was a ferry from a larger city and business was booming, but they cut off the ferry service and now no one comes. Lucky for us, since restaurants were cheap and our hotel was only 40 euros. Can't beat that! This was the view from our room. Look at that water!!!
 Itea is only about 10 minutes from Delphi, a city of ruins. It was the city of the Oracle, a woman who knew all and saw all. (She also blabbed about it) These pillars are what's left of the temple of Apollo, where the Oracle sat. I find it interesting that they didn't make a temple just for her.
 Here's another theater. As an actor, there's nothing cooler than seeing a spacious theater like this. I wish I could perform for a venue this large.
 This chariot driver bronze statue was on a huge pillar in the middle of Delphi and this is all that's left of it. The pic in the back is what was supposed to be attached, but as you can see, they could only find a few pieces of the horses and an arm from the stable boy. I think the horses might have eaten the boy.
 After Delphi, we drove off the Olympia. We had to cross a large bridge to the Pelopponesian area of Greece. On the way to the other ruins, we saw a large herd of sheep being herded by a man in a car with a very loud horn. The babies were so white and fluffy looking. I don't have a picture, but Aaron took video. Unfortunately, you can hear me going "aaaw, look at the baby!" throughout out the whole thing.
When we arrived in Olympia, we realized we were too late. Gasp, they locked the gates. Being ruins though, they're outdoor and only separated from us by a gate, so at least we were able to see them. Behind Aaron is the starting line for the stadium. The first couple hundred Olympics took place right there! The torch for todays' Olympics are all lit at the temple of Hera about 500 yards from this spot. After sneaking a peek, we drove off for a couple more hours to Pylos and sprung for a very expensive hotel, the Westin. It was like a cruise ship on land. The front desk had a map for all the stores and restaurants.

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